"The Christmas Present" is the twelfth studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, and his first studio album since 2016's The Heavy Entertainment Show. It was released on 22 November 2019, and features guest appearances from Tyson Fury, Rod Stewart, Jamie Cullum, Helene Fischer, and Bryan Adams. Williams performed a pair of concerts dubbed "The Robbie Williams Christmas Party" at the SSE Arena on 16 and 17 December 2019 to promote the album.
In a 2012 Q&A with BBC Radio 2, Williams was asked if he would ever consider doing a Christmas album. He responded, "You bet." He explained that he had never been fond of Christmas until his wife Ayda had instilled a new love for the holiday in him. He said, "It used to be a time of year that I didn't care too much for, but she loves it, loves it like a child, and because of that, I now love it, it's a very very special time of the year." This newfound appreciation for Christmas led Williams to express his intent to make a Christmas album at some point.
Williams began recording the album in June 2019, just before the final leg of his Wynn Las Vegas residency, and finished in Vancouver in October 2019. He humorously mentioned that he considered calling the album Achtung Bublé, a play on U2’s album Achtung Baby and a nod to Michael Bublé's strong presence in the Christmas music market. Williams jokingly remarked that Bublé’s “monopoly” on Christmas music “must end now.” When asked in an interview if there were plans for Bublé to feature on the album, Williams mentioned that the two had worked together before on Swings Both Ways, and while he thought about including Bublé, he didn’t follow through, saying, “You sort of get it in your head that you can only use that token once.”
In another interview with Smooth FM, Williams revealed that he had written 50 songs for The Christmas Present, explaining that it took time and the right inspiration to create a Christmas album. "You can't write 50 songs in one month just because it's Christmas, you have to do it when the fancy takes you," he said.
Williams initially wanted to cover the classic "Fairytale of New York" as a duet with Britney Spears, but she declined the offer, as she was on hiatus at the time.
