News of April 2003
23/04/03
Robbie Williams is to feature in an advert for Daimler Chrysler Geostar Smart cars in which the star finds a man busking for money to put in his parking meter. The busker is singing Robbie's hit Feel badly out of tune as a traffic warden closes in on him. But Robbie tosses some money into the busker's hat just in time. The busker and the warden then freeze in surprise as Robbie smiles and walks by. Geostar Smart cars are the official sponsors of Robbie's European tour along with Microsoft Xbox. The ad, which was filmed in Copenhagen, is only being aired at live venues where he is performing.
21/04/03
Sir Paul McCartney has revealed that Robbie Williams stole his thunder with his collection of swing classics. The former Beatle has said he was planning to record a selection of Rat Pack tunes, but had to abandon the idea when Robbie did the same with chart-topper Swing When You're Winning. Sir Paul - currently playing a sell-out four-night stint at London's Earls Court - dropped his plan for fear of being branded a copycat. He said: "I love old standard songs. So that's a long-standing ambition of mine. "I must say that I was shaping up to do it but then Robbie Williams went and did one and I thought, 'Well, if I do it now it's going to look like oh he's just copying Robbie'." He said the situation was compounded with Rod Stewart's It Had To Be You album of classic songs. "Every time that happens it puts the kibosh on it for me," added Sir Paul. "But I do love those songs and for me they remind me of my parents' generation, New Year's parties. "All that music of that era is special to me. One day I'd like to do some of that."
18/04/03
Robbie Williams has disclosed that he prefers girls from his hometown Stoke-on-Trent to the sun-kissed babes of LA. The singer said the women in Los Angeles, where he is now based much of the time, are all "the same". In an interview for the Saturday Show he said he would be on the pull next time he was back. He told presenter Fearne Cotton: "The honest truth is, girls from LA all look the same. "There's no natural beauty there, not the kind you would find in any High Street in the UK. "If they could just chill out a bit, they'd be beautiful, but they're far too ambitious to be beautiful. Girls from Stoke are better looking - and I'll be back soon to pick one."
15/04/03
Sports officials in Germany have
had to cancel a world athletics championship - because Robbie Williams has
already booked the stadium. The German Sport Association wanted to hold a
European Light Athletic World Championship at Olympia Park in Munich on July 9.
But they failed to confirm the booking, and have now been beaten to it by the
singer - who has blockbooked the week around his concert three days earlier.
Manfred von Richthofen, president of the German Sport Association, said: "Because
of the enormous amount of time it would take to erect the stage and then take it
down, it meant we could not stage our event.
"And also there would have been nowhere for the athletes to train, as the stage
was there."
Olympia Park boss Wilfrid Spronk said: "It was a mistake." He said Williams had
been unable to change the day as he had performances staged for Vienna on July 4
and in Berlin on July 8.
10/04/03
Robbie Williams has proved my suspicions are correct he's a proper mummy's boy. I'm told the singer, who is worth £80million, has forked out £1.2million on a new house for his mum Jan just around the corner from his own place. She is said to be delighted that she can see her boy's gaff from her new roof terrace - because she'll be able to keep an eye on him and stop him getting into trouble. The five-storey Georgian town house in Notting Hill, West London, is just 50 yards from the former Take That star's £2million mansion. Jan's place used to be a shop and is undergoing a £350,000 refurbishment, all paid for by Robbie. It's a far cry from the modest semi in Stoke-on-Trent where she raised her boy. Jan, who keeps a close eye on her lad's affairs - both business and personal - found she was spending more and more time in the capital, so needed a place there. She was spotted arriving at her son's house the other day carrying fresh plants to welcome him back from LA. Her new pad will have three bedrooms and includes a spacious living room and separate dining room. Jan has converted the basement into a kitchen, which she is resurfacing with stone tiles costing £30 each. A source close to Robbie said: "Jan is the person Rob is closest to and she's very protective of him. "She wants to be able to check on him whenever he is in London - and she also pops round when he's away to make sure everything is in order." Builders are working round the clock to get the house ready before Jan moves in. Earlier this week the exterior was painted off-white. One builder told me: "The place has been gutted. "Mrs Williams really wanted to have a kitchen in the basement so we have had to raise the floor by nearly two feet to accommodate it. "She has been coming in quite a lot to watch over the work and no expense is being spared. "Everything is going to be top-of-the-range. "Jan's really nice and friendly and pretty much knows what she wants. "She always speaks very highly of her son, which I guess is no surprise." Robbie shares his home in London with long-term pal Jonathan Wilkes. He also has a house in LA, where he has been spending a lot of his time recently while plugging his Escapology album. Robbie has come back to London before Monday's release of new single Come Undone. By the way, the superstar bought his mum the house under his full name of Robert Peter Williams. Well, when I say his full name, he did leave out his other middle name - Maximilian. It's understandable he wouldn't want to broadcast that one I suppose.
09/04/03
FROM THE SUN:
Is all the stress of being a
multi-millionaire pin-up going to Robbie Williams’s head? The star has admitted
he is going grey and needs to cover it up with brown dye. He said: “I do dye my
hair. It’s not always because of the greyness but it is a problem.” Robbie’s
hair has been all colours from red to green, so we asked Sun artist Tony Brennan
to touch up a photo for us all to see how the star will look when he goes
totally grey. Robbie, whose UK hits include Old Before I Die, has been trying to
crack the US market and his album Escapology is set to go into the chart there
at least at a respectable No27. That may not seem much by UK standards but an
album takes weeks to hit the top of the US charts and I reckon Robbie has done
well. Looks like he’ll be able to afford plenty of Grecian 2000 yet.
08/04/03
Kelly Osbourne has told of her "dream come
true" to be asked to support Robbie Williams on his European tour. The teenager
said she had been a fan of the singer since his days with Take That. Kelly - who
landed a record deal after the success of MTV's fly-on-the-wall show about her
family - joins the Escapology tour when it kicks off in Edinburgh in June. The
dates reach a climax with a three-day residency at Knebworth Park in
Hertfordshire in August. Kelly said: "I was so excited when I was asked to do
the Robbie Williams tour because I have been a fan since Take That days.
"I can't wait until the summer comes."
Robbie invited her along to join the tour when they met up at her New Year's Eve
party in Beverly Hills. He said: "I love Kelly. Her don't-give-a-s*** attitude
reminds me of me. She rocks." Robbie has become pals with her wildman rocker dad
while he has been living in Los Angeles and was present when Ozzy was given his
own star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame last year.
06/04/03
Robbie Williams is back on the prowl after his fling with model Rachel Hunter. Robbie split with the model-cum-actress two months ago, and is really keen to land a date with singer Holly Valance. It was quite electric between them when they met on CDUK recently, I am told. Robbie sent her flowers and text messages and offered her the use of both his houses in London and LA while she is on promotional tours. But Holly remains defiant, saying he is really sweet, but she is all loved up at home and has no plans to leave her man back in Oz.
