Robbie Williams closes in on record 16th UK number one

Robbie Williams is edging closer to overtaking The Beatles’ long standing record for the most UK number one albums.

The Millennium singer’s newest release Britpop currently sits at the top of the midweek chart according to the Official Charts Company, putting him firmly on the verge of a major chart milestone.

If the album remains in first place when the final chart is announced on Friday January 23, Robbie will move ahead of the Fab Four, breaking the tie of 15 UK number one albums that they currently share.

The former Take That member caught fans off guard last week when he released Britpop three weeks earlier than planned on Friday January 16, later admitting that claiming the record has become a huge personal goal.

Speaking on The Scott Mills Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2, Robbie said: “Yeah I want that more than anything in my career right now, of course I do.

“Let me just qualify that by saying I’ve broken the matrix. When that sort of record is mentioned and it’s me, I don’t know how that’s happened, I just know that it has. It massively makes my imposter syndrome come out to play and the first thing I feel is embarrassed about it.”

The Pretty Face singer continued: “And then the other bit, where the ego steps in is going, ‘It’s outside of my family, my kids and my wife, the most important thing to me in the world.’

“Do I think I deserve that? No. Am I on the precipice of maybe achieving that? Yeah. Should I grab it with both arms? Yeah. And can I learn to be grateful and happy for it? Grateful, maybe, proud, I’m not sure yet, we’ll see if that happens.”

Britpop had originally been lined up for an October release, but Robbie chose to push it back to avoid a head to head battle with Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl.

A source told The Sun’s Bizarre column: “Robbie will go down in the history books if he scores another No1 so he’s not taking any chances.

“Taylor is undoubtedly the biggest artist in the world right now and her first week sales are sure to eclipse any other artist who has released a record in recent years.

“The sales will still be massive in the second week, so Robbie and his team decided it’s better to just move the release date.”