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Robbie Williams · S2 E4
Losing It
Drugs, drink, and the first signs that something was wrong
Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, November 24, 1994. The night before Take That perform at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Robbie Williams nearly overdoses in his hotel room. He is twenty years old.
Babe (1994). Take That's Christmas number one. A pristine Gary Barlow ballad released weeks after Robbie nearly overdosed in Berlin. The gap between what the public sees and what is actually happening has never been wider.
The Bottle
It starts with ecstasy at the gay clubs. Then cocaine. Then a bottle of straight vodka every night before rehearsals. By late 1994 Robbie Williams is not functioning.
“I was very depressed. I would go back to the hotel, drink a bottle of straight vodka and get drunk until I passed out. I was 19, 20 years old and in the middle of an addiction.”
— Robbie Williams, Netflix documentary, 2023
TAP TO REVEAL: What did Robbie Williams and Prince do at the 1994 MTV Awards afterparty?
Love Ain't Here Anymore -- Take That
Released July 1994, peaked at #3. A ballad about loss and resignation. The title tells the whole story of where Robbie Williams is in his life at this point.
The Descent
What was Robbie Williams' first drug?
A burning building needs an exit. In June 1995, Robbie Williams finds one. It is a field in Somerset, a bottle of vodka, and two brothers from Manchester who hate boy bands as much as he does.
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