Pop star Robbie Williams, currently in the news as the subject of the semi-autobiographical movie Better Man, has confirmed that he has recorded a song with Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi and Glenn 'The Voice of Rock' Hughes.
The unlikely collaboration was first revealed in an episode of the Percussion Podcast, during which Williams' drummer and musical director Karl Brazil was asked about the former Take That man's upcoming album.
"He's working with various people," said Brazil. "I've been fortunate enough to do some songs with him and he's actually done a track called Rocket with Tony Iommi, which is very random. It's great. It's a rocker and it's really, really cool. Right up my street.
"Tony's done his thing on it and there's some great collaborations on this record. Gaz Coombes [Supergrass frontman] is on there. It's predominantly a guitar record. It's a bit of a throwback to his old sort of 90s sound but the mixed with a bit of modern-day pop as well. Let's face it, he can do what he wants, can't he?"
Ask by the NME to confirm that the story, Williams revealed that former Sabbath man Glenn Hughes had also contributed to the recording, and went on to describe it.
"I wanted to make the album that I'd make if I'd left Take That now, knowing what I know," says Williams. "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 [Rocket] 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!"
The European leg of Robbie Williams' Live 25 Tour kicks off in May. Full dates below.
Robbie Williams: Live 25 Tour
Jan 22: Cape Town Calabash, South Africa
Jan 25: Pretoria SunBet Arena, South Africa
Jan 26: Pretoria SunBet Arena, South Africa
May 31: Edinburgh Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, UK
Jun 06: London Emirates Stadium, UK
Jun 07: London Emirates Stadium, UK
Jun 11: Manchester Co-op Live, UK
Jun 13: Bath Royal Crescent, UK
Jun 14: Bath Royal Crescent, UK
Jun 19: Copenhagen Parken Stadium, Denmark
Jun 22: Amsterdam Johan Cruyff ArenA, Netherlands
Jun 23: Amsterdam Johan Cruyff ArenA, Netherlands
Jun 25: Gelsenkirchen Veltins-Arena, Germany
Jun 28: Werchter TW Classic, Belgium
Jun 30: Hanover Heinz von Heiden Arena, Germany
Jul 02: Paris La Défense Arena, France
Jul 05: Barcelona RCDE Stadium, Spain
Jul 09: Leipzig Red Bull Arena, Germany
Jul 12: Vienna Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Austria
Jul 17: Trieste Stadio Nereo Rocco, Italy
Jul 21: Berlin Waldbühne, Germany
Jul 22: Berlin Waldbühne, Germany
Jul 26: Munich Olympiastadion, Germany
Aug 01: Kaunas Darius and Girėnas Stadium, Lithuania
Aug 03: Riga Mežaparks, Latvia
Aug 07: Stockholm Stockholm Stadion, Sweden
Aug 10: Frankfurt Deutsche Bank Park, Germany
Aug 13: Stavanger Forus Travbane, Norway
Aug 16: Trondheim Granåsen, Norway
Aug 23: Dublin Croke Park, Ireland
Sep 07: Prague O2 Arena, Czech Republic
Sep 09: Kraków Tauron Arena, Poland
Sep 12: Budapest, MVM Dome Hungary
Sep 20: Helsinki Olympiastadion, Finland
Sep 28: Sofia Vasil Levski Stadium, Bulgaria
Oct 02: Athens Panathenaic Stadium, Greece
