Black Sabbath legend joins singer on lead single Rocket
Robbie Williams has announced his brand new album BRITPOP will be released on Columbia Records later this year.
The singer says: “I set out to create the album that I wanted to write and release after I left Take That in 1995. It was the peak of Britpop and a golden age for British Music. I’ve worked with some of my heroes on this album. It’s raw, there are more guitars and it’s an album that’s even more upbeat and anthemic than usual. There’s some ‘Brit’ in there and there’s certainly some ‘pop’ too. I’m immensely proud of this as a body of work and I’m excited for fans to hear this album. I also can’t wait to perform a song or two from it on my upcoming BRITPOP tour, which I’m opening in the UK, naturally.”
The album’s cover artwork is a nod to the album title featuring a painting of one of Robbie’s most iconic looks – his red tracksuit outfit that he wore to attend Glastonbury Festival in 1995.
The first song to be released from the album is Rocket which features Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi on guitar. The high octane rock track features an instantly anthemic chorus and a signature guitar solo from the heavy metal pioneer. The track, written by Robbie, Karl Brazil, Tony Iommi and Tom Longworth, is available now, while the accompanying video will be released on Friday.
In the video, Robbie can be seen wearing a punk-inspired outfit – red tartan trousers, heavy chain necklace and a leather biker jacket covered in graffiti – while he moves around several London landmarks accompanied by a flash mob, while other scenes were shot with Robbie and Tony Iommi together in the latter’s hometown, Birmingham.
Listen below:
BRITPOP TOUR
Robbie’s ‘BRITPOP’ stadium tour was originally titled ‘Robbie Williams Live 2025’ and has now been renamed. Robbie hits the road next week in Edinburgh on 31 May, before visiting London, Manchester and Bath. The tour then continues across Europe with dates in countries including Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Sweden.
The ‘BRITPOP’ tour UK dates in full are:
31 May – Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
06 June – Emirates Stadium, London
07 June – Emirates Stadium, London
10 June – Co-op Live, Manchester – SOLD OUT
11 June – Co-op Live, Manchester – SOLD OUT
13 June – Royal Crescent, Bath – SOLD OUT
14 June – Royal Crescent, Bath – SOLD OUT
20 August – Come Together Festival, Newcastle
More information and tickets for the tour available here.
BRITPOP will be available in a variety of formats including CD, deluxe CD, cassette, alt cassette and digitally, while signed bundles will also be available for a limited time via the official Robbie Williams store. The album is available to pre-order here.
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Feature Picture Credit: Jason Hetherington
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