Sweet Caroline

About

Robbie Williams has often performed Sweet Caroline, the 1969 Neil Diamond standard, as a live duet with his father, Pete Conway. The song has featured in various concerts and television appearances from the 2000s onwards, usually programmed as a light hearted crowd piece that draws on Conway’s background as a cabaret singer.

The performances typically arise during shows where Williams brings family members onstage. Conway’s familiarity with classic pop standards shapes the duet’s presentation, with Williams taking the lead on the call and response sections while Conway provides supporting vocals. The arrangement is usually handled by Williams’s touring band, keeping close to the original’s brass led, mid tempo structure.

In these renditions, Sweet Caroline functions as a communal singalong. Williams often extends the chorus to encourage audience participation, framing the song as a moment of generational connection between himself, his father and the crowd. The interplay between the two vocalists provides a relaxed contrast to the more heavily produced elements of the set.

It is just lovely to have Dad up there. He has been doing this a lot longer than I have.Robbie Williams

Although never recorded by Williams for commercial release, the duet has become a recurring feature in his live catalogue. It reinforces his long standing habit of using cover versions to create informal, audience friendly interludes within large scale shows.