Gary Barlow OBE

Gary Barlow is a singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer best known as the lead singer and principal songwriter of the pop group, Take That. He developed an interest in music at an early age, teaching himself to play the piano and beginning to write songs as a teenager while performing in local clubs around northern England.

Gary rose to prominence in the early 1990s when he joined Take That, quickly becoming the creative force behind the band’s music.

As the group’s primary songwriter and one of its lead vocalists, he wrote or co-wrote many of their biggest hits, including Back for Good, Pray and Never Forget. The band became one of the most successful British pop acts of the decade before disbanding in 1996. After their reunion in 2005, Take That experienced a major resurgence, releasing successful albums such as Beautiful World and Progress.

While he first rose to international fame in the early 1990s as part of Take That, Gary has long maintained a parallel reputation as a prolific songwriter and solo performer. Beyond his work as a singer, he has written and produced music for a wide range of artists, including Elton John, Shirley Bassey and Robbie Williams, and has been responsible for numerous chart-topping hits both for himself and others.

Alongside his work with the band, Gary has pursued a solo career, beginning with the release of Open Road in 1997 and many other projects.

In 2020 he released Music Played by Humans, an orchestral-inspired album recorded with a large ensemble and featuring collaborations with artists such as Michael Bublé and Sebastián Yatra; it became his third solo album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart.

Away from music, he has become a familiar television presence as a judge on The X Factor (UK) between 2011 and 2014 and Let it Shine in 2017.

In 2024, he begun hosting the travel and food series Gary Barlow’s Food & Wine Tour, exploring music, culture and cuisine in different parts of the world.

Over the course of his career, Gary has established himself as one of Britain’s most successful pop songwriters, responsible for numerous chart-topping hits and millions of record sales worldwide.

In recognition of his contributions to music and charity, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2012.

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