Robbie Williams has responded to a social media critic who shared a video saying they didn’t know who The Lottery Winners frontman, Thom Rylance, was.
- READ MORE: The Lottery Winners talk new album ‘Anxiety Replacement Therapy’ with Shaun Ryder, Boy George and Frank Turner
Rylance attended the BRIT Awards over the weekend, and since then, a TikTok user has used an image of him to claim that “the UK doesn’t have any real celebrities”.
In the short clip, the TikToker said: “The BRITs were a who’s-who of who-the-fuck-is-that?,”, displaying a photo of Rylance on the red carpet in the video’s background. “Because this is one of our biggest award shows, and who do we have: ‘The Lottery Winners’ lead singer Thom Rylance? No idea.”
Rylance then responded to the video, sharing his own post on Instagram, where he played a clip of the TikTok before adding: “Hello, mate. It’s me, the lead singer of The Lottery Winners. Tom Rylance.”
“I’m sorry you don’t know who I am, and that that’s upset you, and I do take full responsibility for that, but I just wanted to let you know I’ve not been invented,” he continued.
“What actually happened is me and my three mates started a band years ago and really tried hard to make it a thing, like working relentlessly every day, writing songs and playing pub gigs, neglecting our social lives and financial responsibilities, until one day we got two of these number one albums, and then I got invited to the BRITS, and pretty soon we’ll be headlining a stadium.”
He went on to say: “And I was thinking, you don’t know who I am, but all the people that bought my album know who I am, and all the people that are coming to the stadium know who I am, and the people that send out the invites for the BRIT Awards know who I am, and all the journalists that were on the red carpet know who I am. And I know who I am, but you don’t know who I am, and that is really a problem, and I’m so sorry, we’ll all do better.”
Robbie Williams then commented on the video, writing: “Oh, you don’t know Thom? Well, he’s only the most important person I’ve met in the last 12 months.”
He went on to describe Rylance as “someone who’s brought a huge amount of sunshine into my life”, and “the most talented, kind, funny, charismatic human being I’ve come across in 35 years in show business.”
“A man who works himself into the ground every day creating something out of less than nothing,” Williams continued. “In the process, he’s earned two number-one albums, a legion of fans, and the respect of an industry that usually prefers to chew people up and spit them out.
“And you want to casually diminish him because you don’t know who he is?,” he added. “Well, I’ve no idea who you are either… but I think we’ve learned everything we need to know rather quickly. Thank you for saving us the time.”
It comes after the band joined Williams as an opening act for the singer’s ‘BRITPOP’ tour – also appearing with him on stage as a special guest in Manchester.
Speaking to NME on the BRITS red carpet, Rylance told us of working with Williams: “He’s my mate. We are really tight now,” adding: “we’re really close friends and watching him, anytime I get to see him perform, it’s like a masterclass.”
“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 added. “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. 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.”
In other news, the Lottery Winners released their latest album, ‘KOKO’, in 2025, and became 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.
They’ll 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 Williams, in January, he broke The Beatles’ record for the most UK Number One albums with his latest album ‘BRITPOP’. It marked the 16th chart-topper of his solo career.
In a three-star review of ‘BRITPOP’, NME described the album as “a love letter to the ’90s and a bid to live forever”.
“He’s standing firm. Rather than neck a BuzzBall on a Lime Bike and do his take on ‘Brat’, Robbie knows his game and has done a record for himself,” it added. “An album to be remembered for? Probably not, but it’s bold, it’s a laugh, and he’s done it his way. That’s what makes him Robbie. For that alone, he’ll live forever.”
