Angels

Ray Heffernan, an Irish singer-songwriter, says he wrote the first version of "Angels" in 1996 after his girlfriend had a miscarriage, with lyrics expressing the thought that he would love an angel instead of a baby. He met Robbie Williams by chance in a Dublin pub that year and played him an incomplete version, and the two recorded a studio demo that week. Williams confirmed the demo but said he rewrote the song significantly with Guy Chambers. Williams claimed he and Chambers wrote it in 25 minutes, sitting outside a café and watching a water fountain, which inspired the chorus. Chambers said he wrote the music while Williams wrote the lyrics and melody, calling it very equal. To avoid a lawsuit, Williams bought the rights from Heffernan before release, paying £7,500 after an initial offer of £2,500.

"Angels" was released on 1 December 1997 as the fourth single from Williams's debut album, Life thru a Lens, produced by Chambers and Steve Power. It reached number four on the UK singles chart, spending 12 weeks in the top 10, and number 53 on the US Billboard Hot 100. By 2014 it had sold more than 1.16 million copies in the UK.

The song won the 1999 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, and at the 2005 Brit Awards the British public voted it the best song of the previous 25 years. In a 2005 survey by Music Choice, Britons also chose it as the song they would most want played at their funeral.