On December 21, 2002, Robbie Williams scored his first of three No. 1 hits with Feel.

In 1995 Robbie Williams as a member of Take That was the closest to the number 1 list with Back For Good, but second place was the highest at the time. As a solo singer he had eleven Top 40 hits to his name in the period 1996-2001, but his personal best was sixth place with Rock DJ in 2000.

That changed in 2002. Then Feel It appeared as the first single from the album Escapology and it became the first top 5 list for the superstar from Stoke-on-Trent. What’s his name, even managed to lead the way in the Top 40. He would match that feat in 2005 with Trippin’ and in 2009 with Bodies.

Selection of the Top 40 on December 21, 2002

1 (4) FEEL – Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams had recorded the ballad Feel in 1999. Then he sang the song in his own words better than when he recorded it in 2002 for the album Escapology. The vocals you hear on the record date from 1999. A year later the album Sing When You’re Winning was released (with Rock DJ, Kids and Supreme, among others), but Williams didn’t seem to fit in with it. That’s what happened with Escapology, for which Feel was the first single. It became the first of three number 1 hits by Robbie Williams and spent two weeks atop the List. Escapology spawned the 2003 hits Come Undone (#8), Something Beautiful (#8) and Sexed Up (#12).

5 (32) LOSING YOURSELF – Eminem

In November 2002, the film 8 Mile was released, starring Eminem as rapper B-Rabbit. Eminem wrote Lose Yourself in between shooting this film. This song is about his character, who dreams of his big break as a rapper. While writing, Eminem tried to connect his character with his own past. It happened in 2002 when Eminem scored a No. 1 hit. His first 1 with Without Me. Follow-up Clean My Closet took sixth place and in late 2002 Eminem scored his third top 10 hit of the year with Lose Yourself. It got better, because after the turn of the year Lose Yourself led the Top 40 for four weeks.

6 (7) CAN’T STOP LOVING YOU – Phil Collins

In 1978, Leo Sayer released the single I Can’t Stop Loving You (Though I Try). It reached sixth place in the UK, but in the Netherlands it didn’t even make it to the Tipparade. How different from a Phil Collins cover! The cover is not exactly the same as the original, because another bridge is added. Can’t Stop Loving You is the first single from the album Testify. It was the twentieth Top 40 hit for the former Genesis frontman and his first top 10 hit since 1993’s Both Sides Of The Story (#9). 21st and last Phil Collins to date.

9 (13) MORE POWERFUL – Sugababes

2002 was the year in which Sugabab’s most successful formation ‘break through’. After Top 40 hits Overload (#14 in 2000) and Run For Cover (#33 in 2001), Siobhan Donaghy was replaced by Heidi Range. He formed a super trio with Keisha Buchanan and Mutya Buena. A somewhat hesitant start with 23rd place for Freak Like Me, but the follow-up Round was their first top 10 hit and reached second place. The third single from the album Angels With Dirty Faces is the R&B ballad Stronger, which Heidi Range had partially written before she joined the Sugababes. Stronger wasn’t a resounding success across Europe, but in the Netherlands. It was their second straight top 5 hit, reaching number 5. Stronger was also the second in a string of six straight top 10 hits for the Sugababes.