Robbie Williams: ‘The bassist in Blur? My nan could do that’

Rudebox singer launches tirade against Alex James on new podcast

Robbie Williams has continued his rant against Britpop stars, this time saying his nan could take Alex James’ place in Blur.

Recording the first of his Radio Rudebox podcasts, the Take That singer said James “hadn’t been very nice” to him when they’ve met in the Nineties, adding: “Alex is the bassist in Blur — my nan could do that. All she needs is a new haircut.”

Williams explained he first met Blur during a TV show appearance in Manchester with Take That when he was 16. He said: “From what I now know, looking back, they were suffering from a little bit of middle-class angst. I did feel like I was part of the shit beneath their shoes for being in a boyband.”

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He did, however, praise Damon Albarn for being a “majestic songwriter”, said he loves Graham Coxon‘s solo albums and believes drummer Dave Rowntree would make a “great politician”. Williams also revealed intimate moments he shared with a who’s who of Britpop, including taking heroin with Elastica and reading poems to Jarvis Cocker at Glastonbury.

Earlier this month, Williams wrote a blog post criticising Britpop bands including Suede, Kula Shaker, The Bluetones, Echobelly and Northern Uproar, and went some way to apologising for it on his podcast, which you can hear here, particularly to Shed Seven‘s Rick Witter, who contacted Williams on Twitter, saying: “We’ve had good chats in the past. What went horribly wrong?”

Robbie said: “I don’t want to upset him, he’s a nice guy. I’ve met you three times, Rick, we have chatted and we’re on a level. I’m sorry that I slagged your band off.” He then insisted his “misguided blog” was just defending pop, saying: “There is a lot of snobbery towards pop music, to me and pop in general — it’s kind of a despised art form. There’s a lot of ‘Check out that fat c***, he’d be nothing without Guy Chambers’. I’m coming from a place of, ‘Hang on, I’m being picked on here, I don’t like it’.”

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