{"id":118821,"date":"2025-10-13T07:31:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T07:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/118821\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T07:31:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T07:31:07","slug":"robbie-williams-admits-britpop-album-was-delayed-to-avoid-taylor-swift-clash-you-cant-compete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/118821\/","title":{"rendered":"Robbie Williams admits &#8216;BRITPOP&#8217; album was delayed to avoid Taylor Swift clash: &#8220;You can&#8217;t compete&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/robbie-williams\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Robbie Williams<\/a> has admitted that his new album \u2018BRITPOP\u2019 was delayed to avoid clashing with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/taylor-swift\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Taylor Swift<\/a>\u2018s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/reviews\/album\/taylor-swift-the-life-of-a-showgirl-review-3897387\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u2018The Life Of A Showgirl\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"post-content-read-more\">\n<li><strong>READ MORE:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/robbie-williams-exlcusive-british-pop-playlist-me-new-single-spies-britpop-tracklist-3879072\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Check out Robbie Williams\u2019 exclusive \u2018British Pop\u2019 playlist for NME<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In mid-September, Williams broke the news that his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/robbie-williams-announces-new-album-britpop-shares-blistering-single-with-black-sabbaths-tony-iommi-3863859\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">highly anticipated new album \u2018BRITPOP\u2019<\/a> \u2013 his first in nearly a decade \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/robbie-williams-britpop-album-delayed-until-2026-due-to-scheduling-issues-to-avoid-taylor-swift-3893117\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">was being pushed back from an October 10 release until February 6 next year.<\/a> The album was due to arrive a week after Swift\u2019s 12th studio album \u2018The Life Of A Showgirl\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Williams\u2019 team wrote on various platform at the delay was due to \u201cscheduling changes\u201d, leading fans to speculate that he was pushing the album release to avoid being caught in the same release window as Taylor Swift.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/robbie-williams-britpop-album-delayed-until-2026-due-to-scheduling-issues-to-avoid-taylor-swift-3893117\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Speculating on X\/Twitter at the time<\/a>, one fan noted how the delay could be related to the charts, as reaching the Number One spot with \u2018BRITPOP\u2019 would mark a huge milestone for Robbie Williams.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRobbie Williams\u2019 BRITPOP has been delayed from October 10th to February 6th 2026. Likely to avoid clashing with Taylor Swift,\u201d they wrote. \u201cAnd to secure his 16th #1 UK Album, which would allow him to overtake <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/the-beatles\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Beatles<\/a>\u00a0as the biggest UK Artist in history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3863863\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/robbie-williams-2025@2000x1270.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1270\"  \/>Robbie Williams, 2025. Credit: Jason Hetherington.<\/p>\n<p>On October 9, Williams <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/robbie-williams-previews-britpop-and-plays-debut-album-in-full-at-tiny-london-gig-setlist-photos-3898225\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">played his smallest-ever ticketed show in London<\/a>, where he ran through his debut album in full, as well as performing his upcoming record \u2018BRITPOP\u2019 in its entirety. During the show, Williams admitted to those in attendance that the album was delayed in large part to Swift\u2019s \u2018The Life Of A Showgirl\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re all pretending it\u2019s not about\u00a0Taylor Swift, but it fucking is. You can\u2019t compete with that\u201d Williams told the crowd. \u201cHere\u2019s the truth: I want 16 Number One albums. Taylor then decided to put her album out the same weekend as me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was like, \u2018For fuck\u2019s sake! I\u2019ll put it out the next week\u2019, and they were like, \u2018She does these other deluxe versions\u2019. I was like, \u2018Fucking hell! Can I put it out the week after that then?\u2019 They were like, \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/oasis\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Oasis<\/a>\u00a0might be around then\u2019\u2026 \u2018For fuck\u2019s sake! Let\u2019s do it in fucking February when no one\u2019s got an album out\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He continued: \u201cI was worried about making you all fucking wait, and then I was like, \u2018Fuck it! I want a 16th Number One album!\u2019 I\u2019m sorry, but I\u2019m fucking being selfish. How many times in your life do you get to have the most Number One albums the UK\u2019s ever fucking had?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For more of what went down at Williams\u2019 intimate gig on October 9, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/robbie-williams-previews-britpop-and-plays-debut-album-in-full-at-tiny-london-gig-setlist-photos-3898225\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">check out our coverage of the show here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As for Swift\u2019s \u2018The Life Of A Showgirl\u2019, the album has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/reviews\/album\/taylor-swift-the-life-of-a-showgirl-review-3897387\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">scored a three-star review from NME<\/a>: \u201cTo seek escapism is not a sin, but the best pop music makes the personal feel like life or death. \u2018Speak Now\u2019,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/reviews\/taylor-swift-reputation-album-review-2158267-2158267\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u2018Reputation\u2019<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/reviews\/taylor-swift-folklore-album-review-2713965\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u2018Folklore\u2019<\/a>: her greatest works could be genuinely transformative. For the first time, \u2018The Life of a Showgirl\u2019 sees Swift not catalysed into artistic growth by love, but merely comfortably secured by it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The album has also been met by criticism from fans \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/fans-react-to-taylor-swifts-the-life-of-a-showgirl-taylor-swift-youve-done-it-again-3896920\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">some of whom have called it her \u201cworst\u201d record yet<\/a>, while others condemned the \u201ccringey\u201d songwriting on tracks like \u2018Wood\u2019. Swift has since stood her ground, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/taylor-swift-unbothered-by-the-life-of-a-showgirl-criticism-i-know-what-i-made-3897850\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">saying she\u2019s unbothered by the criticism<\/a>: \u201cI have such an eye on legacy when I\u2019m making my music \u2014 I know what I made, I know I adore it. I know that on the theme of what the Showgirl is, all of this is part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Robbie Williams has admitted that his new album \u2018BRITPOP\u2019 was delayed to avoid clashing with Taylor Swift\u2018s \u2018The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[264],"tags":[18,117,19,17,337,4513],"class_list":{"0":"post-118821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-pop"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}