Gary Barlow's journey to stardom: From Take That to solo artist
He has enjoyed a successful solo career
Gary Barlow may be best known as one of the founding (and current) members of Take That, but he's achieved so much outside of the group, too. Not only is he a successful solo artist - as proven by his chart-topping album 'Music Played By Humans' - but he's also a musical theatre maestro AND a television personality, along with plenty of other talents and accolades.
We've taken a look back through Gary's biggest career moments so far, from starting out in Take That over 30 years ago, all the way through to his first Christmas album 'The Dream Of Christmas' (2021), and Take That's ninth album 'This Life', which is out now.
Gary Barlow's impressive career timeline:
Early beginnings
Gary was born in Frodsham in Cheshire, and although his family weren't musical themselves, they recognised the talent in Gary.
After being inspired by Elton John to learn the piano, Gary entered a Christmas singing competition at the age of 15, reaching the semi-finals and recording his track at a studio in London, causing him to start performing on the northern club circuit - performing both original songs and covers.
1989 - Gary started to take his music career seriously
Gary appointed a manager and was introduced to a casting agent, who wanted to start a boyband... And, as we know, the rest is history.
1990 - Gary was appointed as the lead singer of Take That
Gary, along with bandmates Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams released three studio albums together as a five-piece: 'Take That & Party' in 1992, 'Everything Changes' in 1993 and 'Nobody Else' in 1995.
1997 - Gary Barlow released 'Open Road'
Gary released his first solo album after Take That's split in 1997. 'Open Road' featured singles such as 'Forever Love' and 'Love Won't Wait', topping the UK charts and paving the way for his follow-up record 'Twelve Months, Eleven Days' in 1999.
2000 - Gary Barlow and Dawn Andrews get married
Gary met Dawn Andrews when she was a dancer on Take That's 'Nobody Else' tour in 1995. They now have three children including Daniel who was born in 2000, Emily (born 2002) and Daisy (born 2009).
2006 - Gary releases My Take
My Take was Gary's autobiography released in 2006.
2011 - Gary Barlow is named as a judge on The X Factor
Gary Barlow was a judge on The X Factor for three series, from 2011 until 2013. While he was on the show, Gary mentored acts including Christopher Maloney, Marcus Collins and the group Kingsland Road.
2012 - Gary Barlow was awarded an OBE in the Queen's birthday honours
Gary was approached by the Queen's advisers to write a song to commemorate her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. Working with musical theatre legend Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gary released 'Sing' as the official single which featured the Commonwealth Band and the Military Wives choir.
Gary was also awarded an OBE in the Queen's birthday honours that summer.
Gary also performed at the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics, where he sang 'Rule The World'.
2014 - Take That reunited
Take That reunited as a trio without Robbie Williams and Jason Orange. The album 'III' was released in November 2014 and became the band's seventh Number 1.
2016 - Gary launches his own talent show Let It Shine
The talent show, Let It Shine, which aired in 2017, searched for a group to star in The Band, a new stage musical featuring the songs of Take That. The winners of the show were called Five to Five and went on tour later that year.
2017 - Gary releases A Better Me
In 2017, Gary released his honest memoir about his successful journey back to a healthy lifestyle with his mental and physical wellbeing back to normal. After Take That split and he was out of work, out of shape and depressed, Gary hit rock bottom.
2020 - Gary Barlow's Crooner Sessions
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Gary brightened our days with a series of Crooner Sessions with the singer teaming up with all sorts of artists including Ronan Keating, Robbie Williams, JLS, Leona Lewis, The Script, Elton John and of course, Take That.
Gary also released his fifth solo studio album on 27th November 2020, '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 - Gary launches Gary Barlow Wines
On 7th October 2021, Gary announced that he was taking on a new exciting venture. Gary has also received numerous compliments on the bottles design, which features piano keys wrapped around the bottle as well as the singer's name.
2021 - Gary Barlow releases his first Christmas album
On 26th November 2021 Gary released his first Christmas album called 'The Dream Of Christmas', he released his versions of the classic Christmas songs 'Sleigh Ride' and 'The Dream of Christmas' in October 2021.
Gary gets in the festive spirit
Gary Barlow took to the airwaves of Magic Radio for Christmas 2021 with his very own radio show! The five-part Christmas series saw the Take That singer share all his favourite memories from the festive season, as well as choosing his best loved Christmas songs, every Sunday throughout the festive season.
2022 - 'A Different Stage''
In January 2022, Gary announced his theatre show 'A Different Stage' with dates in February. Due to popular demand by fans he will be adding more performance dates and locations to the show throughout the year.
2023 - Take That perform at the Coronation Concert
That That performed at King Charles' Coronation Concert in May 2023. Closing the show, Gary, Mark and Howard performed hits such as 'Shine' and 'Never Forget'. They were also joined by Calum Scott and DJ Robin Schulz for a performance of 'Greatest Day'.
2023 - Greatest Days hit cinemas
Take That's musical Greatest Days hit cinemas in June 2023. The film is loosely based on Take That's musical The Band, which starred the winners of the 2017 TV show Let It Shine, with Gary taking to the judging panel on the show. Take That performed at the Greatest Days premiere.
2023 - Take That perform at BST Hyde Park
Take That performed at BST Hyde Park in July 2023. Speaking after the gig was announced, the band said: "We're so excited to be back together and that BST Hyde Park will be the first stage we perform on in almost four years. We have incredible memories of playing there in 2016, and we can't wait to see everyone in July."
2023 - Take That announce 'This Life on Tour' and their ninth album
Take That announced 'This Life on Tour' would take place in 2024 in support of their ninth album 'This Life'. They also released the first song from the album called 'Windows'.
2023 - Take That release ninth studio album
In November 2023, Take That released their ninth studio album 'This Life.' On the day of the album's release, the band took to social media and wrote: 'THIS LIFE 💙 OUR NEW ALBUM IS OUT NOW! Writing and releasing this album has been such a beautiful, emotional journey and we couldn't be happier and prouder to finally have it out in the world. We hope you love it - let us know what you think!'
2023 - Agnetha Fältskog releases a song with Gary Barlow
Agnetha Fältskog released 'I Should've Followed You Home (A+)' with Gary Barlow on 29th September. The song originally appeared on Agnetha's 2013 album 'A'.
2024 - Food and travel TV show announced
Announced in February 2024, ITV confirmed that Gary would be fronting a food and travel show which will air on the channel in Autumn 2024. He said: "I'm absolutely delighted to be exploring my passion for food, wine and travel in this new series for ITV. I've always loved South Africa and I can't wait to really see all that it has to offer: the people, the places, its amazing history… and a glass or two of its incredible wine! This series is something that's a bit different for me – but I can't wait to get going."
Greatest Days
Take That's musical Greatest Days hit cinemas in June 2023. The film is loosely based on Take That's musical The Band, which starred the winners of the 2017 TV show Let It Shine, with Gary taking to the judging panel on the show.
A musical version of Greatest Days also toured the UK in 2023, starring Kym Marsh and her daughter Emilie Cunliffe.
Musical theatre
Gary co-wrote the soundtrack for the 2014 musical version of 2004 film Finding Neverland, which ran on Broadway in Spring 2015.
He clearly caught the theatre bug, as he co-wrote the music to show The Girls - based on 2003 film Calendar Girls - along with Tim Firth, which opened in the West End in London in 2017. It was later renamed to Calendar Girls The Musical, and saw a tour around the UK and Ireland in 2018.
Fans speculated that another musical with Tim Firth was in the works, as he responded to a fan's question about the project and confirmed that he was still working on it.
'A Different Stage'
Following his work in musical theatre Gary announced his very own theatre show called 'A Different Stage' in January 2022. The original show dates scheduled for 10th-15th February sold out quickly, leading fans to ask for more dates to be added, which Gary confirmed would be happening.
He later updated fans to announce three new locations in Salford, Liverpool and Edinburgh in February and March.
In 2022, Gary performed a number of limited shows titled A Different Stage. Speaking about the shows, Gary said: "Now I’ve done shows where it has just been me and a keyboard. I’ve done shows where I sit and talk to people. I’ve done shows where I’ve performed as part of a group. But this one, well, it's like all of those, but none of them. When I walk out this time, well, it’s going to be a very different stage altogether.”
Gary Barlow and ABBA's Agnetha Fältskog
ABBA's Agnetha Fältskog released 'I Should've Followed You Home (A+)' with Gary Barlow in September 2023. The song was a re-recording of the original song which was released in 2013, on Agnetha's album 'A'.
Awards and accolades
As well as his 2012 OBE, Gary has also been the recipient of plenty of other awards - both for his solo work and as part of Take That. He has won five Ivor Novello Awards: Songwriter of The Year Award 1993, Best Contemporary Song for 'Pray' in 1994, Song of the year in 1995 for 'Back For Good', another for 'Never Forget' in 1996 and Most Performed Song in 2008 for 'Shine'.
Take That have won eight BRIT Awards: 'Could It Be Magic' won Best British Single in 1993, winning the accolade a year later in 1994 for 'Pray', which also took home Best British Video. In 1996, the group won Best British Single yet again, this time for 'Back For Good', again in 2007 for their comeback single 'Patience' and once again in 2008 for 'Shine'. They also won Best British Live Act in 2008, as well as Best British Group in 2011.
Was he in Star Wars?
Apparently so! Gary had a small cameo role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi as a resistance fighter on the planet Crait. This was confirmed by Rogue One director Gareth Edwards who was also making a secret cameo in the scene.
"I got there and obviously they probably briefed everyone," he explained: "But I got there late, so they were like ‘stand there, put this on’, and I went into this trench and I had no idea what was going on, and I looked to my right and it’s Gary Barlow."
What was Gary's biggest regret from his time in Take That?
During an interview on Lorraine, aired on Christmas Day 2022, Gary revealed his biggest regret from his time with Take That, saying: "Everyone always has their different role and I was the worrier. It’s my only regret looking back, is that I wish I was in the moment more."
He went on to say: "I’m always thinking about tomorrow... what do we do next year? Big plans? Always planning ahead, and I don't ever really enjoy the moment.
"It’s been a terrific year this year, and I actually count every year that I’m still able to do this, as a magnificent year.
"If you’d have asked me 30 years ago how long is this gonna last for, I couldn't have dreamed it would have spanned all these years. These last couple of years I’ve had time and I’ve looked back a lot and been like ‘this has been amazing’.
"It’s made me appreciate it more than I’ve ever appreciated it."
Take That at the Coronation Concert
That That performed at King Charles' Coronation Concert in May 2023, delighting fans with an incredible set at Windsor Castle. Closing the show, Gary, Mark and Howard performed hits such as 'Shine' and 'Never Forget'. They were also joined by Calum Scott and DJ Robin Schulz for a performance of 'Greatest Day'.
Taking to Twitter to share footage of their performance, Take That 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.'
Is Gary on tour at the moment?
Not right now, no. However, Gary will be on tour this year with Take That. Gary previously toured across the UK and Ireland from in November and December 2021, and was joined by Leona Lewis.
Take That performed at BST Hyde Park in July 2023. Speaking after the gig was announced, the band said: “We're so excited to be back together and that BST Hyde Park will be the first stage we perform on in almost four years. We have incredible memories of playing there in 2016, and we can't wait to see everyone in July.”
Now read:
Take That's biggest career moments through the years
24 facts you probably didn't know about Take That
Gary Barlow reveals his biggest regret from his time in Take That