Williams secures £80m EMI deal

Beaming with delight outside his management's offices in London, Robbie Williams today told reporters "I am rich beyond my wildest dreams." The pop star has signed a recording contract with EMI reported to be worth £80m.

Williams' deal dwarfs the previous biggest UK deal - the £42m paid to Sir Elton John in 1996. The multi-album agreement marks the end of a bidding war to secure the 28-year-old star between rival record labels. Sony, BMG and Richard Branson's V2 label were all said to be interested in signing the singer.

Williams is Britain's biggest selling and most popular male artist, with a string of number one singles and albums to his name. EMI had guided his solo career since he left boy band Take That, but their contract with him expired earlier this year.

The new deal is said to include a promise that EMI will help him become a success in the US - a lucrative market he has so far failed to crack.

Williams has spent the past six months in LA where he began a romance with Rod Stewart's ex-wife Rachel Hunter. He flew in to Heathrow last night from Canada, where he has been shooting the video for his new single Feel, with actress Daryl Hannah.

EMI's last big-money deal, with US diva Mariah Carey, did not end well. Carey signed a contract with the company's subsidiary Virgin Records America, which would have netted her £70m for five albums. But her album Glitter was a commercial flop and EMI pulled the plug on the deal with a £20m pay-off.