Robbie Williams had a boy band image with Take That but pursued a solo career with a hip hop influenced style, losing his boy band image. His 2000 album had a 'bad boy' persona but 2001's Swing When You're Winning changed to a jazzy Frank Sinatra style. 2006's Rudebox experimented with genres like hip hop and dance to mixed reviews, and later albums returning to his signature entertaining style were more successful, suggesting fans prefer the style of his earlier solo career.

1. Star Image Evolution

2.  Robbie Williams joined Take That aged 16 and together they had
a strong boy band image with their songs being mostly ballads.
In 1995, Williams decided that he was tired of the restrictions of
the band and started his solo career with a cover of George
Michael’s ‘Freedom’. Robbie was interested in pursuing some hip
hop and rap, which the rest of Take That decreed didn’t suit their
image, this meant that Williams’ first solo album, ‘Life Thru A
Lens’ contained songs like ‘Let Me Entertain You’, a big contrast
to his previous work with the band. He also lost his boy band
image and replaced it with a harder and more punk style.

3.  In 2000, Robbie Williams brought out a new album called ‘Sing
When You’re Winning’ which was compiled of pop and adult
contemporary music. This album fitted with his ‘bad boy’
persona and his music had his signature Britpop flare too.
However, in 2001, Williams released another album called ‘Swing
When You’re Winning’ for which he completely changed his
style. He was influenced by Frank Sinatra and mimicked his
jazzy swing style of singing and changed his personal style to fit
the typical image that suits this style of music. While this album
was very different to his usual style, it was very well received and
instantly went to #1 in the UK charts where it stayed for 6
consecutive weeks.

4.  In November 2006, Williams released an album that was very
different to his usual pop rock and adult contemporary style.
Rudebox contained a selection of genres including hip hop, R&B,
electropop and dance. Since he left Take That back in 1995, he
had been interested in branching out and trying some of these
different styles, however this album was the first he had released
to do so in such contrasting way to the rest of his work. His fans
and the album reviews showed mixed reactions and despite the
fact that it reached #1 position in the charts, his record label
were disappointed in the sales levels of the album with sales
being down on what they expected.

5.  Two of his more recent albums ‘Take the Crown’ and ‘Swings
Both Ways’ were very successful and brought Robbie Williams
back into the charts. The song ‘Candy’ was widely recognised
and got a great reception from new and old fans as it was back to
his signature and more entertaining style. He was the lovable
rogue and he slotted back into his ‘classy bad boy’ type persona
too. In 2013 he released another swing album, again featuring a
lot of duets with other artists. After experimenting with other
styles and genres of music, it would seem that Robbie Williams’
fans prefer him to stick to what they saw in his earlier years,
especially between 1997-2005.