Editing Robbie Williams (section)

=== 2016–2018: ''The Heavy Entertainment Show'', and ''The X Factor'' ===
{{Main|The Heavy Entertainment Show|Under the Radar Volume 2}}
[[File:Robbie Williams, Roundhouse, London (Apple Music Festival) (29312031654).jpg|thumb|upright|Williams performing at the [[Apple Music Festival]] in London, 25 September 2016]]
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."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Robbie Williams signs to Sony Music|url=http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/robbie-williams-signs-to-sony-music/064724|magazine=[[Music Week]]|access-date=26 September 2016|date=8 May 2016}}</ref> ''[[The Heavy Entertainment Show]]'' became his [[List of artists by number of UK Albums Chart number ones|12th UK number-one album]], putting him level with [[Madonna]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/7573698/uk-albums-chart-robbie-williams-clean-bandit|title=Robbie Williams Claims 'Heavy' U.K. Album Record|last=Sexton|first=Paul|date=14 November 2016|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|publisher=[[Prometheus Global Media]]|access-date=11 December 2016}}</ref> In July 2017, Williams announced a new album, ''[[Under the Radar Volume 2]]'', which was released in November 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reilly |first=Nick |date=2017-07-11 |title=Robbie Williams has a new album coming out and he's climbed a tree naked to promote it |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/robbie-williams-announces-new-album-under-the-radar-volume-2-2107942 |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=[[NME]] |language=en-GB}}</ref> A third edition in the Under the Radar series was released on Valentine's Day of 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://shop.robbiewilliams.com/products/under-the-radar-volume-3-cd|title=Under The Radar Volume 3 (CD) – Under The Radar|website=Robbie Williams Shop|access-date=9 April 2019|archive-date=14 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414125900/https://shop.robbiewilliams.com/products/under-the-radar-volume-3-cd|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Sdm 4486.jpg|thumb|left|Williams performing at the [[2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony]] in Moscow, Russia, 14 June 2018]]
On 14 June 2018, Williams performed at the [[2018 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony]] held at the [[Luzhniki Stadium]] in [[Moscow]], [[Russia]].<ref name="World Cup"/> Williams sang 
"[[Let Me Entertain You (Robbie Williams song)|Let Me Entertain You]]" and "[[Feel (Robbie Williams song)|Feel]]" before he performed a duet of "[[Angels (Robbie Williams song)|Angels]]" with Russian soprano [[Aida Garifullina]].<ref name="World Cup">{{cite news |title=World Cup 2018: Ronaldo and Robbie Williams star in opening ceremony |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44487420 |work=BBC |date=14 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2018/06/13/world-cup-2018-opening-ceremony-time-will-start-will-robbie/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2018/06/13/world-cup-2018-opening-ceremony-time-will-start-will-robbie/ |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=World Cup 2018 Opening Ceremony: What time will it start and when will Robbie Williams feature?|work=The Telegraph|date=13 June 2018|access-date=14 June 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Williams then performed an encore with "[[Rock DJ]]", during which he gave [[the finger]].<ref name="Fox apologises">{{cite news |title=Fox apologises for Williams gesture |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-44494286 |access-date=15 June 2018 |work=BBC News |date=15 June 2018 }}</ref> [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] in the U.S. apologised for the incident which they had broadcast live.<ref name="Fox apologises"/> The incident was not shown on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] in the UK who had cut away prior to the encore.<ref name="Fox apologises"/> Williams appeared on ''[[This Morning (TV programme)|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?".<ref>{{cite news |title=Robbie Williams explains why he gave planet Earth the middle finger at the World Cup |url=http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/this-morning/news/a859808/robbie-williams-world-cup-2018-russia-swear-middle-finger/ |work=Digital Spy |date=21 June 2018}}</ref>

On 17 July 2018, Williams along with his wife, and [[One Direction]] star [[Louis Tomlinson]], were announced as the new judges on the [[The X Factor (UK series 15)|fifteenth series]] of ''[[The X Factor (UK TV series)|The X Factor]]'' in the UK, joining [[Simon Cowell]] and replacing [[Louis Walsh]], [[Sharon Osbourne]] and [[Nicole Scherzinger]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Louis Tomlinson and Robbie Williams named new judges on The X Factor |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-44436738 |access-date=17 July 2018 |work=BBC}}</ref>