This paper addresses the robust tracking control problem for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with time-varying parameters, perturbed by external disturbances. The unknown time-varying parameters and disturbances are neither required to be periodic nor to have known bounds. Depending on the characteristics of disturbance signals, two adaptivebased control algorithms are developed. First, an adaptive H ∞ control is designed that achieves: (i) an H ∞ tracking performance when the external disturbances are L 2 signals, and (ii) the convergence of tracking error to zero if the disturbances are bounded and L 2 signals. Then a novel adaptive control algorithm is proposed, only with the assumption of boundedness of disturbances, to drive the tracking error to zero. The designed tracking controllers are then used for controlling a cart-pendulum system, as an underactuated mechanical system, and chaos synchronization of uncertain Genesio-Tesi chaotic system. Numerical simulations are also given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control schemes.