page_title: Robbie Williams
section_title: Interests
hierarchical_section_title: Robbie Williams / Personal life / Interests
caption_attribution_description: Robbie Williams, Roundhouse, London (Apple Music Festival)
context_page_description: Robert Peter Williams is an English singer-songwriter and entertainer. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1989 to 1995, but achieved greater commercial success with his solo career, beginning in 1997. Williams has released seven UK number one singles and eleven out of his twelve studio albums have reached number one in the UK. Six of his albums are among the top 100 biggest-selling albums in the United Kingdom–four albums in the top 60–and in 2006 he entered the Guinness Book of World Records for selling 1.6 million tickets of his Close Encounters Tour in a single day.
  Williams has received a record eighteen Brit Awards—winning Best British Male Artist four times, two awards for Outstanding Contribution to Music and the 2017 Brits Icon for his "lasting impact on British culture", eight German ECHO Awards, and three MTV European Music Awards. In 2004, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame after being voted the "Greatest Artist of the 1990s". According to the British Phonographic Industry, Williams has been certified for 19.9 million albums and 7.2 million singles in the UK as a solo artist. Five of his albums have topped the Australian albums chart.
context_section_description: Williams has a strong interest in UFOs and related paranormal phenomena, and has pursued this interest during his 2007–08 sabbatical. His interest in the subject led to him taking part in a documentary for BBC Radio 4 with Jon Ronson. The documentary followed them to a UFO convention in Nevada during which Williams connected his interest in the paranormal with the desire to understand his childhood fears of his mothers interest in "the world's mysteries, elves, demons, witchcraft". Williams became an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church Monastery to officiate the wedding of friends.
  Williams has a number of tattoos, many of which are related to British culture. These include:
  an Ace of Spades, commemorating heavy metal band Motörhead.
  a fez, common headwear of comedian Tommy Cooper.
  the logo of The Saint, tribute to Roger Moore who played the titular character on the TV show.
  the spectacles logo of The Two Ronnies, the comedy sketch show of the TV double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett.
  the "skip dance" pose of Morecambe and Wise, another TV comic double act (Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise).
  a Stafford knot; Williams' ancestors are from Staffordshire.
  the logo of his former group Take That.
  the coat of arms of Burslem, the town in Stoke-on-Trent where he grew up.
  the notes and words of the first line of the chorus of the Beatles "All You Need Is Love", on his lower back.
  Williams is a fan of hometown Burslem-based League 2 football club Port Vale F.C., and has played in a testimonial game for club legend Neil Aspin.
caption: One of Williams’ tattoos, the spectacles logo of The Two Ronnies, visible on his neck
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