Robbie Williams has been confirmed to be headlining Sydney‘s New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The English singer, 50, will be flying Down Under in a matter of days to ring in 2025 in epic style with a performance in front of the Sydney Opera House.
He was said to have undergone weeks of secret negotiations before he was officially signed up to be the face of Australia’s New Year’s Eve festivities.
Robbie described the gig as the ‘perfect’ way to end the year after his new biopic, Better Man, was filmed in Melbourne with the help of Aussie director Michael Gracey.
In a statement from the ABC confirming his performance, Robbie gushed: ‘I love and adore Australia, and the Sydney fireworks are truly magical.
‘To be ringing in the New Year in the country where my biopic, Better Man, was shot will be the perfect end to 2024 and the ideal start to 2025.
‘I can’t wait to perform and celebrate with my incredible Australian fans.’
His performance will be broadcast live on the ABC and ABC iview on December 31, with the night of celebrations kicking off from 8.30pm.
The New Year’s Eve show will be hosted by Charlie Pickering, Zan Rowe and Concetta Caristo before the epic Sydney Harbour Bridge fireworks will ring in 2025.
The former Take That star has reconnected with his love of Australia recently after filming his upcoming biopic Better Man in Melbourne.
He said he was ‘gutted’ he wasn’t able to attend the premiere of his biopic, which is slated for release on Boxing Day.
Robbie is hoping to return Down Under once again to attend the AACTA Awards, where his satirical musical biopic has cleaned up with a huge 16 nominations.
The biopic sees Robbie narrate a fictionalised version of his life, tracing his epic journey to stardom from boy band heart-throb to stadium rocker.
Despite Robbie rising to fame in the UK, the film was shot in Melbourne with iconic locations such as London’s Royal Albert Hall being recreated in the Australian city.
The Docklands studio was used to fabricate the famed theatre for a scene depicting a milestone moment in Robbie’s career.
Other well-known Melbourne locations used for filming included the Rod Laver Arena and the Intercontinental Melbourne hotel, the Cruden Farm at Langwarrin and the Fawkner Bowls club.
The $173million production also used Crown Casino, the University of Melbourne, the Melbourne Town Hall and the Melbourne Pavilion to stage scenes.
Colin Brooks, Minister for Creative Industries Victoria, told the Herald Sun that the film’s production was a huge boost to the state’s economy.
He claimed the film was the biggest ever production mounted in Victoria and said it created 2,920 jobs and pumped $142million into the state’s economy.
Helmed by Australian filmmaker Michael Gracey, who directed the box-office smash The Greatest Showman, Better Man has been billed as a musical fantasy.
And in a very unusual move, Robbie is depicted in the film as a monkey using CGI.
Motion capture techniques were used to transform 31-year-old actor Jonno Davies into a life like creation of a humanoid ‘ape’.
Other members of the cast include Australian actors Kate Mulvany (The Great Gatsby), Damon Herriman (Mr InBetween) and Anthony Hayes.
Filmmakers have been careful to avoid comparisons to recent musical biopics such as Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and Elton John’s Rocketman.
In an official statement, the production said the film was ‘a satirical musical based on the life of a pop star’.
The biopic features ‘re-imaginings’ of Robbie’s hit songs, and stunning visual effects in order to explore the ‘inner demons’ the super star has had to battle over the years.
Robbie rose to fame in the all boy band Take That, before launching a successful solo career in 1996.
In 2006, Robbie made it into the Guinness Book of World Records after he sold 1.6million concert tickets in a single day.
