Why Robbie Williams Never Got Famous In America

British Singer Robbie Williams is known for being one of the most popular entertainers world wide... except in the United States of America where he is strangely unknown. In this video, the main reasons why this lack of appreciation are discussed along with the greater cultural problems that Robbie had to face in trying to break America.

[JLndon]

Honestly, I think he’s pretty happy. He never broke America. As a young teenager, I went to England in like 2003 2004 and discovered the album escapology. I became a huge fan. This little 13-year-old from LA was obsessed with this British guy and would go on forums and websites, anywhere I could listen or talk about him. I felt like he understood me but years later when I was about 17 or 18, I was in Brentwood. Which is a high-end suburb of LA and I was standing in Starbucks and Robbie walk in not a single person stopped what they were doing. Nobody bothered him. He had complete anonymity. A couple years after that, I ran into him again off rodeo Drive. We were both stuck waiting for our valet and I got to talk to him. I told him I’ve been a fan of his forever and my favorite album was escapology, he was literally so shocked. I told him we played nans song at my grandmas funeral and i think he honestly never got that in America.

[BAYBAY_]

I feel like the guy in this video has watched Robbie Williams interviews because I have heard Robbie say many times that he moved to California because he could walk anywhere he wanted and no one would know who he is and he loved it. He then would say if he got on a plane and flew to London and got off it was like the Beatles arriving in America. Can you even imagine living a double life of sorts like that.

[MarkSmith-snxj]

I honestly don’t understand the befuddlement of Americans when it comes to Robbie Williams not being famous in the U.S. There are countless American acts that were hugely popular in America that remained unheard of in the UK. K-pop is huge all over the world, and yet the British have never taken to it. Country & Western is massive in places such as the US and Australia, whilst being largely ignored in Britain. Some artists and music styles strike a chord with one market, and not the other. Who cares?

[DendyJungle]

You look like Andrew Tate if he was loved by his parents

[BetaBetaZZ]

Im from South America and Robbie as Jamiroquia and other European celebrities are huge down here. We obviously don’t have same culture and is far away from how close America and Uk culture are. Still they where huge down here.

[xretroman]

I'm american in Los Angeles and I've been a fan of robbie williams since the song millenium in 1998 or 1999. I even saw him live in concert at Knotts berry farm in 1999 with Christina Aguillera and Train. His songs were all over mtv usa then. He was great and I got into his other songs, like man machine from the movie lock stock and 2 smoking barrels. let me entertain you, Angels, and later in 2000 with rock dj. Then that was all I heard from him. I would still play his stuff, but i didn't keep up with him over the last 20 years. I enjoyed the movie and I wish more people knew him. I kind of compare her popularity to Dua Lipa. No one I talk to here seems to know who she is, but she's totally famous.

[IsisFernandaM]

He's famous all over the world but u.s.a... i don't think he needs u.s.a.

[BeerLeagueGoalieGodfather]

Canada has a closer relationship with Britain but few ppl here know Robbie or Take That either.

I’m sure there’s certain artists that are more popular in their home country than others.

[AlphanumetriX]

What are you talking about? Your example of Robbie being in a boy band and then going on to making generic pop music "doesn't really make sense in the American music charts..." What about Justin timberlake or any other micky Mouse Club people. I'm Australian. We are kind of halfway between American and British influence. Robbie was and is still MASSIVE.

[richmiola]

How can you miss that his label compiled his first two alums into a compilation record called “the ego has landed” specifically to break into the US market. I was there and bought it. He also had a genuine hit here with the song Angels.

[getyapaper]

Robbie Williams actually tried to break through the American market with his single "Feel". You can sense from the themes in the video that it is catered to an american audience and he even got Daryl Hannah as a cameo in the video. However, it didn't really work out (although being successful in Europe) and afterwards it didn't seem like he really pursued this goal any longer. All I can say is, he was a pretty big thing here in Europe during the late 90's to early 2000's. In Germany he was even so big that a TV station took his song title "Let Me Enterain You" as their slogan. He has a lot of hits, but I think "Let Me Entertain You" and "Angels" are probably amongst the most iconic ones that are even played to this day. Another reason that you pointed out, was that the music scene was just completley different in Europe during the 90's compared to the US market. Basically speaking, we just had totally different music and completley different hits at that time. For instance Grunge, Rock, Hiphop, RNB and Country was more predominant in the US whereas in Europe we had a lot of boy bands and wacky pop acts here. Also a lot of Techno, Trance and Rave music. Personally I liked the 90's music scene in the US way better, they just had real music and it suited my taste better. A lot of 90's music in Europe was garbage IMO, although I got to point out that the UK music scene was always pretty interesting and they also had good music during that time. They even got different electronic music genre's that were a bit more classy compared to the rest of Europe like TripHop, Drum'N'Bass and Jungle. The movie does not very well here in Europe (besides the UK) either. I think one of the reasons is because, although he was very successful he never became an iconic brand like an Elton John or an Amy Winehouse. The other reason is that his prime is just long gone. The youth nowadays probably don't even know who he is. I don't know if the ape thing was really necessary for the movie, but I'll go check it out.

[mikewatts]

You are on point almost entirely. I would make two corrections: Robbie did emulate and identify a pretty important American performer, Frank Sinatra and well all of the rat pack. But I’ll relent on that, in that most younger audiences couldn’t care less about them. So I will go with my gut here (as an American)… the context in which his career was built on. The boyband superstardom, the guy in the band least likely to succeed with the most insecurities. The rawness in which he exposed himself in his music, which only those “in the know” would have gotten. I think British fans (if not the press) were quite literally rooting for the dude, and his success and connection with the audience reflects that. There’s no way American fans would have that context unless they take the time to dive in. I’m thankful that I did, because I can’t think of another artist that has exposed themselves so rawly and regularly. Not even Taylor Swift

[cent]

Love Robbie!! As an American I’ve been following him since 1999-2000

[claire]

Robbie was the underdog in Take That and British people love that. The band was built around Gary Barlow but their first top 5 single was one with Robbie vocals which changed things a bit. There was a whole rivalry between Gary and Robbie and it was expected that Gary would be the next George Michael. A lot of Robbie's songs are about Take That ("No Regrets" etc) which wouldn't be understood in America either

[CLUELESS]

America is a continent. Robbie was HUGE in Argentina, for example

[FrapyardLP]

Wow, I'm actually shocked he wasn't big in america. He was fucking huge in europe.

[reneaguilar]

A friend of mine from Mexico told me her favorite singer was Robin Williams . I said to her Robin Williams was a comedian actor she said no he is a singer finally she said Robbie Williams . I said I have no clue who he is .never heard of him in the USA 🇺🇸

[ownyourcrazy]

Point #4 - America exports so much of its culture but is extremely insular when it comes to a cultural exchange.

[guiramos]

Escapology is nearly a masterpiece with perhaps just a couple of songs that are not necessarily bad, but the other songs in the album are so incredible that both end up not reaching the same level. Do yourself a favor and listen to this album, pay attention to the lyrics! Robbie (and his partnership with Guy Chambers) is a very talented artist.
Plus: The song “Hot Fudge” does make fun of moving to the US.

[blackdragon]

English artists do make it in America, it's not impossible. I mean didn't Elton John, Sade, Phil Collins, Lisa Stansfield, Oasis, and The Spice Girls all become popular here? Even some British Hip-hop make it through. Robbie was just not likeable for American audiences for some reason. I also think his label probably deserves some of the blame too. Cause i faintly remember them trying to push him stateside in the early 00s.