Robbie: Outstanding Or Over?
Posted Fri 23 Oct 2009 12:08PM BST by Dave Rumour in Snap, Crackle and Pop
On the surface, it's the ultimate honour. A physical sign of recognition, confirmation that your music career has really mattered, broken new ground, and will never be forgotten. A mark of enormous respect from your peers, the industry, and promise of a wild night of celebration amongst friends, family and fans. So why does today's news that Robbie Williams is to receive 2010's Outstanding Achievement BRIT raise more questions than it does answers?"Robbie is one of the outstanding artists and performers of his generation. It will be an absolute thrill to have him at The BRITS 30th anniversary show receiving the outstanding contribution award", explained Committee chairman Ged Doherty. After claiming a handful of gongs with Take That, the singer is certainly used to patronage from the industry, winning Best British Male four times and The BRITS 25 Best Song gong for "Angels". New album, "Reality Killed The Video Star", looks set to seal his position back at the centre of UK music, a fact emphasised by his spectacular live comeback at the Roundhouse in London earlier this week.
The suspicion here is not so much that there are more worthy, less fashionable potential recipients or, even, that event organisers are just desperate to give the night an explosive, guaranteed climax, from an act sure to be ready to play. Far more alarmingly for Robbie, a cursory glance at the previous decade's winners - Pet Shop Boys, Sir Paul McCartney, Oasis, Paul Weller, Bob Geldof, Duran Duran, Tom Jones, Sting, U2, Spice Girls, Eurythmics - confirms that most are past it, pensionable or where never that good in the first place. So the real question has to be: By claiming this prize, can we conclude that Robbie is officially over?
As has been said all other recipients were well on their way to retirement when they got the award
Do these people know more than we think they do????
Poisoned chalice springs to mind