As a youth, Robbie Williams split his time between hanging out in his mother's pub and cheering on the local football (soccer) club. Rob craved the spotlight from an early age, and dabbled in acting before joining Take That at age 16. The group was enormously successful in Europe, but Williams found himself creatively stifled and quit the group in 1995.

American audiences may consider Robbie Williams a relative newcomer on the pop music scene, but the 28-year-old singer has been the focus of heart-throbbing admiration in his native land since puberty. As a member of British boy band Take That (England's answer to New Kids on the Block), Williams enjoyed vast commercial success and teen idol status.

Take That's campy sensibility, color-coordinated outfits and disco covers also made them a hit with gay audiences and had the sometimes vicious British media endlessly speculating about their sexuality. Robbie, more than any of his other bandmates, was often the target of gay rumors. Perhaps recognizing the publicity value, he never quite squelched the rumors directly, but rather fueled them by throwing in the occasional sexually ambiguous lyric. On Old Before I Die, he proclaims, "Am I straight or gay?"

His first attempt at credibility was taking up with modern rock superstars Oasis. While the Brothers Gallagher may not have aided Robbie in his musical pursuits, they sure taught him how to party. A year later, Williams checked his bloated self into rehab and has sworn off the Gallagher boys ever since. A svelte and refocused Rob emerged from treatment to release his solo debut, Life Through a Lens (1997) and I've Been Expecting You (1998), both of which did extremely well in the U.K.

Flush with homeland success, Williams assembled a special compilation, "The Ego Has Landed" for U.S. release only, in the hopes this would finally break him across the Atlantic. The plan was a success, and while Robbie has yet to establish himself as a fixture in American pop culture, the chap is on the map. With the U.S. release of "Live at the Albert", Williams gave Americans a firsthand look into the life and music of Britain's favorite "bad boy" pop icon.

On November 16, 2001, Robbie Williams has admitted he's having gay sex.

Robbie made the revelation in a new documentary about his life, called Nobody Somebody, that got a limited cinema release in the UK and Ireland and was also shown on Channel 4.

In it, Robbie Williams, who has dated a series of glamorous women, told fans he was having a relationship with his songwriting partner Guy Chambers.

"Guy and I have been in a steady relationship for three years now, and this is my coming-out party," he told fans at a Paris concert. "I am now officially known as Roberta Williams."