The crowd is building at Federation Square for a free performance by singer Robbie Williams on Thursday afternoon.
The English pop star will be presented with the key to the city as part of the event, which has ostensibly been staged to recognise “his achievements as a world-class entertainer and his love for Melbourne”.
Robbie Williams fans gather at Federation Square for his free gig on Thursday.Credit: AAP
The show coincides with the release in cinemas of Better Man, the biopic in which Williams is portrayed as a chimpanzee.
The film was largely made at Docklands Studios Melbourne in 2022-23 and was co-written and directed by Michael Gracey, the Australian filmmaker behind The Greatest Showman, which starred Hugh Jackman as circus impresario P.T. Barnum.
The Victorian government claims the Better Man production created 3000 jobs and injected $142 million into the economy.
“There’s no better man to have a key to our city than legendary British pop singer Robbie Williams,” said Lord Mayor Nick Reece ahead of the presentation.
The key to the city is a ceremonial honour, dating back to medieval times, when European cities were bound by walls with locked gates.
The award of a key granted the recipient the right to come and go freely.
