Robbie Williams has said he wants to make a “new Rat Pack album”.
The pop star released his big band swing covers collection, ‘Swing When You’re Winning’, in 2001 and followed it up with 2013’s ‘Swings Both Ways’. Both albums went to Number One in the UK.
During a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Williams revealed that he was keen to revisit this style of music on a forthcoming record.
“I would like to write a new Rat Pack album,” he told the publication. “I think I might do it. And whether they join in or not, it’s up to their estates, but we’ll see.”
The comments came after the singer was asked which artist he would collaborate with if he could, “dead or alive”.
Williams continued: “Most of the time we take artists for granted because they’re just there and they’re in our lives. It wasn’t until the Olympics when Celine [Dion] came [on] when I was reminded, ‘Oh my Lord, this is a very special person’.
The Rat Pack was an informal group of vocalists in the 1950s and ’60s, including the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. Many consider them to be the founding fathers of Las Vegas, with the entertainers performing together at casino venues in the city.
In 2016, NME featured Williams’ ‘Swing When You’re Winning’ in a round-up of the UK’s all-time best-selling albums that “have no redeeming features whatsoever”. The star ‘duetted’ with a recording of Sinatra’s vocals on the LP’s track ‘It Was A Very Good Year’.
Elsewhere in the Hollywood Reporter interview, Williams spoke about putting the soundtrack together for his new biopic Better Man, which is directed a co-written by Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman).
“I sent a bunch of songs to Michael Gracey, the director, and he would then send them back and tell me basically, kindly, they weren’t good enough,” he recalled, before comparing himself to Eminem in 8 Mile.
He added: “I didn’t have a bird’s-eye view of the film. I didn’t know what was needed. We saw the film, and basically what it needs is a hug, so we [gave it] a hug because by the time you get to the end of the movie, you’ve been through a lot and you need a hug.”
Williams released a reflective new single called ‘Forbidden Road’ from the Better Man soundtrack last November.
He said in April that he had “written loads of songs” and was feeling “full of purpose and loving life”.
He later revealed that a new album would be coming soon. However, the singer explained that he was “waiting to know when exactly the film [was] coming out before” announcing anything about the project.
Speaking to NME last month, Williams responded to reports that Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi would be appearing on a track from his new “guitar rock” album.
“And Glenn Hughes! I wanted to make the album that I’d make if I’d left Take That now, knowing what I know,” he said. “This particular song encapsulates that perfectly.
“Unfortunately and fortunately for me, pop songs turned up along the way, too. I’m like: ‘Ah, fuck – a hit!’ This [track] is massive guitars, as you can imagine. It’s adrenaline-filled and balls-to-the-wall. That one in particular is my favourite song off my new album – that I’ve just announced is happening!”
NME then asked when the track and album would be out, to which Williams replied: “I dunno – let’s see how well the film does.”
You can watch the full video interview above.
Williams is due to embark on a huge tour across the UK, Ireland and Europe this year. The announcement came shortly after he’d hinted to fans that he would be hitting the road again “soon”. Find any remaining tickets here.
In other news, Williams has shared his thoughts on ‘Forbidden Road’ being disqualified from the Oscars 2025 shortlist for Best Original Song.
