'I sang with Robbie Williams on his Better Man biopic – here's what it was really like'

With a voice that's so recognisable to millions – how hard could it be to sing Robbie Williams' tracks for his Better Man biopic?

Norfolk-born singer Adam Tucker took on the voice of Robbie on a string of tracks from his earlier days for the movie. The movie which came out on Boxing Day saw Robbie transformed into a CGI monkey, playing into his cheeky yet creative persona. But while the film has been a roaring success, parts of it were not easy for Williams, 50, who relived some of his darkest times, including his fall out with former Take That bandmate, Gary Barlow.

Stoke on Trent born Robbie dramatically left the band in 1995, sparking heartbreak and tears across the nation. But behind his decision, he had been secretly battling a drug addiction and rising tensions with his bandmates – Barlow, Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Jason Orange. It also explores his relationship with All Saint's singer, Nicole Appleton, who "wept" after watching hte movie. Williams said he felt "shame" over the way he treated the singer during their relationship after seeing it play out.

But just how involved was he in the movie? Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, Adam, 30, revealed how he got the part. Thankfully, a friend of the singer lived next door to one of the casting agents working on Better Man. "It took a while," he said of his audition process. He went on to add: "Next thing, I'm having a phone call with these guys," before explaining he sent over a string of recordings of himself singing Angels, Feel and Let Me Entertain You. "When they said yes, I was straight in the studio on and off for maybe 18 months, we started in February 2023 and the film came out this Christmas. It's been in the works for a while but when you're doing CGI, it's quite complicated."

But how involved was Williams throughout the process? Adam explained: "He provided the stories and voiceovers and what needed to happen. The help that he gave us in the studio, there are some bits – there had never been a recording of Land of 1000 Dances, nobody has heard him sing Take That in terms of Relight My Fire, these versions.

"I know how he sounds in general but it was specifically on things, there are some voice notes that we'd had from him to guide ous on the right path of how it sounded, or how he would sing. He's from Stoke but he doesn't necessarily sound like he's from Stoke. It's his own voice, it's not an obvious voice, if you have an Elton John you can change your pronunciations, whereas Robbie is quite specific, his voice is really unique but not glaringly obviously different.

"He was able to give us references for singing." But away from the studio, Adam somewhat glued his headphones to his head as he delved into the Robbie archive, rewatching live footage from his early days as a solo artist, including THAT performance at Knebworth. "Let Me Entertain You is live, obviously it was recorded in the studio," Adam said before continuing: "But that was jumping around in the studio with a microphone – it was the only way you can capture the voice and microphone."

"He was involved but not load. It's very honest," Adam said when asked to what extent Robbie was involved. Since its release, Williams admits he's "almost the bad guy" in the movie due to his levels of honesty. This, however, is something Adam praises the legendary musician for.

"I think that's his biggest asset, being completely open about him and he way he thought at the time," he said, before continuing: "Times have changed, he's matured quite a lot and he thinks differently about certain people now in a more positive light. It's a really dark film, it's so raw and obviously a lot more emotional.

"People I've spoken to were like 'I was crying' at the end, when he's singing My Way, reuniting with his dad, people are in tears. It's very interesting, a lot of people are very shocked – obviously the monkey, people thought 'Why is a monkey?' they never address it in film, why is he a monkey? But it just works."

Despite taking on the role of Robbie, Adam joked that he'd never been a Robbie tribute act, despite dozens of people asking him. "You close your eyes and it sounds like Robbie Williams but you open them and it looks like Ed Sheeran," he laughed.

While many people question if he changed his voice to take on Robbie, he revealed that there had been slight changes – but almost everything was natural. At his audition, Adam was keen to not try and attempt to impersonate Robbie and instead showed off the real him.

"I never thought I sounded like him, maybe little bits because I'm singing a Robbie song or something," he said. He went on to add: "Obviously when I watched the film, I knew what bits I sang, I knew what bits Robbie sung, but I was like 'Oh wow that does sound like Robbie,' not that I should have been shocked because that's the reason I got hired, it's crazy."

Entering the audition room, Adam made the brave decision to sing Angels, one of Rob's most defining songs. "With Angels, I remember sitting there when I was four or five with the cassette player, playing Angels on repeat and pretending to sing as Robbie Williams," he proudly recalled.

"For me it was huge, it's weird, I've done this in the studio for the last 18 months with four people. You sort of forget that it's going out to the world because you're so engrossed in going the studio. It's sort of like going to the studio everyday with your mates, the whole thing was just fun – there was no pressure, I the only permission I felt was what I put on myself. I auditioned straight into singing Angels and I was like 'Oh my God, this is the biggest song, especially in Europe but one of the biggest songs ever.

"You just never like, feel like, the gravitas of what you're doing when you're in a studio, because you just don't know how It's going to be receptive, with people and you don't, I'd never thought about that." Six months after wrapping his parts of recording, Adam knew that people had been working behind the scenes on the movie but was secretly getting to grips with millions of people across the world hearing his voice – and seeing his name on the film credits.

He said: "I managed to camouflage myself in the role of singing, I was quite proud of that. I think it sort of makes that shock back to when people are turning around and going 'Oh now someone else is singing. There are some songs in the film that is me and him singing, it cuts between both of us, most people would not know, obviously there was a lot of work that's gone into it. That's how seamless I think our voices would have sit. Some of the songs are completely remade and different.

"Obviously he didn't write these songs with the intention that they were ever going to be in a film and they were going to be to a specific narrative. That's sort of why I was hired, to bring that narrative to life in the singing – when he's driving a car when he's just been fired from Take That, or Angels when his grandma dies. It's these emotionally charged scenes that are not specific in the original recording, so they had to re-record these and wanted me to come in.

"Obviously Rob's voice has changed, you get older, your voice changes, so they wanted someone who could play the younger versions of him." But Adam's not slowing down any time soon. Following the ongoing interest in Better Man, he's taking some time to work on his own music.

Currently, he shares insights into his music career with his TikTok followers. "We'll ride this wave and see what comes from it," he told me as he attempted to get his head around how big the movie is. He went on to say: "I've been on telly before and done a performance on BBC One and then, you know, you get that sudden rush of people coming to you. You're kind of the talk for a couple of weeks and then it just kind of dies off.

"Whereas a film has got like this, almost like this ramp effect, people start by going to watch the film, and they tell their friends to go watch the film, and then people start finding out about you, it's kind of like a slow ramp." Robbie famously explained that his beloved mother Janet closed the curtains of their home one night and was never able to open them again. "Might not that be crazy but people have started to stop me in the town I live in," he laughed.

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