You Know Me by ROBBIE WILLIAMS (2010) Hardcover

by Robbie Williams

For the last twenty years, ever since a 16-year-old boy called Robert Peter Williams joined a boy band and was told what his new name should be, he has been Robbie Williams.You Know Me provides an illuminating and candid portrayal of the singer/songwriter's twenty-year career. In turns funny, touching, and revealing, we learn about Robbie's life through his own words, while Feel author Chris Heath takes him through the sometimes unsettling journey of looking back over the last twenty years.Over 150 stunning images capture his personal and public life and grant us insight into the events that have made up his extraordinary from flashes back to his Stoke-on-Trent boyhood; through the intense rehearsals, gigs, and laughs of the Take That years; through drink, drugs, and rehab; and his groundbreaking Knebworth gig in 2003. But Rob also reflects on more personal aspects of his his breakdown in 2006; finding happiness with his girlfriend Ayda; being at home with his dogs; his interest in UFOs and his second football. And finally he leaves us at the Brit Awards 2010 where he received the Outstanding Contribution Award to Music.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Music, Autobiography

Hardcover

First published September 1, 2010

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Robert Peter Williams is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, Life thru a Lens, was released in 1997, and included his best-selling single "Angels". His second album, I've Been Expecting You, featured the songs "Millennium" and "She's the One", his first number one singles. His discography includes seven UK No. 1 singles, and all but one of his 14 studio albums have reached No. 1 in the UK. Six of his albums are among the top 100 biggest-selling albums in the UK, with two of them in the top 60, and he gained a Guinness World Record in 2006 for selling 1.6 million tickets in a single day during his Close Encounters Tour.
Williams has received a record 18 Brit Awards, winning Best British Male Artist four times, Outstanding Contribution to Music twice, an Icon Award 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 (BPI), he has been certified for 20.36 million albums and 9.2 million singles in the UK as a solo artist. Five of his albums have also topped the Australian albums chart, and has sold 75 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He also topped the 2000–2010 UK airplay chart. His three concerts at Knebworth in 2003 drew over 375,000 people, the UK's biggest music event to that point. In 2014, he was awarded the freedom of his hometown of Stoke-on-Trent and had a tourist trail created and streets named in his honour. Williams' latest compilation album, XXV, was released on 9 September 2022.
After 15 years, Williams rejoined Take That in 2010 to co-write and perform lead vocals on their album Progress, which became the second-fastest-selling album in UK chart history and the fastest-selling record of the century at the time. The subsequent stadium tour, which featured seven songs from Williams' solo career, became the biggest-selling concert in UK history when it sold 1.34 million tickets in less than 24 hours. In 2011, Take That frontman Gary Barlow confirmed that Williams had left the band for a second time to focus on his solo career, although he stated that the departure was amicable and that Williams was welcome to rejoin Take That in the future. Williams has since performed with Take That on three separate television appearances, and collaborated with Barlow on a number of projects such as the West End musical The Band.

Reviews

[Anika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. Not your usual biography - as far as Robbie and Chris Heath are concerned, that's what Feel is for. This book is more an anecdotes-by-pictures kind of book. Many, many pictures, and Robbie comments on all of them. Pics from the last 20 years - Pics that are widely known, pics that are rare, pics never seen before. Public and private pics; Robbie @ Take That, Robbie solo, Robbie with friends, family, celebs, his dogs, Robbie, fully bearded, during his time out. It's all in here, all presented in a very beautiful way and, I mentioned it before, all commented by Robbie, in his unique and wonderful style. This is definitely a book I will browse through again and again.

[Weirdly enough, I got the German copy of this book - I think it was published before the English version? Or I was too dumb to get the English version back then? Don't remember, I just needed to have this book ASAP, because it makes a beautiful coffee table book, if nothing else, and mostly, it's Robbie, so my mind went into "gimme gimme gimme" mode, conditioned by 17 years of being a Robbie fan. Anyway, thing is, while I usually prefer to read the original voice, especially with something as autobiographical as this one, with Robbie, it didn't matter that much that I was dealing with a translation. I may read it in German, but my mind translated it into Robbie's voice, talking English, all on its own. Again, conditioned by 17 years. I just totally know what he's saying ;)]

[Hayden Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only took me a few hours to read wasn’t long, I enjoyed it even though it is now 13 years old so a bit out of date and a lot has happened since then, but what nice to read about his most famous years and cool to know after this he got back with take that and that was massive, love Robbie hope he keeps going he still is in 2023 good, nice easy thoughtful read.

[Anton Klink · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice enough photo book with pleasant enough captions. Took less than two hours to read through.

[Kertu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mõnus pildiraamat koos huvitavate kommentaaridega.

[Evelin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s like browsing a photo album with your favourite singer who has a story abput every photo. I really enjoyed it although I have a few things to say to a person who translated it to Estonian.

[Sam Still Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should really make my confession here and now: I really like Robbie Williams, so of course I was going to buy this book. I have read Feel (his autobiography released some years ago) and thoroughly enjoyed it. What’s not to like about a man who says things like ‘I want to learn how to play the Effexor’? (Like most medical jokes, that one is not even remotely funny).

You Know Me is predominantly a photographic book of the first twenty (yes, twenty!) years of Robbie’s career from Take That to solo to Take That again. It is divided into chapters with several pages of text, then photos and Robbie’s take on them. Robbie is still amusing as ever and Chris Heath has a talent in getting the reader into (what we think at least) the mind of the real Robbie. It’s an easy read, be wannabe Mrs Williams’s beware: there are multiple references to his ‘missus’, Ayda Field. (My take: as long as you’re happy Robbie).

The photos are fantastic – Robbie in Egypt with beard (completely unrecognisable), photos on tour (some good memories) and the text gives insight into what was going on.

This is for the fans, but it’s an enjoyable, light holiday read.

[Jule · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich würde mich wirklich nicht als großen Robbie Williams Fan bezeichnen, aber ich liebe Biographien und irgendwie hat mich schon immer fasziniert, wie aus dem Boygroup-Robbie der megaerfolgreiche Solo-Robbie geworden ist. Nicht zu vergessen die Drogen-Eskapen zwischendurch und sein inzwischen sesshaftes Leben mit seiner Frau Ayda.
Die Biographie war etwas ungewöhnlich, da zum Großteil Bilder mit Anekdoten aus Robbies Leben versehen wurden. Es war also nur teilweise eine chronologische Abfolge, aber trotzdem sehr unterhaltsam. Ich habe festgestellt, dass Robbie Williams wirklich ein cooler Kerl ist und ich wünsche ihm von Herzen, dass er nicht nochmal so tief abstürzt.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a Robbie Williams fan for over 20 years now, so it was really a suprise that I got this book as a belated birthday present last week and had not read it. My friend was pleased, of course.

Needless to say, I quickly finished it (it's mostly about the pictures) and enjoyed the photo safari through the 20 years of Mister Williams thoroughly. His comments are quite honest, sometimes a bit disturbing and often hilarious. Many things are already known to long time fans like me, but still, nice read and great pictures!

Perfect gift :-)

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big Robbie Williams fan for half of my life, so this book was a must. And I really liked it. You get to see lots of pictures from Rob's life and Chris Heath wrote down what Rob told ihm about the pictures. So it's the closest to "watching pictures with Rob" you'll get as a fan.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is what it is, a picture book. It's nothing like Chris Heath's original fly on the wall book Feel, but it does offer a small insight into an up to date Robbie so for that fact alone, if you're a Robbie fan, it's worth getting.

Otherwise don't bother.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not much of a story to b honest but the amazing pics make it worth while a must for robbie fans

[Bloemche · Rating 4 out of 5]

mehr Bildband als Buch aber trotzdem toll. Robbie halt.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great to see how he's come through. Chris Heath has captured Rob's particular style of speech just so.

[Helen Hutchinson]

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