Gary Barlow opens up about rediscovering his love for singing
Gary opens up about his eight year break from singing!
Acclaimed singer Gary Barlow joined us here at Magic to talk about rediscovering his love of singing, his recent Sea Shanty collaboration with Ronan Keating and outfit plans for his postponed 50th birthday bash!
Magic presenter Emma B took the Take That singer down memory lane by showing him a series of photos from his music career. Upon seeing a photo from Take That's 2006 Comeback Tour, Gary admitted that prior to that he "wasn't in the best place" at that time in his life and that "singing or looking in the mirror wasn't the best".
However, thankfully the singer-songwriter revealed he rediscovered his love for himself and music, on that tour and told us, “The one thing that people don’t really know is that the eight years before that show happened, I barely sung a note. I had really fallen out of love with the whole business.
"Every time I heard my voice, I didn’t like it. I wasn’t in the best place. I didn’t like myself that much in that period, so singing or looking in the mirror wasn’t a good thing."
He added, “You remember that singing is a joyous thing. It’s something you do when you’re happy, when you’re painting, or in the kitchen or shower. It’s a brilliant thing to do. To express and emote like that is just a wonderful feeling, and I’d forgotten about it, and I was rediscovering it on that tour."
Watch Gary Barlow take a trip down memory lane:
Gary Barlow's love for music is still shining through in his The Crooner Sessions, which recently featured our very own Magic Breakfast presenter Ronan Keating! The pair featured in the viral collaboration of Sea Shanty, inspired by Tik Tok sensations.
Gary explained how the Sea Shanty collaboration came about, "We saw this exploding on TikTok our kids playing it around the house and thought 'oh we’ll have a bit of this, Ro get your voice into gear let’s record one'."
Watch Gary Barlow and Ronan Keating's Sea Shanty:
The Crooner Sessions have been an amazing creative outlet for Gary Barlow, especially in these times. Gary told us "The magic of all these sessions is more than a session, it’s the initial approach when I email someone like Rod Stewart and say ‘would you be’ and you’re expecting a ‘no’ and it’s a straight yes and it’s so lovely for people to give their time, because they know what state the country is in right now and that they need a lift."
Gary has postponed his 50th birthday and we wanted to help him to pick an outfit. While exploring his fashion choices from the '80s to now, our fave was his traffic-stopping silver jacket. Speaking of the jacket, Gary revealed "It's fancy, that fabric is like butter, it's absolutely beautiful. I got given it on a photoshoot in Italy by Gianna Versace. He invited us back to his villa in the evening for dinner, where we all went on Lake Como." He added, "Gianna Versace gave me that jacket and I wore it with pride, I never got knocked down!"
Emma B urged Gary to "get that one out of the cupboard and stick it on for your birthday". Well, why not? What better way to brighten up the current 20's than by reliving the glamour of the 90's? 🕺
Now take a trip down memory lane with Take That's career highlights
1989
Starting with a line-up of five young men, Take That consisted of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Robbie Williams, with the original (short lived) name of Kick It.
1991
Take That's original line-up of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Thankfully they changed their name and after a few unsuccessful songs in the early 90s Take That's breakthrough hit 'It Only Takes A Minute' was released. The song was a cover of a 1975 song by Taveres and reached number 7 in the charts.
1992
In 1992 Take That had hits with 'A Million Love Songs' and 'Could It Be Magic'. The boys' follow-up single 'Could It Be Magic' quickly propelled them to super-stardom with a string of number 1s not far away.
1993
Take That had huge success in 1993 with 'Pray', 'Relight My Fire' (featuring Lulu) and 'Babe'.
1994
The band's success continued in 1994 with 'Everything Changes' and 'Sure'. Here they are performing at The BRITs 1994.
1995
However, in July 1995 after countless hits, fans heard the devastating news; Robbie Williams would be leaving the band following friction with other band members. Robbie later admitted in a TV documentary in 2005, that he did some "stupid stuff" after parting ways with the band over 20 years ago, but said he didn't regret it because he was young.
1995
The remaining members of Take That continued to perform as a quartet.
1996
Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen and Jason Orange performed at The BRITs in 1996. The remaining group of four continued to tour and release songs for another year, releasing 'Never Forget' and the Bee Gees cover 'How Deep Is Your Love', finally announcing they would be disbanding in February 1996. 'How Deep Is Your Love' became the band's final number 1 before they reformed 10 years later.
Late 90's
During the late 90s three of the band members, Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams, enjoyed solo singing careers with varying degrees of success. Jason Orange went into acting and Howard Donald, despite being the lead singer on a number of Take That songs, made a name for himself as a club DJ across Europe.
2005
Skip nearly a decade and ITV reunited the group for a documentary called Take That: For the Record in which the former members of the boyband were interviewed, discussing how they were discovered and looking back at their experiences in the band.
2005
Following the successful reception of the documentary by fans and the press, the decision was made to reunite with the 'post Robbie' line-up and a 2006 tour titled the 'The Ultimate Tour' was announced. After a break of nearly 10 years, Take That members Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen and Jason Orange reformed in 2005.
2006
Take That performed on The X Factor in 2006. In 2006 they had a Number 1 single with 'Patience'. Gone were the cheesy pop tunes of the 90s, Take That had grown up with their fans and the men, now in their 30s revealed a much more mature sound, with their 2006 comeback single 'Patience'. The song quickly hit the top spot in the UK and around Europe becoming the eighth best-selling single of 2006 spending a massive 11 weeks in the top 10.
2007
In 2007 Take That embarked on their 'Beautiful World' tour. Since their reunion as a four-piece, it was clear that they hadn't lost the momentum they had in the 90s with another string of hits including 'Shine', 'Rule the World' and 'Greatest Day'.
2009
After the release of fifth album 'The Circus' in December 2008, the boys headed out on their 'Take That Present: The Circus Live' tour to promote it - and what a spectacle it was! Tickets to the entire tour sold it in less than five hours, making it the fastest-selling tour in UK history.
2010
Robbie Williams made an unexpected return to the group in 2010, joining forces with Gary Barlow - the first time since 1995 - writing a song that would feature on both Take That and Robbie's albums. Then, later that year, the news that all Take That fans had been waiting for was confirmed, the original line-up would be reforming for the wildly successful album, 'Progress' and its live tour. Their lead single 'The Flood' was released and peaked at number 2 featuring both Gary and Robbie as lead vocals.
2011
Following the band's 'Progress Live' tour in 2011 they then decided to take a break.
2014
A couple of years later Take That reformed as a group to record their seventh studio album, but it was short-lived, in 2014 both Robbie and Jason decided to leave. Robbie had recently become a dad for the second time and saying he would find it difficult "logistically". The band continued as a trio made up of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen.
2017
Take That returned earlier this year with their new album 'Wonderland' and their single 'Giants' which peaked at number 13. 'Giants' was written by the remaining three members of Take That along with some co-writers and the lyric video can be seen below.
2019
After celebrating Take That's 30th anniversary in 2019, the band put out a Greatest Hits album called 'Odyssey', which featured song "re-imagined with new arrangements and production". It debuted at Number 1, and the group embarked on a huge UK tour in 2019.
May 2020
Take That reunited with former member Robbie Williams for a very special performance in May 2020 during the lockdown amid the global pandemic of Coronavirus, performing a 40-minute set.
June 2020
The band's musical film Greatest Day was confirmed in June 2020! Although it had been in the pipeline for a couple of years, things started to get in motion in the summer, which is based on the jukebox musical The Band, containing Take That songs.
November 2020
Gary released his fifth solo studio album on 27th November, 'Music Played By Humans', which debuted at Number 1 in the UK! It features singles 'Elita' featuring Michael Bublé and Sebastián Yatra, 'Incredible' and 'This Is My Time'. Other album tracks feature vocals from the likes of Beverley Knight, Alesha Dixon and James Corden among others.
2021
On 7th October 2021, Gary surprised fans with the announcement that he was launching his own wine company. He shared photos from his new company Gary Barlow Wines on his social media.
2021
In October 2021, Gary announced his first Christmas album 'The Dream Of Christmas' would come out on 26th November. The album includes new songs like 'How Christmas Is Supposed To Be' as well as Gary's take on some classic tunes.
'Sleigh Ride' and 'The Dream Of Christmas' were released on 28th October ahead of the album.
2022
In January 2022, Gary Barlow announced he would be putting on a theatre performance show called 'A Different Stage', with dates being added throughout the year.
2022: Take That attend the Cannes Film Festival
Howard Donald, Gary Barlow and Mark Owen attend the Cannes Film Festival in the south of France in support of Greatest Days, the musical movie inspired by Take That, featuring their songs.
2022: Mark Owen teases future plans
Mark told PA that he, Gary and Howard had been working remotely to make music for their ninth album, adding that a tour could follow suit: "We have been talking. We have got a movie coming out next year. And we have been talking obviously about a new record and when that will be and what kind of thing that will be.
"So those kinds of conversations are open and always a part of the background. It is always there in my head. I am always thinking."
2023: Take That performed at the Coronation Concert
Gary, Howard and Mark performed at Windsor Castle as part of the Coronation Concert on 7th May 2023. According to a press release, former members Robbie Williams and Jason Orange were offered the opportunity to reunite with the band for the occasion, however they did not appear during the concert.
Speaking about the performance, the current line-up of Take That said: "This will be our first live show since the 'Odyssey' Tour, four years ago in 2019, and what a stage to come back on. A huge live band and orchestra, a choir, military drummers, the backdrop of Windsor Castle and the celebration of a new King. We can't wait."
Taking to Twitter to share footage of their performance following the concert, Take That later assured fans that there will be more to come from the group. The band wrote: 'It was incredible to perform live together again for the first time in 4 years and there is so much more to come. We're back for good.'
2023: Take That documentary
On 14th June a Take That documentary called 30 Years in The Making was released on ITVX. The documentary is designed to accompany the musical film Greatest Days, which was in cinemas from 16th June.
2023: Take That announce tour and release ninth album
Take That released their ninth studio album called 'This Life' on 24th November. They have also announced a tour in support of the album for 2024.
2024: Take That release new single 'You and Me'
At the end of March 2024, Take That released a brand new single called 'You and Me' to celebrate their upcoming 'This Life on Tour' shows.
2024: Take That announce 'The Greatest Weekend' festival
Take That have announced a special four-day event called 'The Greatest Weekend', which will take place in Malta in October 2024. The event will include two performances from the band, in addition to appearances from special guests, a pool party and nightclub events.
Fellow artists on the line-up include Sugababes, Ella Henderson, Sam Ryder, Daniel Beddingfield and Heather Small, with more to be announced.
2024: Take That join Lulu on tour in Manchester
Surprising fans, Take That joined Lulu while she was on tour in Manchester, on her 'Champagne For Lulu' tour. They performed their 1993 hit 'Relight My Fire'.
Read more:
Everything you need to know about Take That
Ronan Keating’s career highlights
Watch Gary Barlow and Ronan Keating’s Sea Shanty
Gary Barlow reveals huge birthday celebrations