Robbie Williams forced to cancel world tour gig in ‘interests of public safety’ | Ents & Arts News

Robbie Williams has said he is “deeply sorry” his concert in the Turkish city of Istanbul has had to be cancelled “in the interests of public safety”.

The former Take That singer said it was his “dream” to perform at Atakoy Marina on Tuesday but the decision by city authorities to cancel the show “was beyond our control”.

Williams’ Britpop world tour began in May and has taken him to cities including London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Helsinki and Athens.

The 51-year-old Angels singer said in a post on Instagram to his 3.7m followers: “The last thing I would ever want to do is to jeopardise the safety of my fans – their safety and security come first.

“We were very excited to be playing Istanbul for the first time, and purposely chose the city as the final show of the Britpop tour.

“To end this epic run of dates in front of my Turkish fans was my dream, given the close connections my family have with this wonderful country.

“To everyone in Istanbul who wanted to join the 1.2 million people who have shared this phenomenal tour this year with us, I am deeply sorry. We were so looking forward to this show, but the decision to cancel it was beyond our control.”

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Williams is still expected to perform a small ticketed gig on Thursday at Camden’s Dingwalls venue in London.

He will run through his upcoming album Britpop, which is yet to be released, in full, with his first solo LP, Life Thru A Lens.

After leaving Take That in 1995, Williams released his chart-topping debut album in 1997, and has achieved seven UK number one singles and 15 UK number one albums.