Gary Barlow, horoscope for birth date 20 January 1971, born in Frodsham, with Astrodatabank biography - Astro-Databank photo: Matt Deegan, license cc-by-2.0 Biography English singer, songwriter and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of British pop-group Take That and served as head judge on series 8, 9 and 10 of The X Factor UK. He is a six-time winner of the prestigious Ivor Novello prize. Barlow was a member of the group "Take That" which was successful in its own right. The group split up in 1996 and shortly afterward, Barlow released his first solo endeavor, "Forever Love" which became a hit. He married Dawn Andrews on January 12, 2000 and the couple has three children. The eldest, named Daniel, was born on August 16, 2000. Emily arrived on May 31, 2002 and Daisy followed on January 14, 2009.

In 2005 a documentary was released about the group "Take That" and Barlow published his memoir "My Take" in 2006. Gary Barlow G Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971 in Frodsham, Cheshire) is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and producer. He is a member of the pop group Take That and was one of the most successful songwriters of the 1990s, penning no fewer than 16 hit singles during the decade. Barlow had two No. 1 hits and five other top 40 UK singles as a solo singer in the last half of the 1990s. He is also a five-time recipient of the prestigious Ivor Novello Award. Recently, he was voted by Onepoll.com as the greatest British songwriter of all time, ahead of Paul McCartney and John Lennon of The Beatles . Early career Gary Barlow was born on 20 January 1971 in Frodsham in Cheshire, the second son of Colin and Marjorie Barlow. In his autobiography, Barlow relates that his love of music began at an early age.

"I was one of those kids that's forever dancing in front of the TV looking at my reflection." He said he enjoyed watching Top Of The Pops on television, and when he was ten years old, he watched an episode of the program in which Depeche Mode were performing their new single "Just Can't Get Enough". Barlow was mesmerised by the sound and decided he wanted a keyboard for Christmas. For the next few years, he spent most of his spare time teaching himself to play his favourite songs. Aged 15, Barlow entered a BBC Pebble Mill at One competition called A Song For Christmas with a song called Let's Pray For Christmas. After getting through to the semi-finals, he was invited to London's West Heath Studios to record his song. This inspired Barlow to perform on the northern club circuit, singing cover versions and his own songs. Aged 18 in 1989, he appointed Wigan show business agent Barry Woolley to be his manager and recorded a single (Love Is In The Air) under the stage name Kurtis Rush. After the single's commercial failure, Barlow came under the influence of pop manager Nigel Martin-Smith and formed Take That, becoming the lead singer.

He was introduced to Martin-Smith by Manchester photographer Michael Braham whom Barlow paid to take publicity shots. Braham, an aspiring actor at the time, was also represented by Martin-Smith and knew he was looking for members to form a pop group as Britain's answer to New Kids on the Block, who had become a worldwide phenomenon. Take That Barlow, who wrote most of the group's songs, is generally recognised as the musical talent behind Take That. However, Gary himself has on occasion attributed his success to the hard work of vocal coach Paul Warwick. The five-piece vocal group consisted of Barlow, Robbie Williams, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Howard Donald. This UK group were signed to RCA records, and after a number of top 40 hits, eventually secured their first Number 1 with Barlow's Pray. Previous hits included A Million Love Songs, It Only Takes A Minute and Could It Be Magic. The group issued four albums between 1992 and 1996. The debut set was entitled Take That & Party. The following year saw the release of Everything Changes. Barlow received an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1994 for the song Pray included on the album.

Their third outing Nobody Else, which was to be their last studio album of the 90s, came in 1995. A Greatest Hits collection followed. Going solo In 1996, Take That split up and Barlow went solo. His first release, the single Forever Love, was an immediate number one hit in the UK. His album, Open Road, also went to the top of the chart, as did his second solo single Love Won't Wait written by Madonna and Shep Pettibone. The remix was produced by Junior Vasquez. The original demo remains one of many unreleased Madonna songs. He also reached #3 in the United States adult contemporary music charts with So Help Me Girl, also a top 20 UK hit. Another single (the album's title cut), Open Road, reached #7 in the UK. He followed that up with his second album Twelve Months, Eleven Days. Barlow performed at the first two annual Capital FM-hosted Party in the Park events in London's Hyde Park in 1998 and 1999. Barlow quit his career as a singer when he was dropped by his record label, with his final single remaining unreleased.

In the autobiography 'My Take' Barlow partly blames his fall as a solo artist on his commitments to being a star in the United States. He returned to songwriting and producing, writing hits including the single Not Me, Not I for Delta Goodrem and Guilty for Blue . Barlow is company president of True North Music Company. He has also worked with Elton John, Atomic Kitten, Donny Osmond, Lara Fabian and Christina Aguilera among others. On Sunday 17 August 2008 he took part in a birthday tribute concert for songwriter Don Black, Lyrics by Don Black, at the London Palladium. He performed the song Born Free, originally a hit for Matt Monro, with guest conductor David Arnold. On 20 October 2008, Winners Song, a song co-written by Barlow and Peter Kay, beat X Factor winner Leon Jackson to number 2 in the singles chart Barlow is credited as Director of Music for the ITV series, Britannia High. He has also recently been given his own record label from Universal. This was an award for the success of Take That's comeback.

Reformation of Take That Following a successful TV documentary, Take That experienced a career renaissance in 2006 when the post-Williams line-up reformed for a sell-out stadium tour. They released a single (Patience - reached UK Number 1 position on 26 November and stayed there for 4 weeks). Patience was also voted The Record of the Year in 2006. They have released their first album of new material in over ten years. The album went in at Number 1 in the UK album charts. Most of the songs on their new album are joint band compositions co-written with other songwriters, unlike earlier albums, which were mainly penned by Gary Barlow. In 2007 the band won their tenth Brit Award. 2008 saw the band get nominated for four Brit Awards (Best British Group, Best British Album, Best British Single and Best British Live Act). They won Best British Single and Best British Live Act. After being a great success in 2006, Take That then brought out their second album since their reunion in 2006,called The Circus.

The Circus album was also a great success for Take That selling 1.7 million copies all over the country. Take That also did a tour of The Circus all over the united kingdom and it sold over 1 million tickets in just 5 hours. Personal life Born to parents Marjorie and Colin Barlow, Gary has an older brother Ian. The song 'Nobody Else' on Take That's third album (Nobody Else) is dedicated to his parents. In his autobiography My Take, Barlow mentions he was on the Edgware Road tube train that was one of the targets of the 7 July 2005 London bombings. He also stated that Robbie Williams took full advantage of his misfortunes during the media competition that was staged between the two. In a 2005 television documentary on Take That, TAKE THAT: For The Record, Williams retracted his previous taunting of Barlow, claiming that he would swap all of his current success for Barlow's happy family life. He married his long-time girlfriend Dawn Andrews on 12 January 2000. They met on 'Nobody Else' Tour in 1995 where she worked as a back-up dancer and is still a dancer for the band.

They have three children: Daniel (born 16 August 2000, Cheshire), Emily (born 31 May 2002, Cheshire), and Daisy (born 14 January 2009). Gary and the other eight celebrities: Cheryl Cole, Ben Shephard, Alesha Dixon, Kimberley Walsh, Fearne Cotton, Chris Moyles, Denise Van Outen and Ronan Keating, made it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro safely on Sunday 7th March 2009, to raise funds for Comic Relief. Barlow's father Colin died aged 71 on 15 October 2009. The singer rushed back to his parents home in Frodsham, Cheshire, and cancelled an engagement to launch his celebrity-packed Children in Need show.

Discography Solo albums Open Road (May 26, 1997 / US: January 13, 1998) - UK # 1, Germany # 10, Switzerland # 6, Austria # 13, Netherlands # 13, Belgium (Vlaanderen) # 7, Belgium (Wallonie) # 20, Sweden # 25, Finland # 29, Norway # 34, Australia # 30, New Zealand # 43 Twelve Months, Eleven Days (October 9, 1999) - UK # 35, Germany # 67 Solo singles "Forever Love" (July 1996) – UK # 1, Germany # 5, Switzerland # 5, Austria # 11, France # 27, Netherlands # 6, Belgium (Vlaanderen) # 5, Belgium (Wallonie) # 4, Sweden # 12, Finland # 6, Norway # 9, Australia # 7 "Love Won't Wait" (April 1997) – UK # 1, Germany # 35, Switzerland #

 23, Austria # 20, Netherlands # 32, Belgium (Vlaanderen) # 43, Sweden # 53, Finland # 16, Australia # 16, New Zealand # 42 "So Help Me Girl" (July 1997 / US: September 1997) – UK # 11, Germany # 78, Netherlands # 58, Australia # 36, US (Billboard Hot 100) # 44, US (Billboard Adult Contemporary Tracks) # 3 "Open Road" (November 1997) – UK # 7, Germany # 63 "Are You Ready Now" – Released only in the Netherlands in November 1997.

"Superhero" (February 1998) (US only) – US (Billboard Hot 100) # 106, US (Billboard Adult Contemporary Tracks) # 23 "Hang On In There Baby" April 1998 (Europe only) – Germany # 69 "Stronger" July 1999 – UK # 16, Germany # 73, Finland # 11 "For All That You Want" September 1999 – UK # 24, Germany # 94, Finland # 6 Note: "So Help Me Girl" was Barlow's first single to be released in the US as a solo artist. "Superhero" was released in the USA only in 1998. When re-recorded and released as a single in UK it was re-titled "For All That You Want".

Other songs written by Gary Barlow See also: Songs written by Gary Barlow Album track "2 Of A Kind" for Monrose Album track "Testify" for Amy Studt Album tracks "Always Be My Baby" and "I Won't Be There" as well as B-Side "Somebody" for Atomic Kitten Single "Guilty" and album tracks "Girl I'll Never Understand", "Made For Loving You", "Supersexual", "Taste It" and B-Side "Whatever Happens" for Blue Album track "Easy Way Out" for Charlotte Church Singles "Not Me, Not I", "A Little Too Late" and other songs "Butterfly", "Longer", "My Big Mistake", "Running Away" and "Throw It Away" for Delta Goodrem Single "Breeze On By" and album tracks "Christmas Time", "Climbing", "In It For Love", "Insecurity", "Keep Her In Mind", "My Perfect Rhyme", "Shoulda Known Better", "What I Meant To Say" and "Whenever You're In Trouble" for Donny Osmond "Walking Away" for former 10cc member Graham Gouldman B-Side "Together" for H & Claire

 "No Big Deal", "Intoxicated", "Conquered", "Unbreakable" for Belgian/Canadian female singer Lara Fabian, included on her 2004 album A Wonderful Life "True to Yourself" for Vanessa Amorosi "You Gave Me Your Love" for Ola Svensson Album track "What About Us" for John Barrowman Album track "When I Need You The Most" for Lee Mead Single "The Winners Song" for Peter Kay as "Geraldine McQueen" UK # 2 Single "Once Upon A Christmas Song" for Peter Kay as "Geraldine McQueen" UK # 5 Single "To Love Again" for Alesha Dixon UK # TBA Videography 1996 July "Forever Love", Director: Sophie Muller 1997 May "Love Won't Wait", Director: Rocky Schenck 1997 July "So Help Me Girl" (Europe), Director: Rocky Schenck 1997 November "So Help Me Girl" (USA), Director: Alan Smithee 1998 "Open Road" 1999 "For All That You Want" Books Gary Barlow: My Take.

Bloomsbury Publishing 2006, ISBN 978-0747587644 Gary Barlow: My Take. Bloomsbury Publishing 2007, ISBN 978-0747588061 (paperback edition, updated to include Take That's comeback) (Wikipedia) Gary Barlow: Music Downloads, Album Info & More – artistxite.com Gary Barlow Show me Biography Gary Barlow OBE (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of British pop-group Take That and served as head judge on series 8, 9 and 10 of The X Factor UK. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters, having written fourteen number one singles and twenty-four top 10 hits. He has had three number one singles, six top 10 singles and two number one albums as a solo artist, and has had seventeen top 5 hits, twelve number one singles and seven number one albums with Take That.

He is also a six-time recipient of the Ivor Novello Award and has sold over 50 million records worldwide. Gary Barlow was born on 20 January 1971 in Frodsham, Cheshire, the second son of Colin and Marjorie Barlow. In Barlow's autobiography, he relates that his love of music began at an early age. "I was one of those kids that's forever dancing in front of the TV looking at my reflection." He cites watching a performance of "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode on Top of the Pops when he was ten years old as a main influence of his love of music, describing it as 'mesmerising'. Barlow subsequently asked for a keyboard for Christmas. He spent most of his spare time teaching himself to play his favourite songs. He has credited Elton John with inspiring him to play the piano. In 1986, when Barlow was fifteen years old, he entered a BBC Pebble Mill at One Christmas song competition with "Let's Pray for Christmas". After reaching the semi-finals, he was invited to London's West Heath Studios to record his song.

This inspired Barlow to perform on the northern club circuit, singing cover versions and his own songs. Barlow's first performance was at the Connah's Quay Labour Club in the late 1980s and he was paid £18 per performance on Saturday evenings. In 1989, he appointed Wigan show business agent Barry Woolley to be his manager and recorded a single ("Love Is in the Air") which was never released commercially. Barlow was eventually put in touch with casting agent Nigel Martin-Smith, by renowned celebrity photographer Doc Braham, who took Barlow's first professional head-shots. Nigel is a friend of Doc's, and introduced Barlow to Nigel who was interested in starting a boyband. Martin-Smith decided to use Barlow as the lead-singer after being impressed by his self written material including an early demo tape of Barlow's "A Million Love Songs" concluding that the band would be built around Barlow's vocals and songwriting skills. Barlow, who wrote the majority of the group's songs, is widely recognised as the musical talent behind Take That.

After selecting Barlow as the group's lead-singer, Nigel Martin-Smith introduced Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and finally Robbie Williams to the fold. The group were signed to RCA Records , and after a number of top 40 hits, eventually secured their first number one with Barlow's "Pray". Previous hits included "A Million Love Songs", "It Only Takes a Minute" and "Could It Be Magic". The debut album Take That & Party was released on 17 August 1992 and reached number two on the UK Album Chart. The following year saw the release of their second album, Everything Changes based on Barlow's own material. It went straight in at number one on the UK Albums Chart and spawned four number 1 singles, as well as "Why Can't I Wake Up with You" and "Love Ain't Here Anymore" hitting number two and three respectively. Barlow received an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1994 for the number 1 hit song "Pray" included on the album.

In 1994, alongside Rick Astley , Barlow did backing vocals for Elton John 's version of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King. Take That's third album Nobody Else, again based on Barlow's own material, went straight to number 1 and was to be their last studio album of the 1990s. The album had three number 1 singles, including Barlow's "Back for Good" which peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was brought forward an unprecedented 6 weeks before its official release such was the demand for the single. A Greatest Hits collection followed again reaching number 1. The album featured the band's eighth number 1 single "How Deep Is Your Love". This was to be the first single released by Take That as a four piece (without Robbie Williams) and it was their last single until they reformed in 2005. Barlow returned to the limelight in a successful TV documentary, Take That: For the Record in 2005.

Following this success and renewed interest, Take That experienced a career renaissance in 2005 when the post-Williams line-up reformed for a sell-out arena/stadium tour. The band released their comeback single "Patience" which went to number 1 for four weeks while also topping the charts across Europe. Patience was also voted The Record of the Year in 2006 and won a Brit for single of the year. This was followed with "Shine" which became the band's tenth number 1 single. Take That's first album of new material in over ten years, Beautiful World was released on 24 November 2006. The album peaked at number 1 in the UK Album Chart selling over 2.8 million copies in the UK alone to date. It was re-released as a tour edition with hit single "Rule the World" in 2007 and peaked again at number one. In 2008, the band were nominated for four Brit Awards (Best British Group, Best British Album, Best British Single and Best British Live Act). They won Best British Single and Best British Live Act.

After great success in 2006, Take That released the single "Greatest Day" which went straight to number 1 and became their eleventh number 1 single in the UK. The week after they released their second album since their reunion in 2006, The Circus. The Circus album was also a great success for Take That going straight to the top of the UK album chart and selling over 2.2 million copies across the country, going multi platinum within 4 days of its release. In June and July 2009, Take That performed a record breaking tour named Take That Present: The Circus Live throughout the United Kingdom which sold over 1 million tickets in just 5 hours. It was announced that Barlow was in the process of writing Take That's much anticipated sixth studio album, set for release in late 2010. The album, Progress, was the first to feature the original line-up since their 1995 album, Nobody Else. The band also announced a stadium tour entitled Progress Live which took place in 2011. The tickets for the tour went on sale on 29 October 2010.

Due to unprecedented high public demand for tickets, Ticketmaster websites across the UK and Ireland crashed and all initial tour dates sold out in under 15 minutes. It was reported that a record breaking one million tickets were snapped up on the first day of sale, resulting in Take That smashing the previous box office record of tickets sold which was set in 2008 by Take That Present: The Circus Live. Due to unprecedented demand Take That added more dates to their tour, finishing in the UK with a record breaking 8 consecutive nights at Wembley Stadium after which the tour will then commence throughout Europe with an estimated 1.75 million people expected to attend the shows. The lead single from Progress was announced as "The Flood". The single debuted at number 2, selling over 500,000 copies since release. On the first day of the release of Progress, the album sold over 235,000 copies across the UK, making it the fastest selling record of the century. On 21 November 2010, Progress debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, becoming the band's seventh number-one album.

By the end of its first week on sale the album sold over 520,000, making it the second fastest-selling album of all-time in UK chart history. To date Progress has sold 2.8 million copies in the UK and has achieved similar chart success across Europe. In June 2011, Take That released their first extended play collection entitled Progressed which returned the band to number 1 in the UK on its first week of release as well as charting across Europe. The media have widely acknowledged Barlow's talent and labelled him as the mastermind behind the unprecedented success of Take That's comeback and the new musical direction they have taken. Barlow's solo career was predicted to be very successful, being described as 'the next George Michael '. His first two solo singles "Forever Love" (released July 1996) and "Love Won't Wait" (composed by Madonna and Shep Pettibone) both leapt to the number one spot in his home country. "Forever Love" was also used as the soundtrack to the film The Leading Man. His debut album Open Road reached number 1 in the UK Albums Chart and went on to sell 2 million copies worldwide.

Barlow's first single to be released in the United States as a solo artist was "So Help Me Girl", which reached number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number 1 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. He then achieved another top ten hit in the UK with "Open Road" peaking at number 7 and number 8 in the Netherlands with "Are You Ready Now". After the success of his first solo album he released his second LP Twelve Months, Eleven Days in 1999. Barlow released "Stronger" as the lead single preceding the album. However, due to an expected backlash against Barlow, it received minimal support and airplay and only peaked at number 16. The second single "For All That You Want" again was subjected to minimal radio play and peaked at number 24, however it peaked just outside the top 5 in Finland. Twelve Months, Eleven Days was released soon after the first single to little promotion and peaked at a disappointing number 35, which led to Sony recalling Barlow's 'greatest' song according to critics, the scheduled third single from his second album "Lie to Me".

This resulted in both Barlow and BMG parting company. To date Barlow has sold 5 million records worldwide as a solo artist. Barlow's first solo release since 1999 was a duet with reconciled Take That bandmate Robbie Williams on a single entitled "Shame". The single was written by both Barlow and Williams after they began to work together in Los Angeles on new material for a new Take That album following Williams' return to the band. On the first day of the song being released to the radio and the media, "Shame" received an unprecedented 694 plays on the radio and 153 plays on TV. The single peaked at number 2 in the UK, selling 224,000 copies and being certified as Silver by the BPI, while also charting in 21 countries worldwide. Barlow announced in January 2011 that he was to hold a solo concert entitled GB40 at the Shepherd's Bush Empire to celebrate his 40th birthday and his 20 years in the music industry with all money going to The Prince's Trust charity.

Barlow was joined by guest appearances from Chris Martin, Ellie Goulding , Midge Ure and his bandmates from Take That, while also receiving recorded birthday messages from a number of celebrities such as Chris Moyles , Peter Kay , Elton John and Robbie Williams. In September 2011, it was announced that Gary Barlow would be headlining BBC Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park. Barlow's performance was praised by critics as he returned to Hyde Park as a solo artist for the first time since 1999. On 24 October 2011 Barlow announced that he was to play his first two full solo concerts in 11 years at the Royal Albert Hall entitled Gary Barlow: In Concert, with all proceeds going to the Prince's Trust charity. These concerts sold out 'minutes' after going on sale and were praised by fans and the media alike with Barlow playing the biggest hits from his 20-year career. In December 2011, Gary Barlow performed a duet with Michael Bublé singing "Rule the World" and Bublé's single, "Home". The performance gained great reception from fans, where it began trending worldwide on Twitter.

Soon after it was broadcast, a petition was set up for the collaboration to be made available for digital download to challenge for the Christmas Number 1 spot. In April 2012, Barlow recorded a cover of "Here Comes the Sun" that was used in the 2012 summer promotion advertisement for Marks and Spencer with him appearing in the advert at the end performing the song. Barlow was featured in a duet with Agnetha Fältskog (from ABBA ) on her 2013 album A, released in May 2013. Barlow co-wrote the song, "I Should've Followed You Home" with album producer Jörgen Elofsson. Early press reports tagged the song as a likely single with strong chart potential leading to Universal Music scheduling it to be released as the third single from the album in November 2013. The single become a top 5 hit in Sweden on the week of its release as well as charting in the UK. It was announced in January 2012 that Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber would be working together to write the official Diamond Jubilee single.

Barlow and Lord Lloyd Webber composed the music to the song; with Barlow then taking this music to musicians and singers around The Commonwealth with the aim to incorporate sounds from around the world onto the single. The song entitled "Sing" was released as the lead single from the album of the same name, Sing. It debuted in the UK Singles Chart at number 11 with the album released on the same day entering the UK Album Chart at number 1, becoming Barlow's second solo number 1 album and his first in 15 years. After the airing of Gary Barlow's documentary Gary Barlow: On Her Majesty's Service which told the story of how Sing was written; the single climbed up to number one in the iTunes chart. The following week Sing rose to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart selling 142,000 copies and becoming the highest selling single of 2012. The album of the same name remained at number 1, making Barlow the first artist in 2012 to have the number 1 album and number 1 single in the same week.

Barlow announced on 15 October 2012 that he was to embark on his first full solo tour in thirteen years around the UK and Ireland. In a statement, he said, "I'm really excited about these dates. Playing live is my favourite thing and I haven't played a solo show for over a year now. Last year playing two London shows was brilliant, we all had such a good time, so I thought right let's get out and see the rest of the country!" The tickets to Barlow's solo concerts sold out instantly after going on sale on 19 October, with tickets selling faster than those of The Rolling Stones for their comeback dates. Demand was so high for tickets that Barlow added more dates, which also sold out instantly. It was also revealed by ticket marketplace SeatWave, that Gary Barlow's solo shows had sold six times more tickets than Robbie Williams' solo concerts, despite being on sale for a week less. On September 2013, Barlow announced via his Twitter account that he would be releasing his first full-length solo album in 14 years, on 25 November 2013.

Barlow encouraged his followers and fans to tweet #GBSOLO to reveal the album artwork and title, with their profile pictures being used to create a collage of the album cover. On 4 October 2013, Barlow revealed his new album would be called Since I Saw You Last, and would be preceded by his first single from the LP, titled Let Me Go, released worldwide on 17 November 2013. He also announced that he would be touring the album in April 2014, playing some of the biggest arenas in the UK. Let Me Go entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 3 with 72,423 copies sold in its first week on sale, giving Barlow his 21st top 3 UK single. The following week it rose to No. 2 selling a further 60,422 copies. One month after release, Let Me Go was certified Silver by the BPI for selling over 200,000 copies in the UK. In early 2014, Let Me Go surpassed 400,000 sales in the UK and was certified Gold.

The week after the release of Let Me Go, the album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, behind One Direction 's third album Midnight Memories. The album sold 116,000 copies, becoming the fastest selling album of 2013 to miss out on the top spot, whilst also selling more copies in his first week than his Take That bandmate Robbie Williams , whose album Swings Both Ways sold 109,000 copies the previous week to claim the top spot. The album was certified Platinum by the BPI less than a month after being released, becoming Barlow's second solo album to reach Platinum certification. The album went 2x Platinum a month later, spending 11 weeks in the top 5 of the UK Album Charts, becoming Barlow's most successful solo album in the UK to date. After leaving his career as a solo artist Barlow returned to his first love of writing music. He soon signed a song writing publishing deal with Sony and went to the US on a six-month songwriting project, residing in Nashville, Los Angeles and New York with his wife, Dawn and first child, Daniel.

Upon his return he set up True North Productions with Eliot Kennedy and Tim Woodcock. In his autobiography 'My Take' Barlow partly blames his fall as a solo artist on his commitments to being a star in the United States. After his disappointing second album, Barlow remained out of the public eye for half a decade, choosing to continue to write and produce songs for other artists such as Shirley Bassey and Charlotte Church In October 2007, Barlow founded San Remo Live Publishings as an independently run management company to establish and support artists and songwriters. In 2010 Barlow signed a new 5-year song writing publishing deal with Sony music. He has been voted as the greatest British songwriter of all time in a 2009 OnePoll, who surveyed 3000 people John Lennon and Paul McCartney , of The Beatles , were placed second and third respectively. In 2011, Barlow wrote the song "Run for Your Life" for The X Factor series 7 winner Matt Cardle's debut album. Cardle told The Sun: "We had 99% of the album finished then the track came through from Gary.

I'd been trying to write a song like that for a long, long time, probably five or six years. As soon as I heard it I just felt the song was mine. Lyrically it's about not being good enough for the person you're with. I was nearly in tears recording the vocals. I'm proud that I've written a lot of the album but Gary is a genius as a writer – I couldn't pass it up." He has also written for the likes of Robbie Williams , Westlife , Lily Allen , Blue , Elton John , Olly Murs Matt Cardle, T-Pain , Will Young N-Dubz , Lawson, Shirley Bassey , Donny Osmond , Delta Goodrem , Elaine Page, Agnetha Fältskog , and many more while also being commissioned by the Queen to write the official single for her Diamond Jubilee which saw Barlow collaborate with Andrew Lloyd Webber . To date Barlow has written 14 number 1 singles in the UK, and 2 Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles in the United States including Back for Good which went to number 1 in 31 countries across the world.

At the beginning of May 2010, it was announced that Queen Elizabeth II had asked Barlow to organise her 86th birthday party and her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012. A source said: "Her Majesty has been made well aware of his charity work and the events he has put together. She knows that Gary has got the power to pull in the big names across the music industry and to ensure it's a party to match the occasion". This was confirmed on February 2012 with Gary Barlow being named as the main organiser and producer of a concert that took place outside Buckingham Palace and featuring globally recognised superstar artists. Barlow said "The Diamond Jubilee Concert will celebrate the 60 years of The Queen's reign with an amazing line-up of world-class artists coming together to play at one of the biggest and most exciting live music shows in recent years." This concert began to take shape with Barlow at the centre of the arrangements and the force behind the staging, artists and the eventual ideas that would be used in the concert.

On 4 June 2012 the Diamond Jubilee concert was held outside Buckingham Palace with it acting as a backdrop to a stage built upon the Victoria Memorial featuring artists from all across the world. The concert included music stemming from the 1950s to the 2000s with each decade of her reign reflected in the music performed. Barlow himself appeared alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber and his own Commonwealth Band to perform the self written official jubilee single "Sing" while also dueting with Girls Aloud 's Cheryl Cole on the night which won praise from critics who called "the performance as the best of Britain proved their pop credentials with a dazzling duet." The reception from the concert was universal in praise for the efforts of Barlow with Prince Charles himself personally thanking him for putting together the concert. In 2009 Barlow began work on his own record label Future Records, a branch from Universal Music, and signed his first artist, classical singer Camilla Kerslake.

Since then Barlow has also signed UK rapper Aggro Santos to his label who scored two top 10 UK hits and a further top 20 single, and the winner of Sky 1's Must Be The Music, Emma's Imagination who also achieved two top 10 UK singles and a top 15 charting debut album. In 2013 Barlow's discovery A*M*E released her first single which debuted at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. Gary Barlow has since closed down the record label to focus on his own career and family commitments. On 7 May 2011, it was announced that Barlow was in advanced talks to replace Simon Cowell as a judge on The X Factor. He was officially confirmed as a judge on 30 May, alongside the returning Louis Walsh and fellow new judges Tulisa Contostavlos and Destiny's Child 's Kelly Rowland , who collectively replaced Girls Aloud 's Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue . Barlow was given the "Boys" category for the live shows and mentored Marcus Collins to the final of The X Factor, where he became runner up.

After a successful debut as a judge on The X Factor in 2011, ITV producers opened talks with Barlow to return for a second series. ITV sources believed that "while viewing figures were down a few million during Series 8 the feeling is it would have been worse without Gary" and so offered Barlow a substantial increase on his £1.5 million salary from the previous year to ensure that he returned to the panel. On 17 April 2012, it was announced that Barlow would return to The X Factor for a second year; he was the first judge to be announced to be returning. He was later joined by the returning Louis Walsh on the judging panel, alongside Tulisa Contostavlos and The Pussycat Dolls ' Nicole Scherzinger , who replaced Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland after one series. For his second year as a mentor, he was given the Over 28s category, which featured both male and female artists over the age of 28. He became the only judge to have four acts in the finals after Christopher Maloney became the popular wildcard and the thirteenth finalist in the show.

Barlow guided Maloney to the final of the show, becoming Barlow's second finalist in two consecutive years. Barlow revealed on 9 December 2012 that he may not return as a judge for a third series on The X Factor, stating that he doesn't know "if there is room" in his diary for the programme. However, on 20 May 2013, it was confirmed by Louis Walsh that he and Barlow would both return to continue their roles as judges on the tenth series of The X Factor, in August 2013. Barlow was given the Groups category in his third year on the show. Barlow chose Kingsland Road, Miss Dynamix and Rough Copy as his final three. After losing two of his final acts, he guided Rough Copy to the semi finals. During the performance of his group Rough Copy on the first live show of the X Factor 2013, Barlow revealed that this would be his last series on the show, due to his solo tour commitments and the upcoming release of a new Take That album. Barlow said of his decision: "I’ve had an amazing time on X Factor these past three years.

A show like this needs to stay fresh and exciting, so it’s a great opportunity for someone to come in and take the show past its incredible ten year anniversary. "Next year is a very busy year for me and X Factor is a full time job so it felt like the right time to hand over the baton." An X Factor spokesperson added: "As Gary said on the show tonight we can confirm that this will be his last series as a judge on The X Factor as next year he will be focusing on his own music. "We'd like to thank him for an amazing contribution over the last three years." Barlow was replaced by Simon Cowell. On 25 June 2013, it was announced that Barlow had been signed up to work on a new musical version of Finding Neverland and will co-write the score for the theatre project, which is being developed by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Barlow said of the project: "This is something I've always wanted to do so it's a real privilege to be involved.

I'm really enjoying working with the team and I love the story; it's also great to be working with a legendary creative like Harvey Weinstein." Weinstein echoed the sentiment by expressing his admiration for Barlow, whom he described as "one of the finest songwriters in the world". On 1 March 2014, Barlow attended the Bob and Harvey Weinstein's pre-Academy Award party at the Montage in Beverly Hills to perform a selection of songs from the musical score he had written for Finding Neverland. He played the lead role of Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie, and sung a duet with noted British musical actress Laura Michelle Kelly along with four back-up artists featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary Twenty Feet From Stardom. Barlow's performance was well received, and after a successful performance run in Boston, Finding Neverland opened on Broadway in Spring 2015. On its first Broadway preview, the show sold out the theatre and posted a box office performance that, if it continued for a whole week of performances, would have seen the show top $1 million.

Gary has also co-written a musical alongside hometown friend Tim Firth, titled The Girls, which will open in the Phoenix Theatre, London in January 2017. After twenty years within the music industry in which Barlow has achieved phenomenal success across the world; coupled with his efforts to raise money and awareness for various charities he was honoured in the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 June 2012, which he was awarded on 21 November for "services to Music and to Charity". In a statement, Barlow said: "I'm absolutely thrilled and feel very privileged to be in the company of so many brilliant people who I know have received an OBE." He continued by stating that he enjoys "every minute of the work I do, with a lot of it being a reward in itself, so for somebody to decide I should get recognized for that is just amazing.

My family are very proud." In July 2012 Barlow was announced as the recipient of the prestigious Music Industry Trusts Award which he will be presented with in November 2012 in recognition of his services to British music and charity. David Munns, chairman of the award committee, said of Barlow: "He is one of the UK's most accomplished artists – a unique musician, songwriter and producer who embodies both success and distinction, and who serves as a dedicated ambassador for many charities." In 2000, Barlow made his acting debut in the ITV1 drama Heartbeat. This was the 150th edition of the show. He played hitch-hiker Micky Shannon. In 2012, Barlow had a cameo in the film Keith Lemon: The Film and in early 2013 Barlow had a cameo in the hit BBC1 show Miranda and also a special in 2015. In October 2011, Barlow joined Twitter live on The Xtra Factor to build support for the contestants he mentored during series 8 of the X Factor. Almost immediately after he joined Twitter his following totalled at over 300,000 people.

Within two months of joining Twitter, Barlow reached over 1 million followers. Less than two years later he passed the 3 million followers mark. Barlow organised a sponsored climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Comic Relief. Barlow and eight other celebrities: Cheryl Cole , Ben Shephard, Alesha Dixon , Kimberley Walsh, Fearne Cotton, Chris Moyles , Denise Van Outen and Boyzone 's Ronan Keating , made it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro safely on 7 March 2009, raising millions for Comic Relief. Barlow's charity efforts in 2009, including his organising of the BT Comic Relief Kilimanjaro Climb and his organising of 'Children in Need Rocks the Royal Albert Hall', raised in excess £6 million. In addition to the charity events organised by Barlow, he has also shown support for fellow artists' charity efforts including that of Boyzone 's Ronan Keating . The pair sang Take That's Back for Good written by Barlow at Ronan's Emerald and Ivy Ball in Battersea, South London, on Saturday. The event raised £650,000 for Cancer Research UK.

His organisation of a very special event at the Royal Albert Hall went ahead in November 2009 and was broadcast the following week. This saw a meeting of Take That with Robbie Williams on stage and a number of unusual duets (including Dame Shirley Bassey with Dizzy Rascal and Take That with Lily Allen). Barlow dedicated the band's song "Rule the World" to "everyone who's lost someone – Dad, this is for you". It was a very special night raising £2M and ending with Barlow seeming to promise it could be an annual event. It was announced in December 2009 that Barlow had been awarded the prestigious Blue Peter Gold Badge, awarded for outstanding achievements and inspiring children to realise their talents and achieve. To celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary, Barlow invited family and many friends to a special event in London. It was a rare event that Barlow allowed a popular magazine to photograph the event. A highlight was a special Bingo session hosted by Barlow. Money raised at the event was donated to Barnardo's. Towards the end of 2009, there has been a huge Twitter campaign to 'Get Gary Knighted' for all of his charity work over the years.

The campaign has been mentioned and endorsed by many celebrities, including Chris Moyles of Radio 1. In February 2010, a project named 'Helping Haiti' was formed by Simon Cowell in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The aim was to bring some of the most recognised music stars across the world together to record a charity single with all proceeds going to the cause. Barlow, along with an array of stars were asked to appear on the cover of Everybody Hurts which sold 453,000 copies in its first week, making it the fastest-selling charity record of the 21st century in Britain. Barlow appeared at Twickenham Stadium to perform the hit single "Shame" alongside Robbie Williams in aid of the Help for Heroes charity on 12 September 2010. Barlow has also donated the original handwritten lyrics to his number 1 hit single Back for Good to help raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Barlow wrote the song in 1995 and it went on to top the charts in 31 countries across the world as well as becoming a top ten hit in America.

In January 2011, Barlow held a special show, named GB40, at Shepherd's Bush Empire to celebrate his 40th birthday. This event saw him take to the stage on his own for the first time in over eleven years as he performs songs that span his 20-year career in music. He has also announced that all of the profits from the show went to charity. After the phenomenal success of 'Children in Need Rocks' in 2009, it was announced by Barlow that he is to organise it once again this time in Manchester, with some of the biggest acts in the music industry scheduled to appear. Barlow also confirmed that all proceeds will go to Children in Need. The concert was received positively by the media, with them praising the involvement of Gary Barlow in the Children in Need project. As well as organising the Children in Need Rocks Manchester concert, Barlow announced he was to helm the official single for the charity, a cover of 'Teardrop' accompanied by a number of artists known as 'The Collective'. The CIN Rocks concert, single and gala contributed to £26 million raised for Children in Need that year.

During the week of Children in Need 2011, Barlow organised a celebrity gala with all proceeds going to the charities associated with Children in Need. Barlow also donated all proceeds from his Gary Barlow: In Concert event to The Prince's Trust charity. He said: "I hope the money raised through these concerts will make a real difference to young lives. It's really important to me that disadvantaged young people get the support they need, especially at the moment." In August 2013, the headline act to turn on the Blackpool illuminations pulled out due to unforeseen circumstances leaving the event with no one to turn on the lights or play to the 5,000 in attendance. Upon hearing this, Barlow tweeted that he would step in if the organisers would write a cheque to Children In Need. Bosses quickly made contact with him and made a donation to the charity, with Barlow turning on the lights and performing a number of his hits during the 45 minute set. Simon Blackburn, Leader of Blackpool Council said: "Gary’s very generous offer on Twitter was extremely flattering and as soon as we saw it we contacted him straight away to take him up on it.

Not only has Gary taken time out of his busy schedule to play on Friday, but he has also asked for a donation to charity in place of his performance fee. I am delighted to make that donation to Children in Need." Graham Cain, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Tourism and Leisure, said: "Gary has shown his love for Blackpool by tweeting about the town and the Illuminations before and he even turned on the illuminations back in 1999. He’s always been a fan of town and has now stepped in during our hour of need." Barlow announced in September 2013 that he would once again be returning with Children in Need Rocks, bringing some of the world's biggest musical and entertainment stars together over 2 nights to raise money for Children in Need. He said of the event: "I’m very excited that these incredible artists are giving their time for a special Charity that is close to my heart." In October 2013, Barlow traveled directly from the X Factor live results shows to Afghanistan to meet the Armed Forces and experience their day-to-day lives in Camp Bastion.

Barlow listened to the soldiers' stories, went for a five-kilometre run with the troops and played a morale-boosting concert for them as a thank you for their incredible hard work. On 12 November 2013, Barlow sang with Agnetha Fältskog (from ABBA ) who was singing live on stage. It was at the BBC Children in Need Rocks 2013 concert in London which Barlow organised. In 2000, Barlow married Dawn Andrews, who was a dancer on their 1995 Nobody Else Tour. They have three children, Daniel (born 2000), Emily (born 2002), and Daisy (born 2009). On 19 February 2012, Barlow announced that he and his wife Dawn were expecting their fourth child. On 4 August 2012 Barlow stated that their daughter, named Poppy, had been delivered stillborn. Barlow released a short statement reading "Dawn and I are devastated to announce that we've lost our baby. Our focus now is giving a beautiful funeral and loving our three children with all our hearts.

We'd ask at this painful time that our privacy be respected". Despite the loss of his daughter one week previously, Barlow performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony singing the hit "Rule the World", which drew praise internationally for the strength and determination of Barlow to take to the stage so soon after his tragedy. Owing to the bereavement, it was announced that Barlow would not attend the X Factor press launch. In his autobiography My Take, Barlow revealed that he is a supporter of Liverpool F.C., with their anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" being one of the first songs he learned to play on the piano. He is also a supporter of rugby league team, Warrington Wolves, as well as the New York Knicks NBA Team. Barlow also mentioned in his autobiography that he was on the Edgware Road tube train that was one of the targets of the 7 July 2005 London bombings. In 2009, Barlow named "Don't Give Up", the 1986 duet between Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush , as the song that had most inspired him.

He said: "I don't think you can listen to this song without feeling inspired, it could save anybody. The lyrics are so inspirational. Specifically I was having a very low moment in the 1990s and the song came on the radio. There have only been a very few times when I've had to pull the car over to listen to a song – this was one of them." Barlow's father Colin died aged 71 on 15 October 2009. During the 2010 General Election campaign, the Conservative Party announced their intention to encourage musical achievement amongst young people in schools with a competition called School Stars. Barlow appeared at a school staged campaign event to endorse the introduction of the programme by David Cameron. Barlow also sang "Greatest Day" at the event. When asked if he supported the Conservatives at the election, Barlow responded: "I would not be here if I was not." In June 2012, it was revealed that along with Take That bandmates Howard Donald, Mark Owen and over 1,100 other people, Barlow had invested £26 million in music industry investment schemes.

The news attracted controversy when it was understood that the schemes could serve as tax shelters for wealthy people. Barlow was accused of tax avoidance rather than tax evasion, as the scheme itself was not illegal at the time Barlow invested in it. Barlow's lawyer responded to the claims, stating he "paid significant tax, and that they believed the schemes were not for tax avoidance purposes but were legitimate commercial enterprises". On 10 May 2014 a judge ruled that the scheme was set up for the purpose of avoiding tax, with the scheme generating losses of £336 million to enable Barlow and others to offset these losses against the taxes they were liable to pay from their other earnings. In June 2016 Barlow (and fellow band members Howard Donald and Mark Owen plus their manager Jonathon Wild) announced they would not be appealing the HMRC ruling that they are liable for the tax. Barlow has apologized on Twitter "to anyone who was offended by the tax stories". Timeline

Question: What was the title of Gary Barlow's autobiography, released in 2006?
Answer: My Take