I've been informed that people outside UK generally don't know or care (not caring is the correct response BTW.).
Still seems bizarre to me.
Isn't this Robbie Williams? I've never been in UK.
this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2026
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He looks like an ape I saw in a movie last year.
I'm from Eastern Europe, 34 y.o., and i recognise Robbie Williams
John Stamos, right?
Robbie something. A singer, right? (France)
Millennium is still a fucking banger.
Canadian here. He was something special in the 90s but fell off since then.
he is the OG meat suit before lady gaga was even a concept. He did a stint in rehab for 'caffiene addiction' (but cmon, we all know it was cocaine lol)
He is well known in australia. but since i was travelling away from there people just think im mispronouncing Robin William's name if i bring him up.
I don't. Looks like a talk show host
That's Andy Burnham, our new Prime Minister.
I'm from Mexico and I don't recognize him, but he reminds me of Dick Gumshoe from Ace Attorney.
He is quite known here in Germany, take that !
Germany here, this is:
Robbie! One of the better musicians to rise from the age of boy bands.
I grew up with a bunch of his early songs. Some of them I still really enjoy, like "Let Me Entertain You" and "Feel" are his best works from my purely musical perspective
Delta Goodrem is another artist like this who locals in AU would consider 'famous' but otherwise don't make it on the international charts let alone bring anything unique that anyone cares to remember. It's even worse watching them pad their gigs with covers of bigger artists' songs. If not for constant TV appearances I suspect these artists would struggle to stay relevant even locally.
That is a perfect example. 100% of my exposure to Delta Goodrem is she was the answer on a quiz on a radio show.
I know who dude is, but I couldn't name a single song.
(trapped inside prison USA)
Kiwi here and yep, he used to be up there on the charts
Not British. I'm a grown ass straight man with a wife, kids, back pain, and a mortgage, but FFS I'm still such a Robbie fangirl.
I always thought he should have played James Bond instead of Daniel Craig. But then again I always like Roger Moore better than Sean Connery. Robbie could have brought an Archer vibe back, instead of overcompensating for that 90s casting fail.
If only Robbie had been an actor. It may out my age quite a bit, but escapology is IMO one of the best albums ever. And it doesn't even have Rock DJ, Angels or Let Me Entertain You. As I age, I love how Robbie started crooning... It makes it easier to follow the speed regulations on my commute.
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No.
no
Canadian here, never seen him to my awareness.
French guy in his late 30s here.
I recognize Robbie Williams. He had at least one song in the charts (Angels reached n°7 in France in 1997-1999).
Probably saw him on MTV at the time. Also heard him on the radio more than a few times.
Used to mix up his name with Robin Williams' ^^
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He caused quite a few wet spots among danish teenage girls in the 90's - 00's.
you should have asked this 20 years ago buddy. doubt many ppl in the uk now know who he is either!
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German here. He's super famous in Germany. I used to think he was an international superstar and only learned a couple of years ago that nobody knows him in the US. Still don't quite understand how that happened. How is "Feel" and "Angels" not stuck in everyone's head every once in a while?
His people made multiple attempts to break in America. It's just... bad music. Has a distinct "Eurosheen" that isn't inherently a negative at all, but is something that traditionally hasn't sold well with American audiences.
So I just want to be clear: American audiences weren't unexposed to Robbie Williams, American audiences flatly rejected Robbie Williams.
Sure, Europeans just have bad taste in music, while Americans have good taste in music. That explains everything.
No, an aesthetic difference in preference. I should have made a clearer distinction: it has the Brit-pop sound that historically hasn't been an automatic appeal for American audiences as a barrier of entry going against him, and beyond that aesthetic difference Robbie Williams specifically does not make good enough music to have overcome said aesthetic barrier where other artists such as Spice Girls successfully have.
What makes the Spice Girls better than Robbie Williams?
A question for the ages. I am not the gatekeeper, just trying to explain the phenomenon. No amount of arguing with me is going to suddenly make Robbie a retroactive success magically
It's just that it's a really odd "explanation". Good and bad depends a lot on who you ask. Millions of people would probably disagree with your judgement. I'm neither a Robbie Williams fan nor a music expert, but I'm pretty sure "his music is just bad" is not a valid explanation for the phenomenon.
ok buddy, "bad music", really?
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He had a song called Millennium which was about the millennium. I don’t think I have heard anything about him since.
Robbie!
Middle-aged French woman who never really was in the loop about pop culture: No idea whatsoever.
I thought about this over-memed wrestler, then the TV chef who screams (and whom I only know through memes.)
Then I saw a comment about Robbie sth, so I thought about Margo Robbie, who might have played Barbie. And now I'm pretty sure this man is Robbie William, who was in a boys band when I was a kid? teen? and who might have gone on to have a solo career of not-quite-as-bad music.
I gave it my all.
Yes, he's the dude that's famous for not being famous enough for Americans to recognize, which pisses off British people who insist that he's so famous everyone on earth has to know about him.
I wonder what Americans made of Better Man
They famously didn't. The entire discourse surrounding this film from the American side of the ocean was "who is this person I've never heard of and why is he a monkey?" and after that discourse they still didn't go see the film. We can speculate as to the why if we want, but the reality is just that for whatever reason this man is not famous in America, he is a footnote.
Oh yes. It was a massive flop. And not just in America.
But I'd still like to hear the opinion of an American who saw it.
Right in the Feel.
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