Gary Barlow A Different Stage
Artist of the Month

Gary Barlow – Artist of The Month January 2023

Gary Barlow OBE is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality.

Barlow is one of the United Kingdom’s most successful songwriters, having written thirteen number-one singles and twenty-four top-ten hits. As a solo artist, he has had three number-one singles, six top-ten singles and three number-one albums, and has additionally had seventeen top-five hits, twelve number-one singles and eight number-one albums with Take That. Barlow has also established himself as a talent show judge and television personality. He has judged on The X Factor UK, Let It Shine and Walk the Line .

Barlow has received six Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, including the award for Outstanding Services to British Music. He has sold over 50 million records worldwide. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire at the 2012 Queen’s Birthday Honours for his services to the entertainment industry and charity.

Barlow was born on 20 January 1971 in Frodsham, Cheshire, the second son of Colin and Marjorie Barlow . He attended Weaver Vale Primary School and moved on to Frodsham High School in 1982. In Barlow’s autobiography, he relates that his love of music began at an early age, and calls himself one of those kids that’s forever dancing in front of the TV looking at reflection. He was heavily influenced by late 1970s and 1980s pop music. At age 10, after watching Depeche Mode perform on Top of the Pops, Barlow acquired his first keyboard; he practiced constantly thereafter. Barlow has also identified Trevor Horn, and future collaborators Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark , as important early influences. He has credited Elton John with inspiring him to play the piano. The first CD he bought was by the Pet Shop Boys, who later supported Take That on the Progress Live tour in 2011.

In 1986, when Barlow was 15 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 him to perform on the northern club circuit, singing cover versions and his own songs.

Barlow’s first performance was in Wales, at the Connah’s Quay Labour Club in the late 1980s, and he was paid £18 per performance on Saturday evenings where he performed songs such as Michael Jackson‘s The Way You Make Me Feel and The Power of Love by Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

In 1989, Barlow appointed Wigan show business agent Barry Woolley to be his manager and recorded a single 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. Graham-Smith was a friend of Braham, who introduced Barlow to Graham 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 song writing skills.

Barlow, who wrote the majority of the group’s songs, is widely recognised as the lead singer of 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 Song, It Only Takes a Minute and Could It Be Magic. The following year saw the release of their second album, Everything Changes based on Barlow’s own material.

Barlow received an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1994 for the number-one 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 one and was to be their last studio album of the 1990s. The album had three number-one singles, including Barlow’s Back for Good which peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was brought forward an unprecedented six weeks before its official release such was the demand for the single. A Greatest Hits collection followed again reaching number one.

In 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.

On 12 October 2017, whilst appearing on BBC Radio 2, Barlow announced that he would be embarking on a solo tour again around UK and Ireland to celebrate the release of his new book, A Better Me. The tour was to visit smaller and more intimate venues rather than the huge arenas and stadiums that Barlow was so familiar to playing, be it solo or alongside his Take That bandmates.

On 14 August 2019, Barlow announced that he had been working on a new solo record due for release in Autumn 2020, stating that never recorded with an orchestra and wanted to create «original songs with big contemporary orchestral arrangements.» In July 2020, Barlow confirmed that the album will release in November, adding that very positive and with a 60-piece orchestra.

On 30 September 2020, Barlow revealed that his upcoming album would be called Music Played by Humans, set to be released on 27 November 2020. Its lead single, Elita, featuring Michael Bublé and Sebastián Yatra, was released on the same day after it premiered on BBC Radio 2. A tour to promote the record in 2021 has also been announced with Leona Lewis as special guest.

Barlow announced in early 2021 that he would release a new solo record by the end of the year, which was revealed on 28 October to be The Dream of Christmas, his first Christmas album. The project features a collection of both new songs and covers of Christmas classics, including the two singles Sleigh Ride and The Dream of Christmas, both released on 29 October. The album was released on 26 November.

On 20 January 2022, Barlow announced a brand new one-man stage show A Different Stage. The show premiered in Runcorn at The Brindley on 10 February 2022 before then touring to Salford, Liverpool, and Edinburgh. The show will also play in London’s West End at the Duke of York’s Theatre from 30 August until 25 September 2022.

To celebrate his birthday this month, we are offering a 15% discount on all non sale Gary Barlow signed memorabilia. Just use the code PENBEM8PBarlow when you check out. T&Cs apply.