Robbie Williams' Top Ten Most Played Concert Songs

Robbie will bring his Take the Crown tour to a packed house on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and the following Friday, so we take a look at his top...

The concert season continues at Wembley Stadium on Saturday as Robbie Williams kicks off the first of four dates under the arch.

Robbie will bring his Take the Crown tour to a packed house on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and the following Friday, and in anticipation, thanks to figures from setlist.fm, we have taken a look at his top ten most played concert tracks.

Karma Killer (113 performances)
Despite not being released as a single, this track from ‘I've Been Expecting You’ is one of his most popular live songs.

Kids (138 performances)
Singing alongside Kylie Minogue, ‘Kids’ was released in 2000 as the second single from ‘Sing When You're Winning’, Williams' fourth album. Williams and Minogue have only performed the song together on a few occasions.

Both artists perform the song regularly when touring, one of their backing singers usually tends to sing it along with them. However, on the Take The Crown tour Williams has been performing it with support act Olly Murs, leaving us wondering if we’ll be treated to this version at Wembley?

 

Old Before I Die (147 performances)
The first single taken from his ‘Life Thru A Lens’ album, this Oasis-influenced song became a number two hit in the UK when it was released in April 1997.

The video has Williams performing for the camera with ageing rock stars as his backing band.

 

Lazy Days (158 performances)
Released as the second single from his 1997 album ‘Life Thru A Lens’, Williams actually took a day out of rehab to shoot the video for the song. He said: “It’s a bonkers video, 'cause that's how my head was at the time, I think.”

 

Rock DJ (165 performances)
‘Rock DJ’ was released in the summer of 2000 as the third single from his third album ‘Sing When You're Winning’.

The song is best remembered for its controversial video when Williams starts stripping his skin, muscles and organs, too (in heavy makeup), until the only thing that is left of him are his bones. The video's ending was cut by most music channels around Europe. 

 

No Regrets (190 performances)
The lyrics of this track are about Williams' feelings about his time in, and subsequent departure from Take That. He frequently dedicates the song to the other members in live versions.

Since reconciling with Take That, Williams frequently replaces the word dead in the final line "I guess the love we once had is officially dead" with alive.

On Take That's Progress Live tour in 2011, Williams performed the song with Donald, Orange, Owen and Barlow providing the backing vocals. The performance was much less angry, and more sentimental in tone.

 

Millennium (196 performances)
Originally released in September 1998 from Williams' second album ‘I’ve Been Expecting You’, ‘Millennium’ was his first UK number one.

The song borrows heavily from John Barry's ‘You Only Live Twice’, the title track of the 1967 James Bond film of the same name.

Speaking with Sound On Sound, Guy Chambers, Williams’ former producer, said: "Robbie came up with the idea for the song. He wanted to use the string section from 'You Only Live Twice’, but put it to a Hip-Hop beat.

“Once we had decided that, it was just a matter of finding a beat that worked - something that we eventually achieved by speeding it up."

 

Strong (237 performances)
In this song, Williams expresses vulnerability as he sings about succumbing to cigarettes, alcohol and laziness.

During his live performance at Knebworth in 2003, Williams and the crowd all sang "Strong" in an attempt to break the biggest number of people doing karaoke world record. 

 

Let Me Entertain You (286 performances)
Released as the fifth and final single from his debut album, ‘Life Thru a Lens’, the song has become Williams’ concert opener for most of his shows throughout his career.

 

Angels (286 performances)
Robbie says that he wrote ‘Angels’ with former co-writer Guy Chambers in just 25 minutes.

According to his biographer, Chris Heath, this song is about his fascination with the paranormal:
"I believed that stuff when I wrote ‘Angels’. It isn't about anybody, it's about the thoughts that loved ones that have passed on come back and take care of you."

The song is used to conclude almost all of his concerts.

 

Let us know how many you think you’ll hear and which one are you looking forward to most?