Robbie Williams feels a sense of “relief” as he celebrates the 25th anniversary of his solo career. 

Having departed Take That in 1995, the hitmaker launched his career in 1996 with a cover of George Michael’s Freedom before releasing his solo album ‘Life Thru a Lens’ the following year. 

Today, he’s one of the UK’s most successful recording artists but things almost turned out entirely differently for the star, who was close to being dropped by his label after his album sales didn’t meet expectations.

Speaking in an interview with BBC Radio 2’s Scott Mills for the forthcoming ‘Robbie Williams: My Life Thru a Lens’, he says: “It sold 33,000 copies, not the first week just over several months and I was about to be dropped.”

Although lead track Old Before I Die hit No. 2, follow-ups Lazy Days and South of the Border peaked at No. 8 and 14 respectively, ringing alarm bells at the record company.

But it was the fourth single from the LP, the classic Angels, that turned his fortune around, with Robbie – who will tour his greatest hits show internationally in 2023 – admitting: “It gives me anxiety thinking about what would have happened if Angels hadn’t have happened, sat here on this sofa now, it actually scares me to think of where I would’ve gone and what I would’ve become and how I would’ve dealt and managed with my best years being behind me already at 21, that’s terrifying.

“There’s an anniversary and people are saying ‘How do you feel about 25 years?’ How I feel about it is a sense of relief. There’s no sticking my chest out and going ‘Look at me! The numbers of people that turn up and watch me, and the numbers that I’ve sold!’ 

“I actually just feel relief that I get to inhabit this world and not a world where it was over by the time I was 21. That feels good.”

Robbie Williams: My Life Thru a Lens is available now on BBC Sounds and is on BBC Radio 2 on Sunday, January 1 from 5-7 pm GMT.