BRITAIN: The singer Robbie Williams has signed the largest record deal in British pop music history.
"I'm rich beyond my wildest dreams," he said yesterday.
The multi-album deal with record giant EMI is reported to be worth £80 million.
Williams, who has already sold some 20 million albums, refused to be drawn on exactly how much the contract was worth. "My mum said it would be really uncouth of me to talk about money." Asked what he was planning to do with the cash, the 28-year-old star replied: "I'm going to count it all." But news of the deal caused jitters in the City with EMI shares dropping 1 per cent in the wake of the announcement.
EMI's last big-money signing, US singer Mariah Carey, proved disastrous for the label. Carey signed a contract with the company's subsidiary Virgin Records America, which would have netted her £70 million for five albums. But her album Glitter was a commercial flop and EMI pulled the plug on the deal with a £20 million pay-off.
Williams had been at the centre of a bidding war between rival record labels ever since his EMI contract expired earlier this year. At one point Williams toyed with the idea of setting up his own label to release forthcoming album Escapology.
Today he sealed the contract with EMI which is said to dwarf the previous biggest deal clinched by a British star - £42 million paid to Sir Elton John in 1996.
Williams said: "I'm back with EMI. I never left. It's great and I'm glad. I want to continue to break records and make records with EMI."
He was joined at the west London offices of his management company by EMI boss Tony Wadsworth who said that Escapology, to be released next month, was "undoubtedly his best album yet".