The Lottery Winners have spoken to NME about their ongoing “bromance” with Robbie Williams, and shared how they came to join forces with Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger. Check out the interview above.
The frontman of the Manchester indie band, Thom Rylance, caught up with us on the red carpet at the 2026 BRIT Awards, which was held at the Co-op Live last Saturday (February 28) – marking the first time in nearly 50 years that the event has been held outside London.
For The Lottery Winners, the appearance at the BRITs comes on the heels of them releasing their 2025 album ‘KOKO’, and becoming the only act from Leigh ever to claim a UK Number One album. They have also announced a mammoth homecoming stadium show at LSV Stadium, with appearances from Frank Turner, Reverend & The Makers, Scouting For Girls and more.
On the red carpet, Rylance looked back at the huge response to ‘KOKO’, and shared what it was like to join Williams as an opening act for the singer’s ‘BRITPOP’ tour – also appearing with him on stage as a special guest in Manchester.
“He’s my mate. We are really tight now,” Rylance said when asked what it was like to work alongside the former Take That star. “We’re really close friends and watching him, anytime I get to see him perform, it’s like a masterclass.”
He added” “There’s nobody better at it than him. He really is the king of entertainment, and I’d like to think that I am the prince. He’s just a beautiful person to be around. Very inspiring. I’ve never been around a more creative person. He’ll text me every day with a poem or a drawing or a song or something and I’m like, ‘I really need to stop eating this Pot Noodle and start doing something creative…’”
When asked if Williams had imparted any words of wisdom onto him that he will take into his own live shows, Rylance responded: “He said the loveliest thing to me last night, but I don’t want to show off about it, but he basically said that he watched me play last night and he was like, ‘You’re as good as me, if not better’. He was like, ‘You are the best’. And I was like, ‘No, you are the best!’… We have that kind of relationship. It’s very cute. It’s a big bromance.”
After promising fans coming to The Lottery Winners’ upcoming show at the LSV Stadium that the band will “fill that place with charisma”, Rylance also went on to discuss how the group had also got the seal of approval from Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger – who they joined up with for a ‘Rockstar Sea Shanty’ and on a song called ‘Ragdoll’.
Explaining how the unconventional idea for a sea shanty came together, Rylance told NME: “That was the weirdest thing ever. It was this whole lockdown situation where all kinds of postmen were doing sea shanties, so we did one on TikTok, and then Chad got in touch. And then we ended up being friends.
“Sometimes he still FaceTimes me now! I’ll be in a charity shop and I’ve just got Chad Kroeger in a hot tub on FaceTime and I’m like, ‘Chad, it’s a bad time mate!’ He’s a good lad.”
The Lottery Winners will play at the LSV Stadium on May 30, and become the third act ever to do so, following on from Elton John in 2014 and Lionel Richie in 2018. They will also perform at The Great Escape, Truck Festival, Rock For People, and more. Visit here for tickets and more information.
As for BRITs, Jack Whitehall returned to host for the sixth time, and performances on the night came from Harry Styles, Olivia Dean, HUNTR/X’s EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI, Wolf Alice, Mark Ronson, Alex Warren, Sombr, RAYE, and Rosalía – the latter of which brought out Björk as a special guest.
Noel Gallagher was named as Songwriter of the Year, PinkPantheress was Producer Of The Year, and Ozzy Osbourne was honoured with the BRITs Lifetime Achievement Award following his passing last summer.
For the latter, Williams performed some of Osbourne’s songs alongside members of the latter’s band, including Adam Wakeman, Robert Trujillo, Tommy Clufetos and Zakk Wylde. Olivia Dean took home the most awards on the night, and you can check out the full list of winners here.
