Robbie Williams has explained that he is shocked more young music stars haven’t died under tragic circumstances similar to Liam Payne.
The 50-year-old music icon has been in the spotlight since he was a teenager himself and has previously shared the grief he feels over the death of Liam – who died aged 31 after falling from a balcony in Argentina in October. Robbie has had a highly publicised life in the spotlight that has involved struggles with drink and drug addiction as well as mental health battles.
While Liam’s death was a shock to fans as well as across the music industry, Robbie has candidly explained that he fears that many other music stars could be suffering in silence. One Direction star Liam had been open about his own struggles with substances and mental health.
Take That star Robbie is currently promoting his new autobiographical film, titled Better Man, which chronicles his life without shying away from the ups and downs of his career and personal life. While interviews by the Associated Press while promoting the movie, Robbie was asked if he understood what Liam may have been going through before his death.
The Angels singer said: “Here’s the thing: I’m always astonished — may he rest in peace, bless him, beautiful boy — that the entertainment industry isn’t littered with those types of cases, that we can’t point to 30 of them.” He was then asked about his own relationship with fame.
He responded: “It’s different now. I (expletive) love it. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I’m 50 and I’m incredibly grateful for fame. It facilitates everything that I need and want to do with my life. I was just too young to receive it, and I wasn’t surrounded by good people. And I wasn’t good people. But now I can’t speak highly enough of it.”
Robbie also explained that his own struggles might not have been obvious as he had the world at his feet while he was dealing with his demons. He remarked: “My story’s not unusual. There’s a boy band documentary that’s going to be on tele in Britain that I’ve taken part in, and everyone’s story is the same. They’ve got the bends. They experienced this thing that warped them and gave them mental breakdowns.”
He added: “I can’t apologise for the truth, and the truth is there’s something about this matrix-bending, washing-machine fame that’s deeply unhealthy. No matter what job you have or what path you choose in life, you spend the second 20 years of your life sorting out the first 20 years. It just so happens I did it in public and told people exactly what was going as it was going on. And still do.”
Last month, Robbie shared his hope that Liam’s tragic death could lead to changes in the music industry that would see artists recieve more support. Speaking to Newstalk, he said: “I’m sure things will be done in his name to make things better. What they are, I don’t know yet, but I’m in. It’s very difficult [and a] grey area to put things into place, to look after people properly. I know there are talks about what to do and how to facilitate this, but [that] comes with already having money in place.”
Williams, 50, continued: “That negates the young manager and the young band that are doing everything out the back of a Transit van – who don’t have the money in place to facilitate it. So there’s all of these grey areas. It needs addressing and there needs to be a think tank by creative people, like myself and others to get together and figure out what’s the best way to tackle this problem for our entertainment industry.”
