Robbie Williams has said he is "incredibly grateful that the ship goes forward" as he celebrates 25 years as a solo artist and admits he know his ego would have been bruised had his career not taken off after his Take That departure.
The former Take That singer, 48, last week secured his 14th UK chart-topping record with the album XXV, overtaking Elvis Presley (who scored 13 UK number one albums), to become the solo artist with the most UK number one albums, the Official Charts Company said.
The album marks his career milestone of more than two decades of success as a solo artist and contains a selection of his greatest hits such as Angels, Let Me Entertain You and Millennium reworked with an orchestra.
He told the BBC: "My big feeling is, my best years professionally could have been from when I was 16 to 21 when I was in Take That.
"I know how brittle my ego is and I know how fragile I am as a human being and to be a has been… or whatever it was that would have happened to me after Take That, I'm incredibly grateful that the ship still goes forward. That’s it.
"In short, I’m incredibly grateful, that’s what the anniversary has done for me."
Last month Netflix announced that a documentary about the singer is in production, saying the multi-part series, which will launch next year, is an "in-depth examination of a global icon and natural-born-entertainer who had to navigate the highs and lows of being in the limelight for more than 30 years".
Directed by Joe Pearlman, who was behind the Bros documentary After the Screaming Stops, it will also feature never-before-seen archive and intimate footage of Williams.
