Gary Barlow

Gary Barlow was born in Frodsham, Cheshire, England on January 20, 1971, to Marge and Colin Barlow. He has an elder brother named Ian Barlow. He is married to Dawn Andrews and they have three children Daniel, Emily, and Daisy. In August 2012, the couple revealed that they had lost their fourth child, a daughter, Poppy, during birth.

Gary Barlow started his career at an early age in 1986, when he reached the semi-finals of the BBC ‘Pebble Mill at One’ singing competition. He was introduced to Nigel Martin-Smith in 1989, who formed the band ‘Take That’. It was centered around Barlow as the lead singer and songwriter and consisted of Robbie Williams, Jason Orange, Howard Donald, and Mark Owen. The group's debut album ‘Take That & Part’ was released on August 17, 1992, and top-charted at number 2 on the ‘UK Albums Chart’. Their second album ‘Everything Changes’ was released on October 23, 1993. This album catapulted the band to the top as Barlow’s song ‘Pray’ won him his first ‘Ivor Novello Award’ (1994), and the album itself won the ‘Mercury Prize’ (1994).

Their third album ‘Nobody Else’ was released on May 8, 1995, and became the best-selling album of all time for the group. It featured the singles ‘Sure’, ‘Never Forget’, and ‘Back for Good’ with Barlow in lead vocals and won him another ‘Ivor Novello Award’ (1996). ‘Take That’ split in 1996 and then reunited in 2005. Their new album ‘Beautiful World’ was released on November 26, 2006, and featured top-charting singles like, ‘Rule the World’, ‘Shine’, and ‘Patience’. The group has since released more albums including, ‘The Circus’ (2008), ‘Progress’ (2010), ‘III’ (2014), and ‘Wonderland’ (2017).

Once ‘Take That’ split in 1996, Gary Barlow went straight to work on his first solo album. His first two singles ‘Forever Love’, released on July 5, 1996, and ‘Love Won’t Wait’, released on April 25, 1997, top-charted at number one. The official album ‘Open Road’ debuted on May 26, 1997, and has since been certified Platinum. His second album ‘Twelve Months, Eleven Days’ was released on October 11, 2009. It failed to emulate the success of its predecessor and two of the most popular singles ‘Stronger’ and ‘For All That You Want’ failed to reach top 10 on charts.

Barlow returned in 2009, with the duet ‘Shame’ in collaboration with Robbie Williams. The song was an instant hit and has been certified Silver by British Phonographic Industry. His third solo album ‘Sing’ (2012) was a major chart-topper too. ‘Since I Saw You Last’ was his fourth solo album released on November 22, 2013, and it featured some of the best songs of his career, such as ‘Let Me Go’, ‘Face to Face’, and ‘Since I Saw You Last’.

Additionally, Gary Barlow has also made cameo appearances on ‘Heartbeat’ (2000), ‘Keith Lemon: The Film’ (2013), and ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ (2017). He was also a judge on ‘The X Factor’ (2011, 2013, 2013) and ‘Let It Shine’ (2017).

Barlow was found guilty of tax-evasion in 2014 and had to repay the government millions. He also had a very public feud with ‘Take That’ bandmate Robbie Williams who claimed that Barlow was behind his decision to split from the group. He also once commented to co-judge Tulisa on ‘The X Factor’, “I'm not sure what has offended me more - what you've said or your fag ash breath” which received widespread criticism.