Robbie Williams has announced that he’ll perform at the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup.
The ‘Angels’ icon will perform to a crowd of 80,000 people at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium on Thursday, shortly before the opening game between Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Robbie’s appearance will also see him joining forces with Russian soprano Aida Garifullina for a one-off duet.
“I’m so happy and excited to be going back to Russia for such a unique performance”, Robbie said of the honour.
Very excited to be returning to Russia to perform at the opening of the @FIFAWorldCup – tune in early on Thursday for an unforgettable show! #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/skwCwt21SM
— Robbie Williams (@robbiewilliams) June 11, 2018
“I’ve done a lot in my career, and opening the FIFA World Cup to 80,000 football fans in the stadium and many millions all over the world is a boyhood dream. We’d like to invite football and music fans to party with us in Russia, in the stadium, or to tune in their TVs a little earlier for an unforgettable show.”
His appearance at the World Cup opening ceremony comes after Robbie once again lead out the England team in last night’s Soccer Aid match.
Earlier this year, Robbie also admitted that he is considering retiring ‘Angels’ during his live show, after struggling to cope with the emotional heft of the iconic track.
“I have to hold myself together or I could cry at everything and look pathetic”, he told the Daily Star.
“There are people who put posters up before Angels about their mum or dad who died and I think “Oh God, I am going to cry”. It did affect me.”