Robbie Williams on Track To Beat The Beatles’ Chart Record in the UK

With his latest release, Britpop, Robbie Williams is set to have his 16th No. 1 album in the UK. That would beat a record previously set by The Beatles.

If Britpop hits No. 1 on the charts for Friday, Jan. 23, Williams will have officially taken the record.

“I want that more than anything in my career right now,” Williams said during an appearance on Scott Mills’ Radio 2 Breakfast Show. He also noted that he has some mixed feelings about beating the record, saying, “Let me just qualify that by saying I’ve broken the matrix. When that sort of record is mentioned and it’s me, I don’t know how that’s happened, I just know that it has. It massively makes my imposter syndrome come out to play and the first thing I feel is embarrassed about it.”

He also highlighted how important beating the record is to him. “And then the other bit, where the ego steps in is going, ‘It’s outside of my family, my kids and my wife, the most important thing to me in the world.’”

Robbie Williams Is No Stranger to Breaking Records

Williams tied The Beatles’ record of No. 1 albums last year with his soundtrack for his biopic Better Man. He also holds another impressive record. too. His album Swings Both Ways was the 1,000th No. 1 album in the UK.

All 12 of The Beatles’ studio albums topped the charts, except for ​​Magical Mystery Tour in 1967. A few compilations and live albums have also hit No. 1, most recently the singles compilation 1 in 2000.

Britpop is Williams’ 13th solo album and his first new one in seven years. He surprised fans by releasing it three weeks ahead of its scheduled February date. Originally, it was scheduled for release in October 2025. However, Williams delayed it so as not to compete with Taylor Swift’s The Life Of A Showgirl, which surely would’ve prevented him from beating The Beatles’ record.

Photo by Dan Peled/Getty Images for AFI