Robbie Williams says even Taylor Swift was surprised to learn he’s a ‘big deal’ in the UK

In a new “Hits 1 on 1” interview on SiriusXM Hits 1, English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams remembered performing his song “Angels” with Taylor Swift as a special guest during her tour stop at Wembley Stadium in 2018.

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“The interesting thing is that Taylor, I think, knew the concept of a Robbie Williams somewhere in the world but I don’t think knew anything about me,” he said. “And I think maybe whoever she was dating at the time was English and went, ‘Hey, maybe you should get Robbie Williams.’ I think this is how it went.”

Robbie — whose career began in the ’90s boyband Take That before going solo — is the subject of the recent movie “Better Man,” an unusual musical biopic where he is depicted by a CGI chimpanzee. Like his music, the movie struggled in the US despite Robbie’s astronomical level of success in the UK.

“But, like, when I came up through the stage and the audience erupted, you could just see this thing in her face go, ‘Eh!?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m the mayor of this here. I’m a big deal. I keep telling everybody I’m a big deal.’ And she was like, ‘Oh! He’s a big deal.’ And, yeah, it was a lovely moment,” Robbie said.

“I’ll NEVER forget the sound of the crowd when Robbie Williams showed up to sing Angels, that was UNREAL!!” Taylor wrote in an Instagram caption six years ago. “Thank you to Robbie, that was such a spectacular moment and it meant so much to so many people, including me.”