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Robbie Williams

Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, Life thru a Lens, was released in 1997, and included his best-selling single "Angels". His second album, I've Been Expecting You, featured the songs "Millennium" and "She's the One", his first number one singles. His discography includes seven UK No. 1 singles, and all but one of his 14 studio albums have reached No. 1 in the UK. Six of his albums are among the top 100 biggest-selling albums in the UK, with two of them in the top 60, and he gained a Guinness World Record in 2006 for selling 1.6 million tickets in a single day during his Close Encounters Tour.

Williams has received a record 18 Brit Awards, winning Best British Male Artist four times, Outstanding Contribution to Music twice, an Icon Award for his lasting impact on British culture, eight German ECHO Awards, and three MTV European Music Awards. In 2004, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame after being voted the Greatest Artist of the 1990s. According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), he has been certified for 20.36 million albums and 9.2 million singles in the UK as a solo artist. Five of his albums have also topped the Australian albums chart, and has sold 75 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He also topped the 2000–2010 UK airplay chart. His three concerts at Knebworth in 2003 drew over 375,000 people, the UK's biggest music event to that point. In 2014, he was awarded the freedom of his hometown of Stoke-on-Trent and had a tourist trail created and streets named in his honour. Williams' latest compilation album, XXV, was released on 9 September 2022.

After 15 years, Williams rejoined Take That in 2010 to co-write and perform lead vocals on their album Progress, which became the second-fastest-selling album in UK chart history and the fastest-selling record of the century at the time. The subsequent stadium tour, which featured seven songs from Williams' solo career, became the biggest-selling concert in UK history when it sold 1.34 million tickets in less than 24 hours. In 2011, Take That frontman Gary Barlow confirmed that Williams had left the band for a second time to focus on his solo career, although he stated that the departure was amicable and that Williams was welcome to rejoin Take That in the future. Williams has since performed with Take That on three separate television appearances,  and collaborated with Barlow on a number of projects such as the West End musical The Band.

Early life
Robert Peter Williams was born on 13 February 1974 in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of Janet (née Farrell) and Peter Williams (also known as Pete Conway), who ran a pub called the Red Lion in Burslem before becoming the licensee at the Port Vale FC Social Club. His maternal grandfather was an Irishman from Kilkenny. He attended St Margaret Ward Catholic School in Tunstall and participated in several school plays, most notably in the role of the Artful Dodger in a production of Oliver!

1990–1995: First stint
In 1990, the sixteen-year-old Williams was the youngest member to join Take That. According to the documentary Take That: For the Record, his mother read an advertisement seeking members for a new boy band and suggested that he try out for the group. He met fellow member Mark Owen on the day of his audition/interview with Nigel Martin-Smith. Although the majority of the group's material was written and performed by Gary Barlow, Williams performed lead vocals on their first Top Three hits "Could It Be Magic", "I Found Heaven", and "Everything Changes". Williams' use of alcohol and cocaine brought him into conflict with Martin-Smith over the behaviour rules for Take That members.

In November 1994, Williams's drug use had escalated; he nearly had a drug overdose the night before the group was scheduled to perform at the MTV Europe Music Awards. According to the documentary For the Record, he was unhappy with his musical ideas not being taken seriously by Martin-Smith and lead singer Barlow; his desire to explore hip hop and rap conflicted with Take That's usual ballads. Barlow stated in interviews that Williams had given up trying to offer creative input.

Noting Williams's increasingly belligerent behaviour and poor attendance at rehearsals, and worried that he might leave the group during their upcoming tour, Barlow and Jason Orange took their concerns to Martin-Smith. During one of the last rehearsals before the tour commenced, the three confronted Williams about his attitude and stated they wanted to do the tour without him. He agreed to quit and left the group in July 1995; it would be the last time for twelve years that they were all together. Despite the departure of Williams, Take That completed their Nobody Else Tour as a four-piece. They later disbanded on 13 February 1996, Williams's 22nd birthday.

Shortly afterwards, Williams was photographed by the press partying with the members of Oasis at Glastonbury Festival. Following his departure, he became the subject of talk shows and newspapers as he acknowledged his plans to become a solo singer, and he was spotted partying with George Michael in France. A clause in his Take That contract prohibited him from releasing any material until after the group was officially dissolved, and he was later sued by Martin-Smith and forced to pay $200,000 in commission. After various legal battles over his right to a solo career, Williams succeeded in getting released from his contract with BMG. On 27 June 1996, he signed with Chrysalis Records.

2006–2011: Second stint
By March 2009, Williams had shown interest in rejoining Take That; the band completed their The Circus Live without him. In spite of rumours that Williams was working in New York with Take That in September that year, by the day of the Children in Need charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall in November they were still performing separately. Both did join with the other acts in the final song of the evening, with Williams putting his arm around Gary Barlow and singing "Hey Jude".

On 15 July 2010, Williams reconciled with his former colleagues and rejoined Take That. In November 2010 the Take That album Progress was released, becoming the fastest selling album since 2000 and the second fastest selling album in UK history. The group travelled across the UK on their Progress Live tour, which included eight nights at Wembley Stadium in London, then continued across Europe. The tour was the fastest selling in UK history with ticket hotlines and websites crashing under the demand.

In August 2012, Take That performed at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Williams was due to perform with Take That but missed the performance because his wife gave birth at around the same time; the group performed as a four-piece.

Although still officially part of Take That, Williams chose not to return for group's seventh and eighth studio albums and their accompanying tours, focusing instead on his solo commitments. He continued to write music with his colleagues and has performed with the group on several occasions since 2011's Progress tour and planned to return for a full tour to celebrate Take That's 30th anniversary in 2019.

1996–1998: Life thru a Lens and I've Been Expecting You
Williams launched his solo career in 1996 with a cover of George Michael's "Freedom", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart. Recordings for Williams's first album began at London's Maison Rouge studios in March 1997. Shortly after his introduction to songwriter and producer Guy Chambers, Williams released "Old Before I Die", the first single from his debut album. The single reached number two on the UK Charts; it was largely ignored on international charts. His debut album, Life thru a Lens, was released in September 1997. The album launched with his first live solo gig at the Élysée Montmartre theatre in Paris, France. The album debuted at number eleven on the UK Albums Chart.

"Angels", the fourth single, is Williams' best-seller in the United Kingdom. The song, apart from becoming a hit around Europe and Latin America, caused sales of his album to skyrocket. The album remained in the British top ten for forty weeks and spent 218 weeks there altogether, making it the 58th best selling album in UK history with sales of over 2.4 million. The album eventually managed to sell over three million copies in Europe.

Williams and Chambers started writing the second album, I've Been Expecting You, in Jamaica in early 1998. The first single, "Millennium", accompanied with a music video featuring Williams parodying James Bond, complete with tuxedo and references to Bond films like Thunderball and From Russia with Love, became Williams' first solo number one single in the United Kingdom. It also became a top twenty hit in many European countries, Latin America and Australia.

I've Been Expecting You was released in late October 1998 and debuted at number one in the UK Albums Chart. The album received more attention outside the United Kingdom, leaving its mark in the European and Latin American markets with hits such as "No Regrets", a collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys' singer Neil Tennant and the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon. "She's the One", a cover of a World Party track written by Karl Wallinger, became Williams' second UK number-one single. Williams finished the year with a European Tour late in 1999. I've Been Expecting You sold almost 3 million copies in the UK and was certified 10× Platinum by the BPI. In Europe, the album sold over 4 million copies.

1999–2001: Sing When You're Winning and Swing When You're Winning
In 1999, Williams was signed to Capitol Records in the United States, a part of EMI. He embarked on a United States promotional tour and released his first United States and Canadian single, "Millennium". The compilation album The Ego Has Landed was released in July 1999 in the United States and Canada. In the middle of promotion and the tours in 1999, Williams began work on his third studio album.

The first single taken from the album was "Rock DJ", a song inspired by Williams's UNICEF mentor, the late Ian Dury. The video created by Fred & Farid showed Williams in an attempt to get noticed by a group of women, first stripping and then tearing chunks of skin and muscle from his body, and caused controversy in the United Kingdom and many other countries. The video was edited by Top of the Pops for its graphic content and many other channels followed suit. The song became an instant hit, reaching number one in the UK (becoming his third number one single as a solo artist) and New Zealand. The song went on to win "Best Song of 2000" at the MTV Europe Music Awards, "Best Single of the Year" at the Brit Awards and an MTV Video Music Award for Best Special Effects.

When the album, Sing When You're Winning was released in August 2000, it topped the charts in many different countries. In the UK the album was certified 2× Platinum on its first week of release. After the success of his third album, Williams wanted to take another musical direction. He took two weeks off from his tour to record Swing When You're Winning, his fourth studio album. Born from his lifelong love for Frank Sinatra – combined with the success of the track "Have You Met Miss Jones?" that he recorded for the film Bridget Jones' Diary in 2001 – the album was recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles.

Williams took the chance to duet with his long-time friend Jonathan Wilkes, Little Voice star Jane Horrocks, Saturday Night Live star Jon Lovitz, Rupert Everett and actress Nicole Kidman. The first single released from the album was a duet with Kidman, on "Somethin' Stupid". Originally a hit for Frank and Nancy Sinatra, the song became Williams' fifth number one hit in the UK. It eventually went on to become one of the biggest hits of 2001. "Beyond the Sea" was featured over the credits of the film Finding Nemo in 2003 and was also released on the film's soundtrack CD. A DVD, Robbie Williams Live at the Albert Hall, was released in December of that year. So far, it has become one of the best selling music DVDs in Europe, being certified 6× Platinum in the United Kingdom and 2× Platinum in Germany.

2002–2005: Escapology and Intensive Care
In 2002, Williams signed a record-breaking £80 million contract with EMI. The contract included a number of provisos, including the label ceding greater creative control to the artist and a commitment to breaking Williams into the US market. It remains the biggest music deal in British history. The deal was brokered by Ingenious Media, a UK corporate finance advisory business. Williams began working on what would be his fifth studio album, spending a year in the recording studio. The album heralded a new era for Williams. He had taken a more active role in the making of this album. "One Fine Day", "Nan's Song", and "Come Undone" were the first songs that Williams wrote without the input of Guy Chambers. Most of the songs were recorded in Los Angeles.

The album's first single, "Feel", written by Williams and Chambers, was recorded as a demo. When they started working on the album and were trying to re-record the vocals, Williams felt dissatisfied with it, so he decided to include the demo version and then release it as the first single. When the single was released in late 2002, it became Williams' biggest international hit, going number one in The Netherlands and Italy and reaching the top ten in many European countries. When Williams' fifth studio album, Escapology, was released in late 2002, it hit number one in at least 10 countries around the world. In the United States, it failed to make such an impact. Escapology sold almost 2 million copies by the end of 2003 in the United Kingdom. On 1–3 August 2003, Williams played three consecutive concerts at Knebworth to 125,000 people each night, making it the biggest event in UK music history. Memorable performances included "Come Undone" where he interjected with "Britain, I'm Your Son", and further interacted with the audience when he brought a girl up on stage. In October 2003, Williams released a live album of the concerts, Live at Knebworth.

In October 2004, Williams released, Greatest Hits, a retrospective of his career, and also, to reveal the new tracks he had been working on with the then-new collaborator, Stephen Duffy. "Radio", the compilation's first single, debuted at number one in the UK Singles Chart (becoming Williams' sixth number-one hit). When the compilation was later released it debuted at number one in the UK and was the best selling album of the year in the UK and Europe. Eight years after the release of "Angels", the British public voted it as the "Best Single of the Past Twenty-Five Years" at the 2005 Brit Awards.

After touring Latin America in late 2004 for the promotion Greatest Hits, Williams started working on his sixth studio album. Recorded at his house in the Hollywood Hills, the album was co-written by Stephen Duffy over the course of 24 months. The album Intensive Care was launched in Berlin on 9 October. It became an international hit. In November 2005, Williams took home the MTV Europe Music Award for 'Best Male', but also, entered in The Guinness Book of World Records when he announced his World Tour for 2006, selling 1.6 million tickets in one single day. Williams kicked off his Close Encounters World Tour in South Africa in April 2006; when he finished his European leg of the tour, 2.5 million people had seen the show and, after touring Latin America and Australia, the numbers went up to 3 million.

2006–2009: Rudebox and Reality Killed the Video Star
Williams released his much anticipated dance/electro album, Rudebox, on 23 October 2006. It featured collaborations with the Pet Shop Boys, William Orbit, Soul Mekanik, Joey Negro, Mark Ronson, Chris Grierson, and The Orr Boys. It received mixed reviews: Allmusic gave it a four star rating, the NME 8 out of 10, and Music Week and MOJO were equally positive, but it received much weaker reviews from some of the British press. The album sold 2× Platinum in Europe with sales of over 2 million making it the fastest platinum-selling album of 2006. To promote his album, Williams commissioned a series of short films. Goodbye to the Normals was directed by Jim Field Smith and features "Burslem Normals" by Williams.

In February 2009, it was confirmed that Williams had written material with Guy Chambers and Mark Ronson. A spokesman said that Williams was planning to begin the recording sessions in March and that the new album would be released in late 2009. This will probably be the last Williams album released by EMI. On his official website, Williams confirmed that he was working with producer Trevor Horn on his new album, which would eventually be titled Reality Killed the Video Star, a reference to the song "Video Killed the Radio Star" by Horn's former band the Buggles. The album was released on 9 November 2009 in the United Kingdom.

On 11 October 2009 Williams published a 12-track compilation album, titled Songbook, as a free CD for the newspaper The Mail on Sunday. That same evening, Williams made his "comeback" on The X Factor results show, performing his new single "Bodies" for the first time live. On 20 October 2009 Williams opened the BBC Electric Proms at the London RoundHouse. It was his first live concert for 3 years and was broadcast across 200 cinemas worldwide. Accompanied by a string section, horn section, full band and producer Trevor Horn, Williams performed several new tracks from Reality Killed the Video Star and older tracks.

Reality Killed the Video Star was previewed in the UK on the Spotify music streaming service on 6 November 2009, and official released on 9 November. In a high-profile chart battle, Williams' album was pitted against X Factor 2008 runners-up JLS who released their debut album the same day. JLS beat Williams to the number one spot by 1500 sales. The album was also released in the United States (Williams' first album to be released there since 2002's Escapology). In late November 2009, Williams travelled to Australia to perform at the ARIA Music Awards of 2009.

2010–2012: In and Out of Consciousness and Take the Crown
In October 2010, Williams released his second greatest hits album, In and Out of Consciousness: The Greatest Hits 1990–2010, to celebrate 20 years as a performing artist. A single, "Shame", was also released, which was written and sung by Williams and Barlow.

On 21 October 2011 Williams signed with Island Records (Universal Music), following his departure from his previous record label EMI in 2010.

Williams was the opening act at the Diamond Jubilee Concert, which was co-organised by Gary Barlow, held outside Buckingham Palace on 4 June 2012. During the end of August his official website began a countdown to the release of information regarding his latest solo material, with an image of his face and his mind unveiled daily as the countdown expired. Titled Take the Crown, the album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart making it Williams' tenth number one album. It also marked the second time that Williams had a number one single ("Candy") and album at the same time on the chart. The first time was in 2001 when "Somethin' Stupid" and Swing When You're Winning were number one on the singles and albums chart respectively.

The album's lead single, "Candy", premiered on 10 September 2012 and was released on 11 September in most countries and 29 October in the UK. In the UK, "Candy" became Williams' first number one single since "Radio" (2004) and his seventh solo number one single. In its first week the song had sold 137,000 copies becoming the fastest-selling male artist single of the year. On 26 November 2012 Williams announced a 17 date stadium tour of Europe. Williams also confirmed that the support act for the tour would be Olly Murs who also duets with him on "Kids". Universal and EMI merged in 2012, bringing Williams' Chrysalis/Virgin recordings full circle to Universal.

2013–2014: Swings Both Ways and Under the Radar Volume 1

In September 2013, Williams announced a follow-up to his 2001 swing album, titled Swings Both Ways for release in November. The album features covers and original songs, whilst also including duet recordings with Michael Bublé, Olly Murs, Rufus Wainwright, Lily Allen and Kelly Clarkson. In November 2013, Williams made a cameo appearance in the video to Murs's song "Hand on Heart".

Williams released a compilation album entitled Under the Radar Volume 1 on 1 December 2014 through his website, featuring leftovers and unreleased songs. "[These are] loads and loads of songs that I have written that I am incredibly passionate about, I want you to hear them, otherwise they are just going to remain in my computer!" Williams said that Guy Chambers was "not happy" about these songs being released online: "He thinks I am a lunatic for not putting them on an album that we have promoted with TV performances and at radio stations and a big tour," Williams said. "But I am an impetuous bugger, and I want them out now, now, now!"

2016–2018: The Heavy Entertainment Show, and The X Factor
In May 2016, it was announced that Williams had signed a recording contract with Sony Music. In a statement, Williams said: "They're [Sony Music] inspired, I'm inspired. I'm more ready than I ever have been and I'm totally convinced I'm in the right place. I look forward to working on this album, which is an album I'm immensely proud of, in this exciting new partnership with Sony Music." The Heavy Entertainment Show became his 12th UK number-one album, putting him level with Madonna. In July 2017, Williams announced a new album, Under the Radar Volume 2, which was released in November 2017. A third edition in the Under the Radar series was released on Valentine's Day of 2019.

On 14 June 2018, Williams performed at the 2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. Williams sang "Let Me Entertain You" and "Feel" before he performed a duet of "Angels" with Russian soprano Aida Garifullina. Williams then performed an encore with "Rock DJ", during which he gave the finger. Fox in the U.S. apologised for the incident which they had broadcast live. The incident was not shown on ITV in the UK who had cut away prior to the encore. Williams appeared on This Morning on 19 June and explained what happened, "It was one minute to kick off, I was under a lot of pressure, because there was one minute left and I didn't know how I was going to do half a minute, so I just did a one-minute countdown [using his middle finger]." Asked by presenter Phillip Schofield whether he regrets it, he said: "Yeah, of course, yeah. I cannot trust me. I don't know what I'm going to do at any time. There's no, sort of, plan. The plan was, sing in key, don't fall over. That was the plan and 99% of the plan, I pulled off." When asked did the idea just enter his head he responded, "Nothing actually pops into my head. There's a block between me and sense... then something happens and then five minutes later, I'm like, 'Did I? Yeah, I did, didn't I?".

On 17 July 2018, Williams along with his wife, and One Direction star Louis Tomlinson, were announced as the new judges on the fifteenth series of The X Factor in the UK, joining Simon Cowell and replacing Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Nicole Scherzinger.

2019–present: The Christmas Present, Lufthaus, and XXV
On 22 November, Williams released his first Christmas album titled The Christmas Present, which features guest appearances from boxer Tyson Fury, Rod Stewart, Jamie Cullum, Helene Fischer and Bryan Adams. The album debuted at number two on the UK Charts behind Coldplay's Everyday Life. The album sold over 67,000 copies, which is identical sales to his previous studio album release The Heavy Entertainment Show, Williams also sold over 10,000 cassettes in 7 days, which is the most in two decades. The following week saw Williams' album go to #1 in the UK, outselling the nearest competitor Rod Stewart by 5,000 copies. This was Williams' 13th UK number-one album, tying Elvis Presley for the most UK number-one albums. Williams released the promotional single "Hey Tiger" in December 2019, for the new version of The Tiger Who Came to Tea.

On 25 February 2022, it was revealed that Williams had teamed up with his regular collaborators Tim Metcalfe and Flynn Francis to record the trance track "Sway" under the new alias 'Lufthaus'. In April 2022, The Guardian observed that while Williams "remains a big draw", he was no longer guaranteed hits and was "now more likely to be playlisted on Smooth Radio than BBC Radio 1". Williams said he was working on more experimental music, which he likened to David Bowie and Lou Reed, but said: "Do I unashamedly want to still be one of the biggest artists in the world? Yeah, I do ... I've had an interesting first half of my life. I'd like an interesting second half, too." In May 2022 Williams performed at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, specifically for the upcoming biopic Better Man. The film is being produced at the Docklands Studios Melbourne and was expected to be released in the second half of 2023, however, no release date has been confirmed.

On 7 June 2022, Williams announced that his tenth compilation album, XXV, would be released on 9 September 2022. It will feature new, reimagined versions of his hit songs, plus new material. On the same day as this announcement, Williams released "Angels XXV", a reworked version of "Angels". On 10 June 2022, "Angels (XXV)" reached number 92 on the UK Official Singles Sales Chart, rising to 74 a week later. On 5 August 2022, Williams released the single "Lost", also taken from XXV. XXV was released on 9 September 2022 and debuted a week later at number 1 on the UK Official Albums Chart. In doing so, Williams broke all previous Official Chart records with his fourteenth solo number one album. On 24 September 2022, Williams performed at the 2022 AFL Grand Final held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia. Williams sang "Let Me Entertain You", "Rock DJ", "Lost" and "Feel" before he performed "Angels" which Williams dedicated to Australian cricketer Shane Warne, who had died in March 2022. Williams then covered John Farnham's "You're the Voice" stating "The next song is the unofficial national anthem of Australia! Let's all send our love to John and his family". Just two days prior on 22 September 2022, John Farnham had released a statement outlining that he was to undergo immediate surgery after being diagnosed with cancer. Williams then performed "Kids" with Australian singer Delta Goodrem.

On 7 October 2022, Lufthaus released the single "Soul Seekers". Williams' XXV tour started on 9 October 2022 in The O2 Arena, supported by Lufthaus. In November 2022, Williams performed in Qatar as part of the country's FIFA World Cup 2022 celebrations. His appearance attracted criticism due to Qatar's human rights abuses and strict LGBT laws. After the criticism, Williams stated, "I don't condone any abuses of human rights anywhere [...] if we're not condoning human rights abuses anywhere, then it would be the shortest tour the world has ever known: I wouldn't even be able to perform in my own kitchen [...] Anybody leaving messages saying 'no to Qatar' are doing so on Chinese technology [...] the hypocrisy there is that if we take that case in this place, we need to apply that unilaterally to the world. Then if we apply that unilaterally to the world, nobody can go anywhere."

On 5 May 2023, Williams was featured on the bilingual single "Une Tahitienne á Paris", by French singer Mareva Galanter. On 21 August 2023, Williams was featured with a cameo performance on the single "Punk's Dead", by English duo Soft Play. Lufthaus' debut album, "Visions, Volume 1" was released on 6 October 2023. The single "Immortal", featuring singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor, was released the day before.

On 2 May 2024, Williams was featured on the duet version of Lucy Spraggan's 2020 single "Sober".

Collaborations
Robbie Williams collaborated with Australian pop star Kylie Minogue on the song "Kids". The single peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart in 2000. Williams also collaborated with Australian film star Nicole Kidman on a cover of Frank and Nancy Sinatra's "Somethin' Stupid". The single reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart in 2001. His single "No Regrets" featured Neil Tennant, and Neil Hannon on backing vocals. In 2001, Williams recorded "We Are the Champions" with Queen for the 2001 medieval adventure film A Knight's Tale.

In 2002, Williams appeared on the track "My Culture" on the 1 Giant Leap album, alongside rapper Maxi Jazz (which features lyrics from the hidden track "Hello Sir" from Life thru a Lens). Williams also features on a double CD titled Concrete which was released on the same day as Rudebox. The CD features a concert recorded for the BBC featuring the Pet Shop Boys and Williams singing their classic hit "Jealousy". Their joint effort, "She's Madonna", was released as a single in March 2007. On 13 August 2007, a Dean Martin duets album was released, on which Williams sings "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone".

In 2010, he announced the release of "Shame", a duet with Take That lead singer songwriter Gary Barlow, as the first single from his greatest hits collection, In and Out of Consciousness: The Greatest Hits 1990–2010, which was certified silver in the UK and charted in 19 countries worldwide. In 2010, Williams and comedian/actor Russell Brand along with Frank Skinner, David Baddiel and singer-songwriter Ian Broudie (of The Lightning Seeds), under the name "The Squad", recorded a new version of "Three Lions", the England football team's song, for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In 2012, Williams recorded a duet with Mexican recording artist Thalía for the Spanish song "Te quiero dijiste (Muñequita linda)", included on her album Habítame Siempre.

In 2019, he collaborated with British comedian Jimmy Carr, co-writing the lyrics for "Live in Las Vegas" – the opening song of Williams's residency at the Wynn Las Vegas. A studio version of the song has been recorded excerpts of which have been used in promotional material for the show, but the song is not yet available for download.

Other work
In 2005 Williams provided the voice of Dougal in the film adaption of The Magic Roundabout. On 26 August 2010, it was announced Williams would become a guest vocal coach on the ninth series of German reality television show Popstars: Girls forever to teach candidates for a girl group.

On 20 September 2010, Williams released his second book called You Know Me in collaboration with Chris Heath. The book features a collection of photographs of Williams from the past 20 years of his career and discussion of them by Williams as transcribed by Heath. Williams launched a radio show titled Radio Rudebox on 6 October 2011 where he played music and interviewed Gary Barlow.

Video games
Williams recorded the song "It's Only Us" as the theme for the FIFA video game FIFA 2000. As part of the agreement to license the track EA Sports included Port Vale, the football club Williams supports, in the game, despite only being in the third tier of the English football league system.

Williams features in his own karaoke video game, We Sing Robbie Williams, which was released on 12 November 2010 by Nordic Games Publishing AB.

Football
In 2005, Williams founded a football team called Los Angeles Vale F.C. Williams formed the club with other celebrity friends after building his own soccer pitch at his home in Los Angeles. The club was named after Williams' hometown club, Port Vale, and its logo was very similar. The club supposedly was disbanded in 2007, reportedly after Williams discovered two players had swindled him out of £200,000.

In January 2024, Williams was named president of Port Vale Football Club in Stoke-on-Trent.

Farrell clothing
In 2011, Williams announced he was working with entrepreneur Peter Jones in developing a clothing line called Farrell in honour of his grandfather Jack Farrell. Although the business had filed for bankruptcy, it was later relaunched in 2014 with support of clothing company Primark.

Musical theatre
In 2018, it was announced that Williams and Guy Chambers would write the music and lyrics (with a book by Mark Ravenhill) for the stage musical adaptation of David Walliams’ children's book The Boy in the Dress for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The musical opened in November 2019 at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon where it ran for an 18-week season, earning rave reviews from the critics and audiences.

Influences
During his childhood, Williams was influenced by swing musicians such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. The first records he listened to were released by Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Cole Porter, which belonged to his mother. At the age of 10, he got into hip hop and started collecting electro albums; and when he started his solo career in the ‘90s, he was influenced by Britpop bands such as Oasis, Blur and Pulp.

As a singer, his influences include Tom Jones, Elvis Presley and Bono. He worked with Jones several times throughout his career: They performed together at the Brit Awards in 1998; the following year, they recorded a cover of the song "Are You Gonna Go My Way" for Jones' album Reload; and in 2012, Williams and Jones worked together again on the song "On My Own", b-side of his single "Different".

Williams also feels great admiration for Freddie Mercury and Queen. In 2001, Williams, Brian May and Roger Taylor released a new version of "We Are the Champions" for the movie A Knight's Tale. He also revealed that he was once asked to be the new frontman of Queen, but that he turned down the offer because of his "very low self-esteem". He said: "I just thought I'd save them the audacity of me even trying to step on a stage and be in the same echelon as Freddie Mercury. Because he, to me, is angelic. He's godlike. It was just too scary."

Williams has revealed that he does the "Elvis Prayer" before going on stage at every concert. In 2000, he got a tattoo of the phrase "Elvis Grant Me Serenity" and he also played as an Elvis impersonator in the music video for his song "Advertising Space" (2005).

Speaking to BBC Radio 2 in February 2021, Williams cited Ian Dury as his biggest inspiration as a lyricist. He sings on "You're the Why", the final track of the posthumously released album Ten More Turnips from the Tip (2002).

Legacy
By 2008, Williams had sold more albums in the UK than any other British solo artist in history. His record sales stand at over 77 million worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. Williams was entered in The Guinness Book of World Records when, after he announced his World Tour for 2006, 1.6 million tickets were sold in one day.

Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian wrote that Williams is "a perfect meeting of ego, self-deprecation and hits", adding "there really is nobody else, in pop music anyway, who combines monumental hamminess and bone-deep vulnerability quite so effectively."

Williams has won significantly more Brit Awards than any other artist, a record eighteen—Best British Male Artist four times, two awards for Outstanding Contribution to Music and the 2017 Brits Icon for his "lasting impact on British culture", and eight German ECHO awards. In 2004, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, after being voted as the Greatest artist of the 1990s. He appeared in the 2009 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records when his sell-out show at the BBC Electric Proms at London's Roundhouse was screened by more than 250 cinemas across 23 countries to set a new record for the most simultaneous cinematic screenings of a live concert. Williams appears in the list of the all-time Top 100 biggest selling albums in the UK six times–with four albums in the top 60.

In 2005, the British public voted "Angels" the song they would most like played at their funeral. In October 2009, it was announced that he would receive the Outstanding Contribution to British Music award at the 2010 Brit Awards. In September 2010, Williams switched on the Blackpool illuminations, stating that it was one of the greatest honours he had achieved. In October, Media Control named Williams the most successful album-artist of the millennium due to the fact that he had spent No. 1 on the German Albums Chart for 38 weeks since 2000. He also reached that chart's Top Ten 135 times.

He was ranked at No. 11 the greatest frontman of all time in a reader poll by Q magazine.

Influence on other artists
Contemporary artists have expressed their admiration for Williams and cited him as one of their influences. The English rapper Example admitted his obsession with Williams and how he had been inspired by Williams' performances when he was younger. He described his own performance on stage as "a combination of rap, rock and Robbie Williams".

Ed Sheeran, in an interview with El Hormiguero, revealed the first album he ever bought was Life Thru a Lens. Olly Murs paid tribute to Williams' "Angels" music video in the music video for his single "Hand on Heart". One of Louis Tomlinson's earliest influences was Williams, of whom he declared he is a big fan.

Residence
In 2006, Williams emigrated to Los Angeles. He briefly moved back to the UK in 2009 when he bought an £8.5 million mansion in Compton Bassett, but sold the property a year later to move back to Los Angeles.

In 2016, he moved into Woodland House, a £17 million mansion in the Kensington area of London. His next-door neighbour there is Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, who has lived in The Tower House since 1972. In 2018, Page delayed Williams' plans for an underground swimming pool, stating that construction work would damage The Tower House.

In 2017, he sold his mansion in Beverly Hills to DJ Khaled for $9.9 million.

Health issues
Williams has reportedly battled mental illness, obesity, self-esteem issues, alcoholism, and substance abuse throughout his life. He has discussed how his friend Elton John booked him into a clinic to cope with his drug use that emerged from the depression he was experiencing while still in Take That.

Williams revealed in 2011 he had been experiencing lethargy caused by a type of hormone imbalance called andropause for a number of years, and thought at first it was a return of his depression. In a June 2020 interview with Weight Watchers Magazine, he revealed that he had developed an addiction to online golf games.

Williams also has dyslexia and dyscalculia.

Interests
Williams has a keen interest in UFOs and related paranormal phenomena, and researched the subject during his 2007–2008 sabbatical. He participated in a documentary for BBC Radio 4 with Jon Ronson about the paranormal. The documentary followed them to a UFO convention in Nevada, during which Williams linked his obsession in the paranormal with the desire to understand his childhood fears of his mother's belief in "the world's mysteries, elves, demons, [and] witchcraft".

Williams featured in a 2018 TV documentary Hunt for the Skinwalker by Jeremy Corbell, and revealed that his partner Ayda Field dissuaded him from buying the Skinwalker Ranch when it became for sale.

Williams became an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church Monastery to officiate the wedding of friends.

Williams has a number of tattoos, many of which are related to British culture. These include:
 * an Ace of Spades, commemorating heavy metal band Motörhead.
 * a fez, common headwear of comedian Tommy Cooper.
 * the logo of The Saint, tribute to Roger Moore who played the titular character on the TV show.
 * the spectacles logo of The Two Ronnies, the comedy sketch show of the TV double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett.
 * the "skip dance" pose of Morecambe and Wise, another TV comic double act (Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise).
 * a Stafford knot, a symbol of his home county Staffordshire.
 * the logo of his former group Take That.
 * the coat of arms of Burslem, the town in Stoke-on-Trent where he grew up.
 * the notes and words of the first line of the chorus of the Beatles' song "All You Need Is Love" on his lower back.

Williams became a fan of his hometown football team Port Vale FC as a child after his father became the licensee of the team's social club. He has played in a testimonial match for club legend Neil Aspin and helped to design the playing strip for the 2020–21 season. He is also a supporter of the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League.

In 2020, Williams received backlash for defending the widely debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory.

Relationships and fatherhood
In 1997, Williams was in a month-long relationship with Spice Girls singer Melanie Chisholm. In December 1997, he met the All Saints singer Nicole Appleton while filming Top of the Pops. In the next year, they started a relationship and even got engaged. After Appleton aborted her and Williams' baby they ended their relationship in 1999. In 2000, Williams was in a short-term relationship with Geri Halliwell who also had been a singer of the Spice Girls.

In May 2006, Williams started dating American actress Ayda Field. She was featured in the UFO documentary that Williams did for BBC Radio 4 and took part in a field investigation he did in Trout Lake, Washington, in 2008. Williams and Field wed at his home in Mulholland Estates in Beverly Hills on 7 August 2010. They have four children: daughters Theodora and Colette, and sons Charlton and Beau. Williams's wife is Ashkenazi Jewish. Williams considers his children to be Jewish.

There have been questions about Williams's sexuality, with some speculating that he may be bisexual. In an interview with the Daily Star, he stated: "I love musical theatre and a lot of the other things that are often associated with gays. I am 49% homosexual and sometimes as far as 50%. However, that would imply that I enjoy having a particular sort of fun, which I don't."

Wealth
In the 2011 Sunday Times Rich List of wealthiest people in the British music industry, his wealth was estimated at £90 million. Williams is a lifelong supporter of football club Port Vale, based in his home town of Stoke-on-Trent, and in February 2006 he bought £240,000 worth of shares in the club, making him the largest shareholder. However, the club entered administration on 9 March 2012, and as a result Williams lost all of his shares in the club and received only a fraction of his original investment back.

Charity
Williams has set up a charity in his home town of Stoke-on-Trent entitled Give It Sum, its goal being to "improve local conditions and strengthen community life by giving money to those who are disadvantaged."

Williams, with the help of friend Jonathan Wilkes, has organised charity football matches called Soccer Aid to raise money for UNICEF UK. A mixture of non-football celebrities and professional football players have played Soccer Aid matches in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 at Old Trafford, and Etihad Stadium in Manchester and Wembley Stadium, Stamford Bridge, and the London Stadium in London.

Williams has been the Patron of the children's charity the Donna Louise Trust, based in Stoke-on-Trent, since 2002. The charity offers respite and palliative care to terminally ill and life-limited children who are not expected to live past the age of 16.

Awards and nominations
Williams has won various awards, with some of his more recognised accolades being the Brit Awards. He has won a record eighteen Brit Awards, which also include the Brits he won with Take That, making him the most successful artist in the history of the awards. He has also won 8 Echo Awards from the German music industry.

Discography
Studio albums as a solo artist

See also
 * Life thru a Lens (1997)
 * I've Been Expecting You (1998)
 * Sing When You're Winning (2000)
 * Swing When You're Winning (2001)
 * Escapology (2002)
 * Intensive Care (2005)
 * Rudebox (2006)
 * Reality Killed the Video Star (2009)
 * Take the Crown (2012)
 * Swings Both Ways (2013)
 * The Heavy Entertainment Show (2016)
 * The Christmas Present (2019)
 * Under the Radar Vol. 1 (2014)
 * Under the Radar Vol. 2 (2017)
 * Under the Radar Vol. 3 (2019)

Studio albums with Take That
 * Take That & Party (1992)
 * Everything Changes (1993)
 * Nobody Else (1995)
 * Progress (2010)

Studio albums with Lufthaus
 * Visions, Vol. 1 (2023)

Solo

 * Show Off Must Go On Tour (1997)
 * Ego Has Landed Tour (1998)
 * One More for the Rogue Tour (1998–99)
 * 1999 Tour (1999) (Man, The Myth, The Tax Bill [a.k.a. Born To Be Mild], A Few Dollars More..., Get Your Coat Baby, You've Pulled!)
 * The Sermon on the Mount Tour (2000–01)
 * Weddings, Barmitzvahs & Stadiums Tour (2001)
 * 2003 Tour (2003) (Weekends of Mass Distraction, Cock of Justice, Aussie Typo)
 * Close Encounters Tour (2006)
 * Take the Crown Stadium Tour (2013)
 * Swings Both Ways Live (2014)
 * Let Me Entertain You Tour (2015)
 * The Heavy Entertainment Show Tour (2017–18)
 * XXV Tour (2022–23)

Take That

 * Party Tour (1992–93)
 * Everything Changes Tour (1993–94)
 * Pops Tour (1994–95)
 * Progress Live (2011)

Residencies

 * Robbie Williams Live in Las Vegas (2019)

Robbie Williams band
Along the tours, Robbie Williams had various members in his band. Current members
 * Robbie Williams – lead vocals, guitar, tambourine (1997–present)
 * Gary Nuttall – lead guitar, backing vocals (1997–present)
 * Guy Chambers – keyboard, guitar, backing vocals (1997–2002; 2012–present)
 * Jeremy Meehan – bass guitar, backing vocals (2004–present)
 * Karl Brazil – drums (2009–present)
 * Tom Longworth – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2012–present)
 * Denosh Bennett – backing vocals (2012–present)
 * Sara-Jane Skeete – backing vocals (2012–present)
 * Nayanna Holley – backing vocals (2012–present)

Brass (Atlantic Horns)
 * Ben Edwards – trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion (2012–present)
 * Mike Kearsey – trombones, sousaphone, keyboards, percussion (2012–present)
 * Mark Brown – saxophones, bass clarinet, acoustic guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2012–present)

Former members

 * Fil Eisler – bass, guitar, backing vocals (1997–2001)
 * Andy Wallace – keyboard, tambourine (1997–1998; 2002)
 * Steve "Smiley" Barnard – drums (1997)
 * Chris Sharrock – drums (1998–2008)
 * Alex Dickson – guitar (1998–2000)
 * Claire Worrall – keyboard, guitar, backing vocals (1998–2007)
 * Chris White – saxophone, flute (1999–2003)
 * Paul Spong – saxophone, flute (1999–2003)
 * Dave Bishop – trombone, flute (1999–2003)

 * Neil Sidwell – trombone, flute (1999–2003)
 * Simon Gardner – trumpet (1999–2003)
 * Yolande Charles – bass, backing vocals (2000–2003)
 * Tessa Niles – backing vocals (2000–2003)
 * Katie Kissoon – backing vocals (2000–2003)
 * Neil Taylor – guitar, backing vocals (2002–2012)
 * Max Beesley – piano, percussion instrument (2002–2006)
 * Stephen Duffy – guitar (2004–2006)
 * Paul Beard – keyboard (2009–2012)

title: Robbie Williams


text:
Labial consonant

Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. The two common labial articulations are bilabials, articulated using both lips, and labiodentals, articulated with the lower lip against the upper teeth, both of which are present in English. A third labial articulation is dentolabials, articulated with the upper lip against the lower teeth (the reverse of labiodental), normally only found in pathological speech. Generally precluded are linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue contacts the posterior side of the upper lip, making them coronals, though sometimes, they behave as labial consonants.

The most common distribution between bilabials and labiodentals is the English one, in which the nasal and the stops,, , and , are bilabial and the fricatives, , and , are labiodental. The voiceless bilabial fricative, voiced bilabial fricative, and the bilabial approximant do not exist as the primary realizations of any sounds in English, but they occur in many languages. For example, the Spanish consonant written b or v is pronounced, between vowels, as a voiced bilabial approximant.

Lip rounding, or labialization, is a common approximant-like co-articulatory feature. English is a voiced labialized velar approximant, which is far more common than the purely labial approximant [β̞]. In the languages of the Caucasus, labialized dorsals like /kʷ/ and /qʷ/ are very common.

Very few languages, however, make a distinction purely between bilabials and labiodentals, making "labial" usually a sufficient specification of a language's phonemes. One exception is Ewe, which has both kinds of fricatives, but the labiodentals are produced with greater articulatory force.

Lack of labials
While most languages make use of purely labial phonemes, a few generally lack them. Examples are Tlingit, Eyak (both Na-Dené), Wichita (Caddoan), and the Iroquoian languages except Cherokee.

Many of these languages are transcribed with and with labialized consonants. However, it is not always clear to what extent the lips are involved in such sounds. In the Iroquoian languages, for example, involved little apparent rounding of the lips. See the Tillamook language for an example of a language with "rounded" consonants and vowels that do not have any actual labialization. All of these languages have seen labials introduced under the influence of English.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Labial consonant


text:
Coronal consonant

Coronals, denominated point-and-blade consonants prior, are consonants articulated with the flexible front part of the tongue. Among places of articulation, only the coronal consonants can be divided into as many articulation types: apical (using the tip of the tongue), laminal (using the blade of the tongue), domed (with the tongue bunched up), or subapical (using the underside of the tongue) as well as different postalveolar articulations (some of which also involve the back of the tongue as an articulator): palato-alveolar, alveolo-palatal and retroflex. Only the front of the tongue (coronal) has such dexterity among the major places of articulation, allowing such variety of distinctions. Coronals have another dimension, grooved, to make sibilants in combination with the orientations above.

Places of articulation
Coronal places of articulation include the dental consonants at the upper teeth, the alveolar consonants at the upper gum (the alveolar ridge), the various postalveolar consonants (including domed palato-alveolar, laminal alveolo-palatal, and apical retroflex) just behind that, the subapical retroflex consonants curled back against the hard palate, and linguolabial consonants with the tongue against the upper lip. Alveolo-palatal and linguolabial consonants sometimes behave as dorsal and labial consonants, respectively, rather than as coronals.

Arabic
In Arabic and Maltese philology, the sun letters represent coronal consonants.

Australian Aboriginal
In Australian Aboriginal languages, coronals contrast with peripheral consonants.

title: Coronal consonant


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Harry R. Truman

Harry R. Truman (October 1896 – May 18, 1980) was an American businessman, bootlegger, and prospector. He lived near Mount St. Helens, an active volcano in the state of Washington, and was the owner and caretaker of Mount St. Helens Lodge at Spirit Lake near the base of the mountain. Truman came to fame as a folk hero in the months leading up to the volcano's 1980 eruption after refusing to leave his home despite evacuation orders. He was killed by a pyroclastic flow that overtook his lodge and buried the site under 150 ft of volcanic debris.

After Truman's death, his family and friends reflected on his love for the mountain. In 1981, Art Carney portrayed Truman in the docudrama film St. Helens. He was commemorated in a book by his niece, and also in various pieces of music, including songs by Headgear, Billy Jonas, and Shawn Wright and the Brothers Band.

Early life
Truman was born to foresters in Ivydale, West Virginia in October 1896. He said he did not know his exact date of birth, but gave it as the 30th of the month, including on his draft registration card in World War I. Some noncontemporaneous sources have given his middle name as Randall, but Truman stated that he did not know his middle name, just the initial R. His draft card lists his middle name as Rainel.

Truman's family moved west to Washington, drawn to the promise of cheap land and the successful timber industry in the Pacific Northwest; they settled on 160 acre of farmland in the eastern portion of Lewis County, Washington.

Career
He attended high school in the city of Mossyrock, Washington then enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private in August 1917. He was assigned to the 100th Aero Squadron, 7th Squad, and trained as an aeromechanic. He served in France during World War I. While en route to Europe, his troopship, Tuscania, was sunk by a German U-boat in a torpedo attack off the coast of Ireland.

During his service, he reportedly sustained injuries due to his audacious and independent nature. However, according to Washington State Archives, Truman served overseas from January 24, 1918, until February 1, 1919, but this record states he did not have wounds or injuries received in action and did not participate in any engagements. It also states he had a disability rating of zero at the time he was discharged.

Truman was honorably discharged on June 12, 1919, and he began prospecting, but failed to achieve his goal of becoming rich. He later became a bootlegger, smuggling alcohol from San Francisco to Washington during the Prohibition era.

At some point, Truman returned to Chehalis, Washington, where he ran an automotive service station called Harry's Sudden Service. He also married the daughter of a sawmill owner; they had one daughter.

Truman grew tired of civilization after a few years and leased 50 acres from the Northern Pacific Railroad Company overlooking Spirit Lake in the wilderness near Mount St. Helens, a stratovolcano of the Cascade Range located in Skamania County, Washington. He settled near the base of the mountain and opened a gas station and a small grocery store; he eventually opened the Mount St. Helens Lodge, close to the outlet of Spirit Lake 46.26578°N, -122.15956°W, which he operated for 52 years.

During the 1930s, Truman divorced his first wife; he remarried in 1935. The second marriage was short, as he reportedly attempted to win arguments by throwing his wife into Spirit Lake, despite her inability to swim. He began dating a local girl, though he eventually married the girl's sister Edna, whom he called Edie. This third marriage held, and he and Edna operated the Mount St. Helens Lodge together until her death from a heart attack in 1978.

In the Mount St. Helens area, Truman became notorious for his antics, once getting a forest ranger drunk so that he could burn a pile of brush. He poached, stole gravel from the U.S. Forest Service, and fished on American Indian land with a fake game warden badge. Despite their knowledge of these criminal activities, local rangers failed to catch him in the act. When the Washington state government changed the state sales tax, Truman kept charging the old rate at his lodge. A tax agency employee rented a boat from him, but refused to pay his tax rate, so Truman pushed him into Spirit Lake.

Truman was a fan of the cocktail drink Whiskey and Coke made with Schenley whiskey and Coca-Cola. He owned a pink 1957 Cadillac, and he swore frequently. He loved discussing politics and reportedly hated Republicans, hippies, young children, and the elderly. He once refused to allow Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas to stay at his lodge, dismissing him as an "old coot". He changed his mind when he learned Douglas' identity, chased him for 1 mi, to a neighboring lodge and convinced him to stay. When his wife Edna died in 1978, Truman closed his lodge and afterward only rented out a handful of boats and cabins during the summer.

Celebrity
Truman became a minor celebrity during the two months of volcanic activity preceding the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, giving interviews to reporters and expressing his opinion that the danger was exaggerated. "I don't have any idea whether it will blow," he said, "but I don't believe it to the point that I'm going to pack up." Truman displayed little concern about the volcano and his situation: "If the mountain goes, I'm going with it. This area is heavily timbered, Spirit Lake is in between me and the mountain, and the mountain is a mile away, the mountain ain't gonna hurt me." Law-enforcement officials were incensed by his refusal to evacuate because media representatives kept entering the restricted zone near the volcano to interview him, endangering themselves in the process. Still, Truman remained steadfast. "You couldn't pull me out with a mule team. That mountain's part of Truman and Truman's part of that mountain."

Truman told reporters that he was knocked from his bed by precursor earthquakes, so he responded by moving his mattress to the basement. He claimed to wear spurs to bed to cope with the earthquakes while he slept. He scoffed at the public's concern for his safety, responding to scientists' claims about the threat of the volcano that "the mountain has shot its wad and it hasn't hurt my place a bit, but those goddamn geologists with their hair down to their butts wouldn't pay no attention to ol' Truman."

As a result of his defiant commentary, Truman became something of a folk hero, and was the subject of many songs and poems by children. One group of children from Salem, Oregon, sent him banners inscribed "Harry – We Love You", which moved him so much that he took a helicopter trip (paid for by National Geographic) to visit them on May 14. He also received many fan letters, including several marriage proposals. A group of fifth graders from Grand Blanc, Michigan, wrote letters that brought him to tears. In return, he sent them a letter and volcanic ash, which the students later sold to buy flowers for his family after the eruption.

He caused a media frenzy, appearing on the front page of The New York Times and The San Francisco Examiner and attracting the attention of National Geographic, United Press International, and The Today Show. Many major magazines composed profiles, including Time, Life, Newsweek, Field & Stream, and Reader's Digest. A historian named Richard W. Slatta wrote that "his fiery attitude, brash speech, love of the outdoors, and fierce independence… made him a folk hero the media could adore." Slatta pointed to Truman's "unbendable character and response to the forces of nature" as a source of his rise to fame, and the interviews with him added "color" to reports about the events at Mount St. Helens. Truman was immortalized, according to Slatta, "with many of the embellished qualities of the western hero", and the media spotlight created a persona that was "in some ways quite different from his true character."

Death
As the likelihood of eruption increased, state officials tried to evacuate the area with the exception of a few scientists and security officials. On May 17, they attempted one final time to persuade Truman to leave, to no avail. The volcano erupted the next morning, and its entire northern flank collapsed. Truman and his 16 cats were alone together at his lodge, and all are presumed to have died in the eruption on May 18. They likely died of heat shock in less than a second, too quickly to register pain.

The largest landslide in recorded history and a pyroclastic flow traveling atop the landslide engulfed the Spirit Lake area almost simultaneously, destroying the lake and burying the site of his lodge under 150 ft of volcanic landslide debris 46.26656°N, -122.15925°W. Authorities never found Truman's remains. Truman considered his cats family and mentioned them in almost all public statements. They too presumably perished in similar conditions.

Friends hoped that Truman might have survived, as he had claimed to have provisioned an abandoned mine shaft with food and liquor in case of an eruption, but the lack of immediate warning of the oncoming eruption probably prevented him from escaping to the shaft before the pyroclastic flow reached his lodge (less than a minute after it began). Even if Truman had made it there, the aforementioned landslide would likely have suffocated him, and/or prevented his rescue. His sister Geraldine said that she found it hard to accept the reality of his death. "I don't think he made it, but I thought if they would let me fly over and see for myself that Harry's lodge is gone, then maybe I'd believe it for sure."

Truman's niece Shirley Rosen added that her uncle thought he could escape the volcano but was not expecting the lateral eruption. She stated that her sister took him a bottle of bourbon whiskey to persuade him to evacuate, but he was too afraid to drink alcohol at the time because he was unsure whether the shaking was coming from his body or the earthquakes. His possessions were auctioned off as keepsakes to admirers in September 1980.

Legacy

Truman emerged as a folk hero for his resistance to the evacuation efforts. The Columbian wrote: "With his 10-dollar name and hell-no-I-won't-go attitude, Truman was a made-for-prime-time folk hero." His friends and family commented: "He was a very opinionated person." Truman's friend John Garrity added, "The mountain and the lake were his life. If he'd left and then saw what the mountain did to his lake, it would have killed him anyway. He always said he wanted to die at Spirit Lake. He went the way he wanted to go."

Truman's niece Shirley stated, "He used to say that's my mountain and my lake and he would say those are my arms and my legs. If he would have seen it the way it is now, I don't think he would have survived." Truman's cousin Richard Ice commented that Truman's short period as a celebrity was "the peak of his life."

Truman was the subject of the books Truman of St. Helens: The Man and His Mountain by his niece Shirley Rosen, and The Legend of Harry Truman by his sister Geri Whiting. He was portrayed by Art Carney, his favorite actor, in the 1981 docudrama St. Helens. Memorabilia were sold in the area surrounding Mount St. Helens, including Harry Truman hats, pictures, posters, and postcards. A restaurant opened in Anchorage, Alaska, named after him, serving dishes such as Harry's Hot Molten Chili.

According to The Washington Star, more than 100 songs had been composed in Truman's honor by 1981, in addition to a commemorative album titled The Musical Legend Of Harry Truman — A Very Special Collection Of Mount St. Helens’ Volcano Songs. He is the subject of the 2007 song "Harry Truman" written and recorded by Irish band Headgear. Lula Belle Garland wrote "The Legend of Harry And The Mountain," which was recorded in 1980 by Ron Shaw & The Desert Wind Band.

Musicians Ron Allen and Steve Asplund wrote a country rock song in 1980 called "Harry Truman, Your Spirit Still Lives On". Billy Jonas included Truman's narrative in his song "Old St. Helen" in 1993.

Truman Trail and Harry's Ridge in the Mount St. Helens region are named after him. The Harry R. Truman Memorial Park was named in his honor in Castle Rock, Washington, though it later was renamed Castle Rock Lions Club Volunteer Park.

title: Harry R. Truman


text:
Henry Probus

Henry Probus (Latin for the Righteous; Henryk IV Probus or Prawy; Heinrich IV. der Gerechte; c. 1258 – 23 June 1290) was a member of the Silesian branch of the royal Polish Piast dynasty. He was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1266 as well as the ruler of the Seniorate Province of Kraków and High Duke of Poland from 1288 until his death in 1290.

Life
Henry IV was the only son of Duke Henry III the White of Silesia-Wrocław by his first wife Judith, daughter of Duke Konrad I of Masovia.

Early life and tutelage
A minor upon the early death of his father in 1266, Henry IV was placed under the guardianship of his paternal uncle, Archbishop Władysław of Salzburg. The Archbishop decided that the constant travels between Wrocław and Salzburg were inappropriate for a child, and, in 1267, sent Henry to Prague to be raised at the court of King Ottokar II of Bohemia. Ottokar after Władysław's death in 1270 also took over Wrocław.

Shortly after the death of his uncle (who left him as his universal heir), Henry IV returned to Wrocław, where he found himself under the direct care of one of the closest advisers of his late father, Simon Gallicusa. Henry IV received a careful education, which may explain his subsequent interest in culture and poetry (there are reasonable suspicions that the Duke wrote some poems in old Polish). The cooperation between Henry IV and King Ottokar II was exemplary. In 1271 Henry IV participated in an armed expedition against Hungary, which brought an attack on Wrocław by the Árpád princes and their allies, the Dukes of Greater and Lesser Poland.

In 1273 Henry IV was formally proclaimed an adult and by himself assumed the government of his Silesian Duchy of Wrocław, which, however, after the split between Opole, Legnica and Głogów only comprised the eastern part of the Lower Silesian lands. He began to follow a policy which was more independent from Bohemia, including in respect to friendly relations with his Upper Silesian cousin Duke Władysław of Opole and also with duke Przemysł II of Greater Poland.

Kidnapping of Henry IV by Bolesław II the Bald
Henry supported King Ottokar II in his fierce conflict with King Rudolph I of Germany in 1276, giving food and refuge to the Bohemian troops. When Ottokar was placed under the Imperial ban, Duke Bolesław II the Bald of Legnica took the occasion, had his nephew Henry seized at Jelcz and imprisoned him in 1277.

Fortunately for Henry IV, the reaction to his imprisonment was indignation. Ottokar's Polish allies, Duke Henry III of Głogów and Duke Przemysł II of Greater Poland attempted to enforce Henry IV's liberation. The Bohemian king however only sent febrile appeals and request for release. Henry IV's allies were defeated by Duke Bolesław II 's son Henry V the Fat in the bloody Battle of Stolec (24 April 1277), where both Dukes Przemysł II and Henry III were captured.

Henry IV could obtain his freedom only at the end of the year, when he finally decided to capitulate after hearing the defeat of his main ally King Ottokar II against the Imperial and Hungarian troops at the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld. Henry IV was forced to give Bolesław II one-third of his duchy including the towns of Środa Śląska and Strzegom and forced to pledge Krosno Odrzańskie, which he had obtained from the Dukes of Głogów in 1273–1274, in order to obtain the money for his ransom.

Ottokar II's death and Regency of Bohemia
While Henry himself did not take part in the Battle on the Marchfeld, he had sent reinforcements to King Ottokar II, whose death was a serious blow to the Wrocław duke. After hearing the news of Ottokar's death, Henry IV went to Prague and attempted to gain the guardianship of the king's son Wenceslaus II, as one of his closest relatives (Henry IV's paternal grandmother was Anna of Bohemia, a daughter of late King Ottokar I) and ally.

He was however not successful due to the actions of King Rudolph I of Germany, who in his capacity as King of the Romans had given the regency over Bohemia to the Ascanian margrave Otto V, Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel. As compensation, the German king gave Henry IV the Bohemian County of Kladsko as a fief.

Homage to King Rudolph I in 1280
Upon the death of his Bohemian ally, Henry IV reconciled with King Rudolph I and in 1280 went to his Austrian court in Vienna, where Henry tried to obtain for himself the Polish royal crown.

Some historians believed that the Duke of Wrocław took the opportunity from his homage to King Rudolph I to expose him the possibility of becoming King of Poland. At that time, he also made an alliance with Duke Władysław of Opole, who promised to help Henry IV with the condition that his daughter (perhaps called Constance), who had recently married Henry IV, was crowned with him as Polish queen if he would obtain the royal investiture.

Attempts at authority over Silesia and Poland
The relation of Henry IV with his Silesian relatives, in general, was not good. In 1280 he again suffered the invasion of the Duke Henry V the Fat of Legnica, who was supported by the Margrave of Brandenburg, who could resist with unusual difficulty.

In order to normalize the situation in February of the next year Henry IV organized a meeting in Sądowel, a village located in the Duchy of Wrocław, for the purpose to find ways of mutual cooperation between the Silesian dukes. Henry IV, however, had other plans: immediately he captured his long-time enemy, Duke Henry V the Fat of Legnica, as well as his own allies, Dukes Henry III of Głogów and Przemysł II of Greater Poland, in order to obtain political concessions from them.

Przemysł II was forced to give the strategic Lesser Polish land of Wieluń (also known as Ruda) and to acknowledge Henry IV's overlordship, paying homage to him. In subsequent years, the good politics of Henry IV were reflected in the voluntary submission of the Silesian dukes Przemko of Ścinawa and Bolko I of Opole; the re-unification of Silesia seemed within reach.

However, not all the Silesian dukes accepted his authority: Dukes Bolko I the Strict, Konrad II the Hunchback and three of the four sons of Władysław of Opole: Casimir of Bytom, Mieszko I of Cieszyn and Przemysław of Racibórz were completely against Henry's politics. With the Opole Dukes, the situation was more delicate: in 1287, Henry IV obtained the annulment of his marriage with their sister, who was sent back to her homeland. The fourth of Władysław's sons, Bolko I, remained faithful to Henry IV's politics.

The first attempt of Henry IV to take the Seniorate Province at Kraków was during 1280–1281, as a response to the invasion which the Polish High Duke Leszek II the Black had made against Wrocław before. However, this trip ended unsuccessfully.

Conflict with Bishop Thomas II of Wrocław
In the years 1282–1287 Henry IV was involved in a long-lasting dispute with the Bishop of Wrocław Tomas II Zaremba. The first phase of the conflict was already noted in the years 1274–1276, concluded with arbitration which was not satisfied any of the parts. The disputes erupted again in 1282; this time, the conflict was for the lands and properties seized by the church in a difficult period that followed after the Battle of Legnica, and for the violation of the immunity of the Church hierarchy in trials.

At the beginning of 1282, the Bishop sent their complaint to the Papal Legate Philip of Ferno, which was to address the settlement of the dispute. His ruling was favorable to the Church hierarchy, and Henry IV appealed. In 1283 Henry IV organized a big Episcopal convention in Nysa, whose main attraction was a knight's tournament. However, the tensions continued and Thomas II, using the support of the Papal Legate, and wanting to break the rebelliousness of Henry IV he excommunicated him and the whole Duchy in March 1284. However, the Duke of Wrocław refused to subject to the Bishop's will and in the same year appealed to Pope Martin IV. It soon became clear, of course, that he could not expect a positive message from Rome. Despite Thomas II's efforts to subordinate the local clergy under his rule, several religious Orders remained faithful to Henry IV, among others, the Franciscans. The conflict continued, even after the unsuccessful attempts for mediation by the Archbishop of Gniezno, Jakub Świnka.

In 1285 Henry IV took advantage of his power over the clergy and confiscated some lands which belonged to the bishopric Duchy of Nysa–Otmuchów. The humiliated Bishop Thomas II was forced to emigrate to the Duchy of Racibórz. The last act of the dispute took place in 1287 when Henry IV entered Racibórz. Thomas II was no longer able to escape and finally decided to subordinate to the Duke of Wrocław. But Henry IV was generous in his triumph: he restored the rich lands obtained earlier from the Bishopric and also founded a Kolegiata consecrated to the Holy Cross.

Meanwhile, in foreign politics, Henry IV continued to try to obtain the subordination of the other Silesian Dukes, which indirectly could bring him the Royal Crown. In 1284 he used the betrayal of the Greater Poland noble family of Zaremba (Thomas II's family) as a pretext to capture the town of Kalisz. It soon became clear that the Dukes of Greater Poland never accepted this loss, so after some discussions, Kalisz was exchanged with the town of Ołobok by Duke Przemysł II.

Henry IV, High Duke of Poland
On 30 September 1288, Leszek II the Black, Duke of Sieradz and High Duke of Poland, died without issue. This event opened an opportunity for Henry IV to realize his ambitious plans to gain Kraków and the title of High Duke. With this purpose, he began to find suitable allies from 1287, when he reconciled with Przemysł II, returning him Wieluń. According to the Professor and Historian Oswald Balzer, shortly before began the preparations to the First Coalition of Piast Dukes formed by Leszek II the Black, Henry IV, Przemysł II and Henry III of Głogow, which had the intention to make the unification of Poland. Notwithstanding the veracity of this theory, after hearing the news of Leszek II's death, Henry IV was ready for action.

Henry IV's major contenders for the Kraków throne were Leszek II's half-brother Władysław I the Elbow-high and Duke Bolesław II of Płock, who counted on the support of the Lesser Poland nobility. However, the Duke of Płock failed to obtain the decisive support of the Castellan Sulk the Bear (Sułk z Niedźwiedzia), who was the Governor of the city. On 26 February 1289, the bloody Battle of Siewierz took place between the troops of the Dukes of Płock and Kuyavia, and Henry IV's troops, supported by King Rudolph I and the Dukes of Opole, Głogów and Ścinawa (Steinau). The battle ended with a victory for the Masovia-Kuyavia coalition; from two of Henry IV's allies, Duke Przemko of Ścinawa was killed in the battle, and Duke Bolko I of Opole was seriously injured and captured by Władysław I the Elbow-high.

Despite this success, Duke Bolesław II of Płock unexpectedly resigned his pretensions, leaving all the Kraków inheritance to Wladyslaw I the Elbow-high. As the war turned favorable to him, Wladyslaw I, with the assistance of the Bishop of Kraków, Paul of Półkozic (who was later imprisoned after rebelled against him), managed to besiege and capture Wawel castle and forced the Silesian troops to retreat to Skała.

However, Henry IV regrouped his forces and marched against Kraków in person at the head of his army in August 1289. Thanks to the betrayal of the Kraków townspeople and the help of the Franciscans (who even hid him in their monastery), Henry IV took the city and was recognized as High Duke. Despite his victory, Henry IV decided to remain in Sandomierz.

Internal politics
During his reign, Henry succeeded in strengthening central power across his duchy, as well as improving its economy. He supported progress of mining and cities, many of which received German city law and various privileges. He was also an educated man, fluently spoke several languages and actively supported Western court culture and chivalric ethos. Henry himself was a talented poet; two of his poems were recorded in Codex Manesse.

Death
Henry IV died suddenly in 1290, aged no more than thirty-two years. The details of his death, given by the chronicler Ottokar of Styria, are seen by some historians as very reliable and by others as doubtful.

The year of his death is widely accepted, and confirmation for this can be found in numerous sources. However, the exact day was variously given by the sources.

One, the most supported by far of the largest number of sources, and given by the Church of St. John the Baptist, was 23 June. There are, however, other proposals: 24 June, 22 July, and even in April.

Poisoning
About the real cause of Henry IV's death, there are several independent sources: these are the tombs of the Silesian Dukes, the Chronicle of Jan Długosz, and later chroniclers, like the Bohemian Chronicle of Pulkawy and the Chronicle of Ottokar of Styria.

According to Ottokar of Styria, who seems to be the most accurate in details, Henry IV aspired to the title of the King of Poland, asking the Pope for permission for a coronation. The negotiations were successful, and he sent to Rome 12,000 grzywnas as a present to the Pope. But when the envoy reached Italy it was noted that 400 grzywnas were stolen during the trip, and the Pope, infuriated, cancelled all negotiations with Henry IV. Although the embezzler was able to escape from the papal fury and the justice of the Doge of Venice, it is known that Henry IV wanted to punish him. In order to prevent the imminent revenge of the Duke it was decided to get rid of him: a false lawyer (brother of one of the Duke's doctors) was employed at the court of Wrocław, and slowly poisoned Henry IV. While another doctor, called Guncelin, recognizing the symptoms of poisoning, was able to rescue the Duke from an imminent death, causing severe vomiting and cleansing the body; but the assassin was not discovered, and this time put the poison in the knife used by Henry IV to cut his bread. The poison was finally detected, but it was too late to save the Duke. Henry IV died in the Catholic faith, deciding not to prosecute or punish his killers.

This is a very long story of the Duke's death and only some elements are confirmed by other sources. Ottokar of Styria told the story in many details in agreement with that provided by the Kronika Zbrasławska. Other sources related that a chaplain named Aleksy, as a deputy of King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia had betrayed Henry IV's interests and tried to give the crown to the "King of Kalisz" Przemysł II. In this story the theft of the envoy to Rome was also mentioned, only the epilogue was a little different: here, the thief was killed by his own servants in the streets of Rome.

Killers
Following the version of Ottokar of Styria, should be sought among the Wrocław townspeople (just like Henry IV's father) two brothers, one of them was lawyer and the other doctor. The only two persons who could be identified as the brothers were John (who was an adviser of the Duchy and a lawyer) and Jakob (known as Magister, so probably a doctor), sons of one Goćwina, who was a doctor in the court of Henry III the White. They still in their posts at the time of Henry IV's death. It's assumed that they acted on behalf of Henry V the Fat, who wanted to obtain Kraków and with this the title of High Duke, but was not any evidence to support this. There is no other person who will take advantage of the Duke's death, and could be linked to the circumstances of the death of Henry IV.

Henry IV's testament
According to the chroniclers, the dying Henry IV made two documents. One to the Wrocław church (which give the desired permissions to the Bishop to obtain the full sovereignty over the Duchy of Nysa–Otmuchów) and other politic (who regulated the issue of his inheritance). Under this will, he bequeathed the Duchy of Wrocław to Duke Henry III of Głogów, and Kraków -with the title of High Duke- to Przemysł II. In case of the death of one of the princes, the other could take possession over his districts, which further arrangements according to custom. Many historians, however, believed the existence of a third document. If it was true, this would be a step towards the reunification of Poland, and Henry IV, who was denigrated particularly in the earlier literature, was really a conscious promoter of Poland interests and a true patriot (apart from the merits of raising the awareness of the problems of ethnic and linguistic diversity in the Middle Ages). Only the testament to the Church (who was not count with the return of Kłodzko to King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia as an excuse for mixing in the Silesian affairs) was fully implemented. Henry IV was buried in the Kolegiata of the Holy Cross and St. Bartholomeus in Wrocław, which he founded.

Henry V the Fat could take Wrocław with support of King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia, after the local nobility refused to accept the rule of Henry III of Głogów. Wenceslaus II himself gained the Seniorate Province, but Duke Przemysł II could retain the title of High Duke.

During World War II German anthropologists wanted to prove the "Germanic look" of Henry IV. To this end, his remains were removed and were to be tested. Unfortunately, they were lost during the war. The sarcophagus is now in the National Museum in Wrocław.

Marriages
Around March 1280, Henry IV married firstly with the daughter of Duke Władysław of Opole (b. ca. 1256/65? – d. 1287/88?), perhaps called Constance. After almost seven years of childless union, the Duke of Wrocław obtain the annulment of his marriage under the grounds of sterility, although this fact is disputed by modern historians.

By 1288, Henry IV married secondly with Matilda (b. ca. 1270 – d. bef. 1 June 1298), daughter of Margrave Otto V "the Tall" of Brandenburg–Salzwedel. The Professor and historian Ewa Maleczyńska alleged that the real reason of the divorce of Henry IV was that he maintain an affair with Matilda and wanted to marry her. They had no children.

title: Henry Probus


text:
Talk:Henry Probus

Initial text
Earlier article:

Henry of Bresslau is recorded in the Codex Manesse or Grosse Heidelberger Liederhandschrift, a book containing poems by famous German poets and rulers of the 12st and 13st century. This book contains illustrations and it shows duke Henry IV (- 1290) of Schlesien Bresslau as Heinrich von Pressela displaying the Silesian eagle. This has to be among the the worst of H.J.'s "contributions" to date: no header ordinal, no title, can't even spell the place (Henry the what of Breslau?); it doen't even mention his having been senior prince of Poland (the nearest thing to a head of state of the whole country in 1138-1320 in the absence of a king), a rather more important matter than his having once written some poetry.

It's quite obvious that the writer has never heard of the subject before and knows nothing about him other than one obscure occurence of his name. So why even attempt to write such an abysmal article about a well-known ruler without the slightest effort to find out about him (in fact most of it is about the book)? And why is the form "Heinrich von Pressela" ("Henry of Breslau", already referred to in both heading and article) so worthy of particular note? David Parker

Untitled
Henry of Bresslau is recorded in the Codex Manesse or Grosse Heidelberger Liederhandschrift, a book containing poems by famous German poets and rulers of the 12st and 13st century. This book contains illustrations and it shows duke Henry IV (- 1290) of Schlesien Bresslau as Heinrich von Pressela displaying the Silesian eagle.

--
 * I have changed "territory of Breslau (now Wroclaw Poland) because:

1. At that time it was still Poland - duchy of Wroclaw was nothing more than one of many duches of fragmentated Poland. All of the dukes were (at least in theory subdued to senior duke of Poland. 2. According to my knowledge Wroclaw is more used in English.
 * Breslau was the common use in English, and it was even used in the English Potsdam Conference summaries. Heinrich von Pressela indicates the Breslau which was used simultaneously already. Like Bruges and Brugge. But not a Polish 1946 imposed form. This is anachronism.Smith2006 (talk) 09:51, 19 August 2011 (UTC)

Disruptive move
This move was done without discussion, without a proper RM, and then the user salted the original. This kind of behavior is disruptive. I would appreciate if the page was moved back.Volunteer Marek (talk) 20:57, 18 August 2011 (UTC)

A proper RM can of course can be conducted subsequently.Volunteer Marek (talk) 20:58, 18 August 2011 (UTC)
 * I have restored to original namer for you. You can request at WP:RM if the page is required to be moved. Keith D (talk) 21:10, 18 August 2011 (UTC)
 * See below. Justifiable change and move. Thanks for respecting historical objectivity in wikipedia, without taking one Polish or German side in the debate over Silesia.Smith2006 (talk) 09:49, 19 August 2011 (UTC)

 * I have restored to original title and move protected. Please discuss here and agree a name for the article. A request to WP:RM should be made if a change of title is agreed upon. Thanks. Keith D (talk) 10:38, 19 August 2011 (UTC)

Reason for moving
Like Boleslaw I the Tall, Henry IV the Righteous cannot be called "Probus" in an English wiki. This is not a Polish wikipedia after all. Also, the names of towns should be as common in the 13th century Silesia under the Holy Roman Empire, when the German original, first-written forms were used. This means Glogau, Oppeln. And not 'Glogów' and other attempts to revise and falsify Medieval history. However desirable from the Polish national point of view this may seem. I hope you respect historical objectivity in this lemma, which was moved. Or can we no longer use August the Strong, should this be Polonized in an English wikipediaSmith2006 (talk) 09:48, 19 August 2011 (UTC)

 * Please stop move warring. For starters, before you start making personal attacks, you might want to consider the fact that neither the word "Henry" nor the word "Probus" are Polish. The first one is straight up English, the second one is the Latin name by which he is referred to in English language sources. He is not called the "the Righteous" - you've pretty much invented that because apparently you're offended by the designation "Probus" which you mistakenly believe to be Polish. Are you going to go and move the Marcus Aurelius Probus article too?
 * And Henry Probus was primarily the High Duke of Poland. Silesia was only one of his holdings so putting "duke of Silesia" (which is not even capitalized correctly) is simply silly - and yes, it is a form of disruptive POV pushing.Volunteer Marek (talk) 09:53, 19 August 2011 (UTC)

 * And just to actually use some evidence "Henry Probus" gets 51 hits on gbooks, including the Cambridge History of Poland (note that this search already should already screen out Polish language works since in Polish it's "Henryk" not "Henry"). "Henry the Righteous" gets 14 hits , but almost all of these are either false positives for the phrase "Henry. The righteous..." , not this guy, or someone else (some Spanish guy?), or in reference to an English king "Henry the righteous and peace-loving King of the English" . Taking those out leaves about 3 hits which all use the formulation "Henry IV Probus (Henry the Righteous)".Volunteer Marek (talk) 10:37, 19 August 2011 (UTC)
 * This is why I added Henry IV the Righteous, duke of Silesia. This explains the difference. There are more Philip the Pious too. But 'Henryk IV Probus' is your Polish version for a duke who never was an ethnic Pole to begin with. No more than Bogdan Chmielnicki was a Pole at least.Smith2006 (talk) 15:06, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Requested move 14 March 2024

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved. No objections to the move after more than a month. (closed by non-admin page mover) Celia Homeford (talk) 10:56, 17 April 2024 (UTC)

Henryk IV Probus → Henry Probus – Per WP:NCROY. "Use the most common, unambiguous name: Carl XVI Gustaf, Elizabeth II, Alfonso XII, Louis XIV, William the Conqueror, John Balliol, Mary, Queen of Scots, Eric of Pomerania, Charlemagne. This is in line with WP:COMMONNAME." "Henry Probus" is more common than "Henryk Probus" "Henryk IV Probus" (the current title) and "Henry IV Probus" UmbrellaTheLeef (talk) 20:52, 14 March 2024 (UTC) — Relisting. – robertsky (talk) 02:04, 23 March 2024 (UTC) The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
 * Neutral: It's rather difficult to tell what's the most common in this case on Google Ngrams (linked by nom) when you look at recent decades and vary the smoothing settings. There isn't really a stable leading term from year to year until you move up to smoothing of 30 or more, at which point Henry IV Probus is the leader. And with frequencies as small as this, Google Ngrams tends not to be very informative. So I'm not sure. SilverLocust  💬 07:12, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Henry Probus