Robbie Williams: 'George Michael inspired me in so many ways'

21 December 2017, 11:13 | Updated: 23 March 2018, 16:15

Robbie Williams has already made it known just how much he loved George Michael as an artist.

Not only was his first solo single a cover of George's 'Freedom 90', but he also paid tribute to the late singer during his recent Heavy Entertainment Show tour.

The former Take That star will appear in Smooth Radio's upcoming programme You Have Been Loved: Remembering George Michael, in which he discusses just what George meant to him. Hear an extract from the show below:

"I was equal parts inspired and terrified, not of George, but of the prospect of trying to be something like George," Robbie told us.

"I was on a few award ceremonies with him in Take That and when I had just left Take That. And when he arrived on stage, whether it be rehearsing or doing the actual performance, you were in the presence of such a magnetic personality, such charisma.

"So I used to be at the side of the stage going ‘how on earth can I beat that? Because that’s godlike’. And of course, his music will last forever. His music is eternal. He inspired in a lot of different ways. I just thought he was a god."

In an online exclusive, Robbie also revealed how he once drunkenly asked George and U2 frontman Bono to hear new songs off his debut album, in a friend's bathroom:

"There is one specific memory when I think about George. When I had just left Take That, we were at a house party at a friend’s house.

"And I was writing my first solo album, and I was drunk. I grabbed Bono and George Michael, and plonked them in the toilet and made them sit down, while I sang three songs a cappella from my new album. And they were very gracious and very kind."

You Have Been Loved: Remembering George Michael airs on Boxing Day at 2pm on Smooth Radio.