"Rock DJ" is a song by English singer and songwriter Robbie Williams, featured on his third studio album, Sing When You're Winning (2000). The song was released on 31 July 2000 as the lead single from the album. It samples Barry White's song "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me", "Can I Kick It?" by A Tribe Called Quest and has a quote from "La Di Da Di" by Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh. In his 2023 Netflix series, Williams jokingly stated that he was trying to write "Karma Police" and ended up writing "Karma Chameleon".

"Rock DJ" reached number one in Costa Rica, Estonia, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom whilst reaching the top 10 in 16 other countries. It was the fourth-best-selling song of 2000 in the UK. In the United States, it peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart. The music video features Williams trying to impress a female DJ by stripping naked and eventually resorting to removing his skin and muscles, ending up as a skeleton. The song won British Single of the Year, and the video won British Video of the Year at the 2001 Brit Awards.

Chart performance

The song became Robbie Williams' third number-one solo single in the United Kingdom, going on to sell over 1.2 million copies and being certified 2× platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

The video has been shown numerous times on Fuse's Pants-Off Dance-Off, despite its gory content. Toward the end of the dancer's dancing/stripping to it when the video is shown in the background like any other, they only show Williams, briefly, ripping and throwing his skin, and dancing in muscle form before cutting to the hostess of the show. The video appears as an instance of the re-use of the motif of "dancing with the dead" in a book about medieval images of death and dying in art and literature.

A 'video single' "Rock DJ", containing the music video and a making-of documentary, was released on VHS on 11 September 2000 and DVD on 16 September. The DVD was intended to be released concurrently with the VHS, but was pulled because copies lacked the '15' certification from the British Board of Film Classification due to a printing error, and needed replacing with the new 15-rated copies. The music video also carried a 15 certificate warning when uploaded to Williams' official website. As of March 2001, "Rock DJ" was the biggest-selling music DVD in the United Kingdom to date, selling over 64,000 copies on what was then still a nascent format.

A second video shows Williams in a studio while recording the song.

Track listings

UK CD and cassette single, Australian CD single

  1. "Rock DJ" – 4:15
  2. "Talk to Me" – 3:28
  3. "Rock DJ" (Player One remix) – 5:34

UK DVD single

  1. "Rock DJ" (full length video)
  2. "Rock DJ" (a short documentary feature)

European CD single

  1. "Rock DJ" – 4:15
  2. "Talk to Me" – 3:28

European maxi-CD single

  1. "Rock DJ" – 4:15
  2. "Talk to Me" – 3:28
  3. "Rock DJ" (Player One remix) – 5:34
  4. "Rock DJ" (video)

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the Sing When You're Winning album booklet.

Studios

  • Recorded at Master Rock Studios (North London, England) and Sarm Hook End (Reading, England)
  • Mixed at Battery Studios (London, England)
  • Mastered at Metropolis Mastering (London, England)

Personnel

  • Robbie Williams – writing, lead vocals
  • Guy Chambers – writing, all keyboards, production, arrangement
  • Kelvin Andrews – writing
  • Nelson Pigford – writing
  • Ekundayo Paris – writing
  • Andy Caine – backing vocals
  • Derek Green – backing vocals
  • Katie Kissoon – backing vocals
  • Sylvia Mason-James – backing vocals
  • Tessa Niles – backing vocals
  • Paul "Tubbs" Williams – backing vocals
  • Steve Power – vocoder, production, mixing
  • Neil Taylor – electric guitar
  • Winston Blissett – bass guitar
  • Andy Duncan – drum programming
  • Dave Bishop – brass
  • Neil Sidwell – brass
  • Steve Sidwell – brass
  • The London Session Orchestra – orchestra
  • Gavyn Wright – concertmaster
  • Nick Ingman – orchestration
  • Isobel Griffiths – orchestral contractor
  • Steve Price – orchestral engineering
  • Richard Flack – Pro Tools
  • Tony Cousins – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (2000–2001)

!scope="col"|Peak<br />position

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Canada (BDS)

|22

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Costa Rica (El Siglo de Torreón)

|1

|-

!scope="row"|Czech Republic (IFPI)

|3

|-

!scope="row"|Denmark (IFPI)

|7

|-

!scope="row"|El Salvador (El Siglo de Torreón)

|3

|-

!scope="row"|Estonia (Eesti Top 20)

|1

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

|5

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (European Hit Radio)

|1

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Guatemala (El Siglo de Torreón)

|6

|-

!scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)

|1

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Latvia (Latvijas Top 40)

|2

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Poland (Music & Media)

|18

|-

!scope="row"|Poland (PiF PaF)

|7

|-

!scope=row|Portugal (AFP)

|6

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|UK Airplay (Music Week)

|1

|-

!scope="row"|Uruguay (El Siglo de Torreón)

|21

|-

!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)

|94

|-

!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)

|76

|-

!scope="row"|Brazil (Crowley)

|27

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

|38

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (European Hit Radio)

|7

|-

!scope="row"|Germany (Media Control)

|78

|-

!scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)

|12

|-

!scope="row"|Ireland (IRMA)

|6

|-

!scope="row"|Latvia (Latvijas Top 50)

|17

|-

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)

|34

|-

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100)

|70

|-

!scope="row"|New Zealand (RIANZ)

|21

|-

!scope="row"|Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)

|59

|-

!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)

|5

|-

!scope="row"|UK Airplay (Music Week)

|8

|}

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (2001)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|Taiwan (Hito Radio)

|63

|}

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (2025)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|Argentina Anglo Airplay (Monitor Latino)

|65

|}

Decade-end charts

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (2000–2009)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)

|41

|}

Certifications

Release history

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

!scope="col"|Region

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Format(s)

!scope="col"|Label(s)

!scope="col"|

|-

!scope="row"|Australia

|rowspan="2"|31 July 2000

|CD

|rowspan="2"|Chrysalis

|align="center"|

|-

!scope="row"|United Kingdom

|

|align="center"|

|-

!scope="row" rowspan="3"|United States

|22 August 2000

|Contemporary hit radio

|rowspan="3"|Capitol

|align="center"|

|-

|25 September 2000

|

|align="center"|

|-

|17 October 2000

|Rhythmic contemporary radio

|align="center"|

|}

Notes

References