William Peter Charles Williams (born 1959) is an English show director,

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

and lighting designer and video director for concerts, theatre and

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

projects. He is best known for his work with the rock band U2, and is recognised as one of the leading artists in this field.

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ear ...

, writing in ''

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

'' magazine, said "Willie Williams combines a passionate delight in technology with an infectious low-tech joy. His innovations have become industry standards."

Early life

He was born in 1959 in

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

and raised on Ecclesall Road,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, the son of Robert Woodman Williams, a singer and medical practitioner; he sang with South Yorkshire Opera. Williams excelled at mathematics and science in school and planned to study

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

Punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

encouraged him to enter the music industry instead: he began doing lights for various bands such as Deaf School and

Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers are a Northern Irish punk rock band from Belfast. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the Deep P ...

Career

U2

Williams has been responsible for the design of U2's tours from 1983 onward, most famously the

Zoo TV Tour The Zoo TV Tour (also written as ZooTV, ZOO TV or ZOOTV) was a worldwide concert tour by the Irish rock music, rock band U2. Staged primarily to support their 1991 album ''Achtung Baby'' and later their 1993 album ''Zooropa'', the tour visited ...

(1992–1993), and most recently U2:UV ''Achtung Baby'' Live at Sphere (2023–2024). The residency, which opened the

Sphere A sphere (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ) is a surface (mathematics), surface analogous to the circle, a curve. In solid geometry, a sphere is the Locus (mathematics), set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three ...

, was met with universal acclaim, with ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' stating that U2 and Williams had "changed live entertainment forever".

Various artists

He has also worked with musical artists such as

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

Darren Hayes Darren Stanley Hayes (born 8 May 1972) is an Australian singer, songwriter, music producer and composer. He was the singer of the pop duo Savage Garden from their 1993 establishment until their disbandment in 2001. Their 1997 album '' Savage Ga ...

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

and

Self Esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth, abilities, or morals. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Macki ...

. Williams has designed for the

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

-based dance company La La La Human Steps. Other collaborations have been with

Laurie Anderson Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson (born June 5, 1947) is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker whose work encompasses performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting,Amirkhanian, Cha ...

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025) was an English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single " As Tears Go By". She became one of the leading female art ...

and the

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...

, most notably on ''Sun Rings'', a joint effort with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

that combines the string quartet's music with video and audio material collected by the

Voyager 1 ''Voyager 1'' is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and the interstellar medium, interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. It was launched 16 days afte ...

and

Voyager 2 ''Voyager 2'' is a space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977, as a part of the Voyager program. It was launched on a trajectory towards the gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn) and enabled further encounters with the ice giants (Uranus and ...

spacecraft.

Gallery and architectural installations

In 2015, Williams designed the giant kinetic chandelier installed at Omnia nightclub at

Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesar ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. He has exhibited his own kinetic light sculptures in several art galleries. The sculptures, entitled " Lumia Domestica", create kaleidoscopic projections in the tradition of

Nicolas Schöffer Nicolas Schöffer (; 6 September 1912 — 8 January 1992) was a Hungarian-born French cybernetic artist. Schöffer was born in Kalocsa, Hungary and lived in France from 1936 until his death in Montmartre, Paris in 1992. He built his artwor ...

and

Thomas Wilfred Thomas Wilfred (June 18, 1889 in Naestved, Denmark – August 15, 1968 in Nyack, New York), born Richard Edgar Løvstrøm, was a visual artist, inventor, designer and musician. He is best known for his art of light, which he named '' lumia'', and ...

by refracting light through household glassware. Other public works include the creation of lighting installations at London's

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is an arts centre in London, England. It is adjacent to the separately owned National Theatre and BFI Southbank. It comprises the three main performance spaces – the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Purcell R ...

and within

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

; "SkyChurch", a multimedia performance space at the Experience Music Project in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, and a permanent exhibit at Cleveland's

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

Museum.

Theatre works

Theatre shows Williams has worked on include ''

Prima Facie ''Prima facie'' (; ) is a Latin expression meaning "at first sight", or "based on first impression". The literal translation would be "at first face" or "at first appearance", from the feminine forms of ' ("first") and ' ("face"), both in the a ...

'', starring

Jodie Comer Jodie Marie Comer ( ; born 11 March 1993) is an English actress of screen and stage. She began her career in an episode of '' The Royal Today'' in 2008. Comer gained recognition for appearing in the series ''My Mad Fat Diary'' (2013–2015) an ...

, at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London and

John Golden Theatre The John Golden Theatre, formerly the Theatre Masque and Masque Theater, is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 252 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York ...

on Broadway, for which he won a New York

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

; ''

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song by the British rock band Queen from their 1977 album '' News of the World'', written by guitarist Brian May. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and the RIAA it p ...

'', ''

Little Britain Live ''Little Britain Live'' is a stage show based on the television sketch series '' Little Britain'', performed by its stars, David Walliams and Matt Lucas, and directed by Jeremy Sams. Supporting characters are played by Paul Putner and Samantha ...

'', ''

French and Saunders ''French and Saunders'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is al ...

Still Alive'', ''

Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English-Irish actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. His accolades include four BAFTA Awards and three British Comedy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Aw ...

Alan Partridge Alan Gordon Partridge is an English comedy character portrayed by Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is a tactless and inept broadcaster with an inflated sense of celebrity. Since his debut in 1991, he has ap ...

and Other Less Successful Characters'', ''

The Fast Show ''The Fast Show'', also known as ''Brilliant'' in the United States, is a BBC comedy sketch show that ran on BBC Two, BBC 2 from 1994 to 1997, with specials in 2000 and 2014. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Si ...

Live'', '' Barbarella'' and '' Pam Ann''.

Awards

*1987: Lighting Director of the Year, ''Performance'' Magazine, United States *1992: Lighting Designer of the Year, ''Performance'' Magazine, United States *1992: Lighting Designer of the Year, Lighting Dimensions International, United States *2000: Top 25 Visionaries in Entertainment, ''Wired'' Magazine, United States *2001: Eddy Award for Excellence in Design, New York *2002: Lighting Designer of the Year, ''Live'' Magazine Awards, London *2003: Lighting Designer of the Year, Total Production Awards, London *2006: Lighting Designer of the Year, Total Production Awards, London *2006; Metropolitan Home, Design 100 *2007: Best in Book, Creative Review Annual (George Michael, 25 Live Tour) *2008: Excellence in Design Award (George Michael, 25 Live Tour), Live Design, New York *2009: Redden Award for Excellence in Design, United States *2010: Live Production of the Year (U2 360° Tour), Lighting Designer of the Year and Video Visionary, Total Production Awards, London *2016: Most Creative Stage Production (U2, Innocence + Experience Tour), Pollstar Concert Industry Awards *2019: Honorary Fellowship, Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance *2023: New York

, Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play (

). Shared with Natasha Chivers. *2024: Honorary Doctorate (Dr. of Arts),

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield station, Sheffield railway station, whil ...

*2025: Honorary Professorship,

*2025:

Webby Awards The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...

, AI, Immersive & Games, Best Performance 2025, Treatment Studio

References

External links

*
Rolling Stone Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Willie 1959 births Living people Artists from Sheffield British scenic designers British theatre designers British lighting designers British music video directors People educated at Silverdale School, Sheffield