Robbie Williams using hand sanitiser during New Year's Eve performance has become the first meme of 2017
The ex-Take That star was mid-way through singing 'Auld Lang Syne' when he cleansed his hands
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.For many, 2016 was a thorough disappointment: Britain voted Brexit, the United States voted Donald Trump their next President, and the world lost David Bowie.
Already, 2017 has proven itself to be an odd one, mainly thanks to musicians messing around. First, there was Mariah Carey who fumbled her last performance of 2016, leading to her name trending worldwide on New Year's day and a response from the singer.
Then, just moments after the clock counted down in the UK, an image of Robbie Williams washing his hands on stage just moments after touching members of his NYE audience has gone viral.
During a rousing performance of “Auld Lang Syne,” televised by the BBC, Williams held hands with his audience, all while looking fairly uncomfortable. When he finally got back on stage, he seemingly went straight for the anti-bacterial hand wash, making a grimacing face while applying it.
While the team choosing which cameras to broadcast did their best job to ignore the situation, focussing instead on the audience, the images were broadcast to the whole UK, quickly becoming a viral sensation.
“Robbie Williams grabbing the hand sanitiser after holding hands with the plebs during Auld Lang Syne is the start to 2017 we all deserve,” wrote one Tweeter of the incident. Another noted: “So sad that we've already had a death in 2017. RIP the career of Robbie Williams.”
Recently, Robbie Williams was joined on stage by other members of Take That - Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, and Mark Owen - videos of which have made their way online. It is unknown whether hand sanitiser was on stage during that performance.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments