Robbie Williams' last days with Take That - drugs, hangovers, and McDonald's row
They were the biggest stars in UK pop. Take That's latest album Nobody Else, which contained the classic hit Back For Good, had sold six million copies on its release.
But behind the scenes, the boyband was unravelling and on July 17, 1995, partway through tour rehearsals, Robbie Williams upped and left. The singer had been partying too hard and the mix of drugs and alcohol had taken a toll on his voice, not to mention his punctuality.
He later admitted: "I was a pathetic, pitiful creature. The first thing I would do in the morning would be to empty the bottle of wine that I had fallen asleep over two hours earlier. I'd have taken a line of coke because I couldn't get up without it."
While Robbie at the time had hit the headlines for heading to Glastonbury to hang out with Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, it was a more mundane row that finally splintered the group. Take That's world tour was set to start on August 5, 1995 at Manchester's G-Mex arena, with 10 nights at London's Earl's Court, which holds 19,000 fans, later lined up.
Take That enjoyed huge success in the '90s (Getty Images)Despite the high stakes Robbie wasn't taking rehearsals in Manchester seriously enough for Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen and Jason Orange's liking. Popping out for a McDonald's when he wasn't meant to, the hungover singer returned to four furious bandmates and a row broke out. “If you are going … go now so we can get on with it" Jason told him and with that, Robbie left, taking a watermelon with him from the fruit bowl in a final act of defiance.
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"I told the rest of the band to say nothing to anyone while I tried to get hold of Rob to see if he really wanted to do this," said band manager Nigel Martin-Smith. "Then he issued a press release saying he’d left the band – so there was no going back."
Fans of the group were left so distraught the Samaritans charity, which helps people in emotional distress, set up a dedicated hotline. Take That finished their tour but split the following year and Gary was soon lined up as the next big solo star.
His former bandmate Robbie, who had ambitions of his own, stoked the fire by calling Gary a "clueless w****r" and slamming his musical vision. "I do wonder if that’s the source of his [Robbie's] feelings because I probably made six times more than they did," Gary snapped back, referring to his lucrative Take That songwriting royalties.
But it was Robbie's career which went stratospheric in the end, selling 75 millions of records with hit songs including Angels, She's The One and Let Me Entertain You. Dropped by his record label when his second album flopped, Gary said: "I can imagine the chat they’ll be having in Robbie-land tonight. The cheers, wolf whistles and belly laughs. There’s no question now, mate, you’re the winner, hands down.”
Robbie has long made up with his former bandmate Gary Barlow (WireImage)
Robbie has filmed a new series for Netflix (Dave Benett/WireImage)Robbie failed to find happiness at the height of his fame, facing mental health battles and entering rehab for drug addiction in 2007. Now 49, he married actress wife Ayda Field in 2010 and the happy couple have four children, Teddy, 10, Charlie, eight, Coco, four, and Beau, three. The star later reconciled with Gary after their decade-long feud.
Looking back nearly 30 years to the day Robbie left Take That, Howard, 55, has regrets on how things could have been different. “To have someone close to you that you can speak to about your feelings, that’s one of the things we never ever did in the 90s, hence why Robbie left. We never discussed what he was feeling before he left that room. We look back at that moment and think we wished we could have talked more."
* Robbie Williams is released on Netflix on November 8.
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