Robbie Williams is the perfect choice for the very first Path to Fame book.

Robert Peter Williams did not become Robbie until, aged sixteen, he joined a bunch of boy band hopefuls who eventually made it to the very top as Take That. He was just Rob, a surprisingly sensitive boy from Stoke-on-Trent, who preferred amateur dramatics to football in the park with his mates.

Rob left school with no qualifications and was whiling away his days smoking and selling double glazing when his mum Jan spotted the advertisement for an audition in Manchester that would change his life. It wasn’t all plain sailing, however – he was sacked from Take That and had to battle through a descent into drink and drugs before becoming a multi-millionaire and a record-breaking Brit award winner.