Pop superstar Robbie Williams has said he wants to be "the greatest showman" of his generation ahead of his recently announced gig at Croke Park next year.
The Let Me Entertain You hitmaker, who is set to play the iconic venue on 23 August, 2025, said he knows "that's a big aspiration" but insists he's more than up for the challenge.
Speaking to RTÉ News, the 50-year-old singer said: "I want to be the greatest showman of my generation. I know that's a big aspiration to have but I feel as though I'm up to the task."
"I also feel as though it might sound as though I'm up myself, but I haven't gotten this far in life without being up myself," he said.
The former Take That star said he suffered from "overwhelming stage fright back in the day" and will no longer be hiding it from fans.
"I had to mask the fact that I was absolutely terrified - and I did a really good job," he said. "Great British Masking Champion 1999 - 2009, but now I don't have to mask it, and I can glory in the luck that has been bestowed on me," he added.
Watch: Robbie Williams said "thing will be done in his name" following the death of One Direction star Liam Payne
The Robbie Williams Live 2025 tour will open in Edinburgh on 31 May. The tour will then take in London, Manchester and Bath, before heading across Europe with dates in Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Sweden.
Tickets for Dublin priced from €77.25 to €152.25, subject to Ticketmaster service charge, go on general sale this Friday, 15 November at 10am via Ticketmaster.ie.
During the press conference to announce his upcoming tour, Williams paid tribute to former One Direction star, Liam Payne, following the singer's death at the age of 31 last month, saying the tragedy hasn't "gone unnoticed".
"I'm sure that things will be done in his name to make things better. What they are, I don’t know yet. But I’m in," he said.
Williams said "there's all of these grey areas" that exist when it comes to successfully organising support for artists.
"It’s very difficult – the grey area – to put things into place, to look after people properly. I know there’s talks of plans of what to do and how to facilitate this," he said.
"But the plans come with already having money in place to facilitate these things," he added. "That negates the young manager and the young band that are doing everything at the back of a transit van who don’t have the money in place to facilitate."
Williams last performed in Ireland in 2022 at Dublin's 3Arena as part of his XXV tour, which celebrated 25 years of his solo career with a mix of his biggest hits and new material.
Since his shock departure from Take That in 1995, he has sold over 75 million albums worldwide, with his solo albums alone accounting for over 40 million of those sales.
His solo albums, such as Life Thru a Lens (1997), Sing When You're Winning (2000), and Escapology (2002), have been successful, with Life Thru a Lens alone selling over 10 million copies worldwide.
Williams first made his name as one-fifth of the Nineties boyband, alongside Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Howard Donald, and Jason Orange.
After joining the band at age 16 in 1990, Williams quickly became a fan favourite and provided lead vocals for some of Take That's earliest hits, including Could It Be Magic?.
In a recent four-part Netflix documentary, Williams said it was his penchant for drinking and drug-taking which led to him leaving the popular boyband, after sternly being told that his actions were "not how you behave in a boy band".
"I was ingesting everything I could get my hands on: cocaine, drinking... I [was] literally drinking a bottle of vodka a night before going into rehearsals."
Williams continued that he was told he was "letting the side down" with his wild antics and was invited to meetings where he was urged to "behave".
"I was told this is not how you behave in a boyband. The sense that I, essentially, I wasn't ready or capable to fulfil the role that was being asked of me was palpable," he said.
Eventually, things came to a head during a band meeting, when he told the other four that he "just couldn't be there anymore".
Williams last joined the group for their sixth album in 2010, but left again in 2011.
