Reality Killed the Video Star is the eighth solo studio album by the English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, released in November 2009. The title is a reference to The Buggles' 1979 single "Video Killed the Radio Star", updating it to reflect on the impact of reality television on pop culture. The album was produced by Trevor Horn, who fronted The Buggles and wrote "Video Killed the Radio Star", and was recorded between September 2008 and August 2009 in London and Los Angeles. It debuted in the top ten of 22 national album charts worldwide, but received varying reviews from music critics. Reality Killed the Video Star was viewed by critics and fans as being Williams' "comeback album" after the relative failure of his 2006 release, Rudebox.
The album was preceded by its lead single "Bodies", which was released in October 2009. Other singles released included "You Know Me" and "Morning Sun". The album was certified platinum in Europe for sales of over one million copies, including 900,000 copies sold in the UK alone. Despite this, it was – and, as of 2026, remains – Williams' first and only studio album not to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart, beaten to the top spot by a margin of less than 1% by JLS's self-titled debut album.
Background Reality Killed the Video Star was Williams' first studio album in three years. In that period, he worked with many producers, including Guy Chambers, Soul Mekanik, Mark Ronson, and Trevor Horn. However, the British singer confirmed in August 2009 on his official website that the entire album was produced by Trevor Horn, and added that it was recorded in London.
Rumours of a new studio album co-written with Chambers had surfaced in early 2007, along with known commitments required by Williams to complete his EMI contract. British singer-songwriter Laura Critchley commented that she had sung vocals for three songs, and said that the LP would not be released until 2009.
At first it was believed that Williams had reunited with Chambers, but it was later confirmed that the song "Blasphemy" was co-written by the pair during the recording sessions of Williams' 2002 album Escapology.
In February 2009, it was confirmed that Williams had written material with Soul Mekanik, Chambers and Ronson. The singer's spokesman, Tim Clark, said that the artist was planning to begin recording sessions in March and that the new album would be released in late 2009. The album was mostly written in Williams' home studio and was recorded in London. Amongst those who collaborated in the songwriting were Danny Spencer and Kelvin Andrews, Brandon Christy, Craig Russo, Richard Scott and Scott Ralph, Chas Jankel and Fil Eisler.RKTVS info , 23 May 2010
On his official website, Williams wrote that he was working with producer Trevor Horn on his new album; he described himself as "buzzing" and went on to call the album's sound "Very, very big". Williams revealed that the new album would be titled Reality Killed the Video Star, a reference to the song "Video Killed the Radio Star" by Horn's former band The Buggles in 1979. The album was originally planned to be named Il Protagonista (Italian for The Protagonist) until Williams' management told him to change the title as it was "too pretentious". In July 2009 Williams wrote on his official blog about the album: "My album's a killer: old Robbie, new Robbie and a Robbie that neither of us have met...". The A.V. Club has also reported that during 2007, Williams had recorded an unreleased experimental album that, he later said, would have amounted to "career suicide".
Before the album's release, Williams spoke about his hopes for the album: "I want people to feel elated, I want them to dance, I want them to forget about who they are and where they are for 50 minutes – and, within those 50 minutes of forgetting who they are, I also hope people relate to the songs. This is a record that I’m very proud of – I think it’s fucking brilliant. I want it to be the record that, if people think of Robbie Williams, they go, Yeah, Reality Killed the Video Star." He also talked about his collaboration with producer Trevor Horn: "He’s added something to the record that I haven’t had on previous records – his genius".RW.com Reality Killed the Video Star pre-order , 3 September 2009
In the wake of Michael Jackson's death on 25 June 2009, Williams was reported to have written and recorded a last minute tribute song to Jackson that would be included on the album. The track, "Morning Sun", was co-written by James Bond lyricist Don Black who wrote Michael Jackson's 1972 song "Ben". During his BBC Electric Proms concert at The Roundhouse in London on 20 October 2009 Williams said about the song: "I thought it was about Michael Jackson [...] but it's actually about me again."
Musical style The British singer-songwriter unveiled the album at an industry playback in London, where EMI UK and Ireland president Andria Vidler hosted the event. Mark Sutherland from Billboard said that the album "marks a return to Williams' trademark pop sound after 2006's more experimental – and commercially under-performing – Rudebox". Sutherland felt that even though the lead single 'Bodies', "features a refinement of the more electronic sound debuted on Rudebox, much of the album returns to the fertile, adult pop ground of Williams' previous smash hit albums Escapology and Intensive Care". He felt that the album highlights are the "lush ballads 'Morning Sun' and 'You Know Me', the intricate wordplay of 'Blasphemy' and the 1980s sound of 'Last Days of Disco'", while also noting that "a confident-sounding Williams also experiments with some light psychedelia on 'Deceptacon' and electronic dance music on the anthemic 'Starstruck' and 'Difficult for Weirdos'." Jude Rogers from The Quietus said that the song "Do You Mind?" "puts Status Quo, Slade and a gallon of glam-rock in a bottle, shakes it up, and make an interesting, if rather peculiar, froth." Rogers said that on the track "Starstruck" "Goldfrapp's Felt Mountain, The Ipcress File soundtrack and the shadow of Broadcast fall over the first ten seconds of this song about our obsession with celebrity". "Deceptacon" contains a "peculiar set of lyrics, floating on waves of reverb, sad strings and icy keyboards". Rogers said that "It's an unshowy meditation [on] the shallowness of fame, with a fantastic, mournful outro." Mike Diver from BBC Music said that "Bodies" is "A strange brew of string flourishes, rumbling low end, oriental undertones and even an Enigma-style break into Gregorian territory", Diver also said that "Last Days of Disco" is "reminiscent of Eurythmics".
Release and promotion
A special CD called Songbook was given away free with the 11 October 2009 issue of British newspaper The Mail on Sunday. The CD featured twelve classic Robbie Williams tracks, including live recordings from Slane Castle, Cologne, London's The Forum and Knebworth, and also contained six 30-second clips of tracks from Reality Killed the Video Star. The singer appeared on The X Factor on 11 October 2009 to perform "Bodies" live. He was featured on the November 2009 cover of GQ magazine UK, in which he also gave an interview about the album. Williams performed some material from Reality Killed the Video Star on the BBC Electric Proms at The Roundhouse in London on 20 October 2009. It was Williams' first live performance in over three years and was broadcast live in nearly 200 cinemas across Europe on 20 October and a few weeks later in Australia, South Africa and Mexico. The show featured a full band conducted by Trevor Horn. The concert received many positive reviews, and Williams also set a new Guinness World Record for "the most simultaneous cinematic screenings of a live concert". Initially, Williams was set to perform on 5 November 2009 at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2009 in Berlin at the O2 World, however, due to a scheduling conflict, he did not perform.
On 6 November 2009, Williams gave an interview and also performed on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. On the release day of the album in the UK, 9 November 2009, Williams appeared on Loose Women for a special edition of the show as the only guest. A special intimate live show at The Metro Theatre took place in Sydney on 25 November 2009, where Williams performed material from the new album and some of his hits. He performed his single "Bodies" in Australia at the ARIA Music Awards on 26 November 2009 which was held at the Acer Arena.Robbie W. ARIA Awards 2009 , 7 September 2009 On Tuesday, 8 December 2009, Williams performed an intimate show in London to less than 200 people at the Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House. An exclusive show was performed by Williams for a limited number of fans at the Melkweg in Amsterdam on 9 December 2009. Williams performed "Angels" on 12 December 2009 as a duet with Olly Murs on the live final of The X Factor, also performing the second single from the album, "You Know Me".
Williams performed "Morning Sun", the third single from Reality Killed the Video Star, on 23 January 2010 at the NRJ Music Awards, where he also received two awards for International Male Artist of the Year and the NRJ Award of Honour. "Morning Sun" was also performed on 13 February 2010 (Williams' 36th birthday) on the UK TV show So You Think You Can Dance. He performed a medley of his greatest hits, including the three singles from Reality Killed the Video Star, on 16 February at the 2010 BRIT Awards where Williams received the Outstanding Contribution to Music Award. He won the award for "Best International Male Artist" at the 2010 Echo Awards in Berlin on 4 March, making it his seventh Echo Award for this category since 2002. Williams also performed "Morning Sun" at the show.
Singles The song "Bodies" was released as the album's first official single. It premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 4 September 2009.BBC Radio 1 "Bodies" premiere , 28 August 2009 It was released on 12 October 2009, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart, and being certified Silver for sales in excess of 200,000 copies. It has since reached the top 5 and top 10 in several charts across Europe as well as in Australia. The song was also named one of the best singles of 2009 by the music website Popjustice. Jennifer Cooke from PopMatters said that "Bodies" is "vintage Williams, and his strongest single since 'Feel' (2002). Featuring his two favorite subjects, God and sex (not necessarily in that order)".
"You Know Me" was the second single to be taken from the album. It was released on 7 December 2009 in the UK, where it peaked at number six on the singles chart and was also certified Silver for sales of over 200,000 copies. The song managed to peak inside the top 20 and top 30 on many European charts and in Australia. PopMatters Jennifer Cooke felt that "You Know Me" had "a Motown flavor reminiscent of Escapologys 'Something Beautiful'." Jude Rogers from The Quietus said that the song is "Nonsensical and brilliant".
"Morning Sun" was issued as the third single from the record. In the UK, it was released as the official Sport Relief Single on 8 March 2010. The music video for the single was directed by Vaughan Arnell and filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood. "Morning Sun" peaked at number 45 on the UK Singles Chart, making it Williams' first single not to enter the top 40. Jude Rogers from The Quietus said that the song features a vocal "that shows what his voice really can do" and that "Even a middle-eight that nods towards the trippy oompah of 'I Am the Walrus' can't change a mood that is both grand but melancholy, epic but reflective."
"Last Days of Disco" was released as a promotional single in the United States on 5 October 2010. The single featured several remixes by the artists including Roger Sanchez, Still Going, Black Van and Mighty Mouse. It peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
Critical reception