SingStar Take That is a competitive karaoke video game for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. It is the third band-specific SingStar game released in the UK, following up on SingStar ABBA and SingStar Queen.^[1] It was released on 6 November 2009.^[2]

Gameplay[link]

SingStar games require players to sing along with music in order to score points. Players interface with their console via SingStar USB microphones while a music video plays in the background. The pitch players are required to sing is displayed as horizontal grey bars, which function similar to a musical stave, with corresponding lyrics displayed at the bottom of the screen. The game analyses a player's pitch and compares it to the original track, with players scoring points based on how accurate their singing is. Different modes of SingStar may vary this basic pattern, but the principle is similar throughout.

SingStar includes a variety of game modes. The standard singing mode allows one or two people to sing simultaneously, either competitively or in a duet.

The PlayStation 3 version of the game supports trophies.

Launch[link]

SingStar Take That was spectacularly launched at the SingStar Take That Extravaganza charity party on Wednesday 25th November 2009 at the Tabanacle in Notting Hill. The event hosted by comedian James Corden, featured a number of celebrity guests including Kate Moss, Pixie Geldof, Rachel Stevens, Remi Nicole, Paloma Faith and the band Take That themselves. The event came later than originally scheduled and after the game launched in the shops due to the unfortunate death of Gary Barlow's father. The band entertained guests by performing their popular song, Rule The World, on the PlayStation game.

Track list[link]

• "A Million Love Songs"
• "Babe"
• "Back For Good"^[3]
• "Beautiful World"
• "Could It Be Magic"^[3]
• "Do What U Like"
• "Everything Changes"
• "Greatest Day"
• "Hold Up A Light"
• "I'd Wait for Life"
• "It Only Takes a Minute"
• "Love Ain't Here Anymore"
• "Never Forget"^[3]
• "Once You've Tasted Love"
• "Patience"
• "Pray"
• "Promises"
• "Reach Out"
• "Relight My Fire"
• "Rule the World"
• "Said It All"
• "Shine"^[3]
• "Sure"
• "Up All Night"

Notes[link]

Take That
Take That performing in Manchester on 12 June 2011
Background information
Origin	Manchester, England
Genres	Pop, pop rock, dance
Years active	1990–1996 2005–present
Labels	BMG Universal Polydor Interscope[1]
Website	www.takethat.com
Members
Gary Barlow Howard Donald Jason Orange Mark Owen Robbie Williams

Take That are a British five-piece vocal pop group comprising Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams.^[2][3][4] Barlow acts as the lead singer and primary songwriter.^[5][6][7] In total, the group have had 27 top 40 singles and 16 top 5 singles in the United Kingdom alone,^[8] 11 of which have reached number 1, as well as having seven number 1 albums.^[8][9] Internationally the band have had 54 number one hits^[10] and 35 number 1 albums.^[11]

Take That's pop tunes and soulful ballads dominated the UK charts in the first half of the 1990s, winning multiple BRIT Awards while also spawning two of the best selling albums of the decade with Everything Changes (which was nominated for the 1994 Mercury Prize^[12]) and their Greatest Hits album. Williams left the band in 1995 while the four remaining members completed their world tour and released a final single before splitting up in 1996.

After filming a 2005 documentary about the group and releasing a new greatest hits album, a four-piece Take That without Williams officially announced a 2006 reunion tour around the UK, entitled The Ultimate Tour. On 9 May 2006, it was announced that the group were set to record new material together once again; their fourth studio album, Beautiful World, was released in 2006 and was followed up with The Circus, in 2008. The group achieved new success as a four-piece, scoring a string of chart hits across the UK and Europe while taking the number of records sold to over 45 million worldwide.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Williams rejoined Take That in 2010 for the band's sixth studio album, Progress. It was released on 15 November of that year and became the fastest selling album of the 21st century,^[17] the second fastest selling album in British history,^[18] whilst also making it the first album of new material to feature Take That's original line-up since their 1995 album, Nobody Else. Since 2011, Take That have set the new record for the fastest selling tour of all time in the UK with Progress Live , beating the previous record set by their Circus Live Tour in 2009,^[19] won the award for Best British group,^[20] and were named as Amazon's top-selling music artist of all time.^[21]

History[link]

[edit] 1989–93: Take That & Party

In 1989, Nigel Martin-Smith sought to create a British male vocal singing group. Martin-Smith's vision, however, was a teen orientated group that would aim across more than one demographic segment of the music industry. Martin-Smith was introduced to young singer songwriter Gary Barlow and was so impressed with Barlow's catalogue of self-written material he decided to build his new look boyband around Barlow's musical abilities. A campaign to audition young men with abilities in dancing and singing followed and took place in Manchester and other surrounding cities in 1990. At twenty-two, Howard Donald was one of the oldest to audition, but he was chosen after he got time off work as a vehicle painter to continue the process.

Take That's first TV appearance was on The Hitman & Her in 1990, where they performed Barlow's self written unreleased songs "Love" and "My Kind of Girl". They later appeared a second time to perform "Waiting Around", which would become the B-side for the first single, "Do What U Like". "Promises" and "Once You've Tasted Love" were also released as singles but were minor hits in the UK. Take That initially worked the same territory as their American counterparts, singing watered-down new jack R&B, urban soul, and mainstream pop. However the group worked its way toward Hi-NRG dance music, while also pursuing an adult contemporary ballad direction. As they aimed to break into the mainstream music industry they worked a manner of small clubs, schools and events across the country building up a fanbase as they travelled to gigs constantly for months.

The band's breakthrough single was a cover of the 1975s Tavares hit "It Only Takes a Minute", which peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. This success was followed by the track "I Found Heaven", then by the first Barlow ballad "A Million Love Songs" which again reached number 7. Their cover of the Barry Manilow disco hit "Could It Be Magic" gave them one of their biggest hits to date, peaking at number 3 in the UK. Their first album, Take That and Party, was released in 1991, and included all the hit singles to date.

[edit] 1993–95: Everything Changes and superstardom

1993 saw the release of Everything Changes, based on Barlow's original material. It peaked at number 1 in the UK and spawned four UK number one singles – their first number one "Pray", "Relight My Fire", "Babe" and the title track "Everything Changes". The fifth single "Love Ain't Here Anymore" reached number three on the UK charts. Everything Changes saw the band gain international success with the album being nominated for the 1994 Mercury Prize however it failed to crack the US market where an exclusive remix "Love Ain't Here Anymore" (U.S. Version) gained little success. By 1994, the band had become radio and television stars across Europe and Asia. But it was not until 1995 that the band would do their first World Tour.

It was during the years 1993–95 that the band fronted scores of magazine covers ranging from Smash Hits to GQ, becoming mass merchandised on all sorts of paraphernalia ranging from picture books, to posters, stickers, their own dolls, jewellery, caps, T-shirts, toothbrushes and even had their own annuals released.^[22] The band had also developed a large female teenage fanbase at the time. During this time, they performed at numerous music awards shows and chart shows such as the BRIT Awards and Top of the Pops, also winning the Best Live Act award in 1995 at the MTV Europe Music Awards, having been renowned for their breakdance routines, In 1995, Take That released their 3rd studio album Nobody Else, again based on Barlow's own material which reached number 1 in the UK and across Europe, capturing new audiences annually, with Take That also able to make inroads in the adult audience in Britain through Barlow's melodic, sensitive ballads. For nearly five years, Take That's popularity was unsurpassed in Britain.^[23] The release of "Sure", their first single from the album, achieved yet another number one on the UK Charts. It was not until their second release from that album however, that they would experience what would become their biggest hit single, "Back for Good", which reached number one in 31 countries around the globe and to date has been covered 89 times the world over. It was also their first US hit, where it reached the Top 10. The song was initially unveiled for the first time via live performance while at the 1995 BRIT Awards, and based on the reception of that performance, the record pre-sold more records than expected and forced the record label to bring the release date forward by an unprecedented six weeks. The album was also noted for its cover which was a parody of the famed cover of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band cover sleeve.

[edit] 1995–96: The break-up and Greatest Hits

Robbie Williams' drug abuse had escalated to a near drug overdose the night before the group was scheduled to perform at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 1994.

In July 1995, Williams was photographed by the press partying with fellow band Oasis at Glastonbury Festival. This led to the band offering him an ultimatum; where he was to adhere to the band's responsibilities or to leave before their scheduled world tour. Undaunted by the loss of Williams, Take That continued to promote Nobody Else as a four-piece, scoring a further hit single with Barlow's "Never Forget" and completing the Nobody Else Tour in Late 1995.

On 13 February 1996, Take That formally announced that they were disbanding. This was followed by the Greatest Hits compilation in 1996, which contained a new recording, a cover of The Bee Gees' "How Deep Is Your Love". The single went on to become what was to be the band's final UK number one until their 2006 comeback a decade later. Take That gave what was thought to be their final performance in April 1996 at Amsterdam.^[24] Following the band's announcement, millions of their fans were distraught around the world and in the UK alone, teenage girls threatened suicide and were seen lining streets in tears, to the point that telephone hotlines were set up by the government to deal with counselling them.^[25] After the band broke up, highly respected music figures such as Elton John^[26] noted that Take That were different from other boybands before and after them, in that they wrote their own material through Gary Barlow, the only boyband member who won an Ivor Novello award during his time in a boyband (although George Michael won it while in Wham!).^[27] Take That had also left a legacy of being immaculate performers with a very high work ethic, causing them to be voted in as the greatest boyband of all time.^[28][29]

[edit] 2005–06: Never Forget and The Ultimate Tour

On 14 November 2005, Never Forget - The Ultimate Collection, a new compilation of their hit singles including a new previously unreleased song, also achieved great success and peaked at number 2 on UK charts selling over 2.1 million copies in the UK alone.^[30] The new song "Today I've Lost You" (recorded in September 2005) was originally written by Gary Barlow as the follow up to "Back for Good" but was never recorded. On 16 November 2005, the group got back together for the ITV documentary Take That: For the Record, in which they aired their views over their fame, success, the split and what the post-Williams line up had done since. On 25 November 2005, there was an official press conference by the band announcing that the post Robbie Williams line-up were going to tour in 2006. The tour, entitled Ultimate Tour, ran from April to June 2006. The tour featured a guest appearance by British soul singer Beverley Knight, who replaced Lulu's vocals on the song "Relight My Fire"; although Lulu did appear during the stadium shows on "Relight My Fire" and "Never Forget". The American female ensemble Pussycat Dolls supported the group at their Dublin concert, and the Sugababes supported the group on the final five dates of the stadium leg.

[edit] 2006–08: Beautiful World

Take That performing at the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena in 2007

On 9 May 2006, Take That returned to the recorded music scene after more than ten years of absence, signing with Polydor Records in a deal reportedly worth £3 million. The band's comeback album, Beautiful World, entered the UK album chart at no. 1 and, as of June 2009, had sold over 2.8 million copies in the UK.^[31] It is currently the 35th best selling album in UK music history.^[32]

In the album Beautiful World all four members of the band had the opportunity to sing lead vocals. Unlike the band's earlier works, where the majority of their material was written by Gary Barlow who received a sole credit, all four band members are credited as co-writers, regardless of whether they contributed to the writing process or not.^[33] The comeback single, "Patience", was released on 20 November 2006, with a special event launching it on 5 November. On 26 November "Patience" hit number 1 in the UK in its second week of chart entry making it the group's ninth No. 1 and stayed there for 4 weeks. Take That also accompanied eventual winner Leona Lewis in a live version of "A Million Love Songs" in the final of The X Factor on 16 December 2006.

The week after Take That's comeback album Beautiful World was released it was announced that Take That had become the first artists ever to top the UK official single and album charts along with the download single, download album and DVD charts in the same week, as well as topping the radio charts.^[34]

The video for the number 1 hit single "Shine", the follow-up to "Patience", premiered on 25 January 2007 on Channel 4, ahead of its release on 26 February 2007. The band's success continued on 14 February 2007 when Take That performed live at the BRIT Awards ceremony at Earl's Court. Their single "Patience" won the Best British Single category. The third single taken from Beautiful World was "I'd Wait For Life", released on 18 June 2007 in the UK. The single reached 17 in the UK Singles Chart. This was due to lack of promotion, as the band decided to take a pre-tour break rather than do any promotion for the single.

During 2007, Take That also wrote a song for the motion picture Stardust titled "Rule the World", which reached number 2 in the UK charts and went on to be the 5th biggest selling single of 2007. Meanwhile, the album Beautiful World was the fourth biggest-selling album of 2007. It was announced at the start of 2007 that Take That signed a record deal with American label Interscope, and would also release their album in Canada. Starting on 11 October 2007, Take That began their Beautiful World Tour 2007 in Belfast. The tour included 49 shows throughout Europe and the UK and ended in Manchester on 23 December 2007. The band received four nominations at the 2008 BRIT Awards. Nominated for Best British Group, Best British Single ("Shine"), Best British Album (Beautiful World) and Best Live Act, they took home the Best Live Act and the Best British Single awards.

[edit] 2008–09: The Circus

Take That performing at the Sunderland Stadium of Light in 2009

"Greatest Day", the first single from the album The Circus, made its radio premiere on 13 October 2008 and it was released on 24 November. It debuted at Number 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 30 November 2008.^[24] An album launch party for The Circus was held in Paris on the 2 December. Prior to the official release of Take That's upcoming album The Circus it was revealed that the album had broken all pre-order records and had become the most pre-ordered album of all time.^[35] On its first day of release The Circus sold 133,000 copies,^[36][37] and after four days on sale it sold 306,000 copies (going platinum) making The Circus the fastest selling album of the year.^[38] The album reached number 1 on the UK album charts on 7 December 2008 with total first-week sales of 432,490, the third highest opening sales week in UK history.^[39]

On 28 October 2008, on the Radio 1 Chris Moyles show, it was announced that Take That would be touring again in June/July 2009, covering the UK and Ireland. Tickets for the Take That Present: The Circus Live tour went on sale on 31 October. The promoters, SJM, have said that the band's tour is "the fastest selling in UK history".^[40]

On 22 May 2008, Barlow and Donald attended the 2008 Ivor Novello Awards where Take That won the award for Most Performed Work with their single "Shine". Take That won the Sony Ericsson Tour of the Year award at the Vodafone music awards on 18 September 2008. They were unable to attend as they were in LA finishing off The Circus. They did send a video link message, which was shown at the awards. On 22 November 2008, Take That appeared on TV show The X Factor where the finalists performed some of their greatest hits. The band also performed on Children in Need 2008, singing their new single, "Greatest Day", before donating £250,000 to the charity from their Marks and Spencer fee. The band were also voted the Greatest Boyband of All Time,^[41] reflecting their ongoing marketability and success in the pop arena, even after two decades.

The band were nominated for one Brit Award in the category Best Group and performed "Greatest Day" at the 2009 BRIT Awards ceremony.

"Up All Night", the second single from The Circus, was released on 2 March 2009, and peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart,^[24] despite heavy airplay. In Germany and Australia, "The Garden" was released as the second single instead. On 7 May 2009, Take That's official website confirmed that the third single from The Circus would be "Said It All" which was released on 15 June 2009, peaking at number 9 on the UK Singles chart.^[42] The video premiered on GMTV on 8 May 2009. It features all four band members dressed up as vintage circus clowns, which tied in with their forthcoming Take That Present: The Circus Live tour.

Take That started their Circus Live tour at the Stadium of Light on 5 June 2009 in Sunderland and ended at the Wembley Stadium in London on the 5 July 2009, which over 80,000 people attended. This tour quickly became the fastest-selling of all time, breaking all records by selling all of their 650,000 tickets in less than four and a half hours.^[40]

In November 2009 Take That released the official DVD of their Circus tour, which became the fastest-selling music DVD of all time in the UK on its first day of release and has not left the top 10 since its release.^[43] This overtook the previous record sales holder, which was Take That's Beautiful World Live tour^[43] and stayed at the number 1 spot for 8 weeks.^[44]

The following week Take That released their first live album, The Greatest Day – Take That Present: The Circus Live, which sold 98,000 copies on its first day of release and was certified Platinum in December 2009.^[45] "Hold up a Light" was released as the fifth and final single from The Circus to radio stations and as a digital download to promote the release of the live album.

[edit] 2010–12: Progress and Robbie Williams's return

On 7 June 2010, the news broke of a single called "Shame" which had been written by Barlow and Williams and would feature the vocals of both artists. This was the first time the pair had worked together since 1995 and would appear on the second greatest hits collection of Williams.^[46] "Heart and I", another track from the same album, was also co-written by Williams and Barlow. The single "Shame" peaked at number 2 on the UK singles chart while also achieving success throughout Europe, charting in over 19 countries.

After working with the band on new material in Los Angeles, on 15 July 2010 Robbie Williams announced he was returning to Take That. After months of working together, assembling new songs for a new album and even debating a band-name change to "The English", a joint statement between Williams and the group read, "The rumours are true... Take That: the original lineup, have written and recorded a new album for release later this year." The statement went on to say, "Following months of speculation Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams confirmed they have been recording a new studio album as a five-piece, which they will release in November."^[47]

The lead single from Take That's album Progress^[48] was announced as "The Flood" and was released 7 November as a digital download, and on 8 November as a physical copy, with the album released a week later on 15 November.^[49] The single peaked at number 2 in the UK Singles Charts and to date has sold over 500,000 copies in the UK alone. The single also achieved success across Europe, charting inside the top 10 in ten countries while also charting in another nine countries whilst also being nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for best work.^[50]

On 26 October the band announced that they would be embarking on a huge UK stadium tour entitled Progress Live, starting in Sunderland on 27 May, and finishing with a record breaking 8 nights at London's Wembley Stadium in July 2011.^[51] Williams will also perform hit singles from his solo career. They will then play at some of the biggest venues across Europe for the second leg of the tour. The phenomenal demand for tickets across the country led to the web sites of all the major UK ticket suppliers either crashing or considerably slowing for hours on end. The demand and sheer volume of fans also created problems for the UK telephone network.^[52] Take That's Progress Live has also broken all records for ticket sales selling over 1.1 million tickets in one day, smashing the previous box office record set by Take That's Circus tour in 2008.^[53]

On the first day of release Progress became the fastest selling album of the century, with 235,000 copies sold in just one day.^[54] The album reached number 1 in the UK, selling around 520,000 copies in its first week, becoming the second fastest-selling album in history.^[55] After the release of Progress it was announced that Take That have become Amazon's top-selling music artist of all time.^[21]

The album retained the number one spot for six consecutive weeks in the UK since its release, selling 2.8 million copies in the UK alone^[56] and becoming the best selling album of 2010^[57] Progress also achieved success across Europe where it debuted at number one in Ireland, Greece, Germany and Denmark.^[58] and the European Top 100 Albums chart. It also debuted inside the top 10 of the charts in Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland.

"Kidz" was announced as the second single from Progress, it was released 21 February 2011 and charted well across Europe. The band performed the song live at the 2011 Brit Awards hosted at the 02 Arena, where they won a Brit for Best British Group and were nominated for Best British Album. Their performance of "Kidz", praised by critics,^[59][60] involved a highly choreographed routine featuring dancers dressed in police-styled riot gear bearing the Take That symbol on the uniform and shields.^[61][62]

On 29 April, it was announced that Take That had recorded the official single for the upcoming blockbuster, X-Men: First Class. The song, entitled "Love Love", was released worldwide for digital download on 11 May 2011.^[63][64] It was performed for the first time on 11 May live on ITV for the National Movie Awards 2011.^[65]

On 19 May 2011, Take That announced a new EP entitled Progressed, which contained eight tracks written by the band since they had reunited as a five piece. It was packaged alongside the record breaking album Progress and returned the band to number 1 in the UK Album Chart the week after it was released on 13 June 2011.^[66]

Take That announced that the Progress Live tour would be released worldwide as their second live album to date^[67] and would also be released on home media formats across the UK and Europe on 21 November 2011. On the first two days on sale the tour DVD was reported to be selling "twice as much as the entire music DVD chart combined"^[68][69] The DVD debuted at number 1 on the UK Music Video top 40 in its first week on release^[70] and sold over 200,000 copies in two weeks of release in the UK alone.^[71]

A poll published in 2011 by Music Week crowned Take That's re-formation as the greatest musical comeback the UK had ever seen, after analysing over a billion searches on Google, as well as taking into account the "millions of albums [they have sold] worldwide".^[72][73]

Take That's efforts were recognized further when they were awarded Virgin Media's Best Live Act of 2012.^[74]

2012–: Seventh Studio Album[link]

On 4 October 2011, it was announced that the five piece Take That were currently on a break after the completion of their European leg of the Progress tour, with Gary Barlow judging on the X Factor, whilst Robbie Williams is recording new solo material.^[2][3][4] Their next album is expected late 2012, with Take That in talks to open the London 2012 Olympic Games^[75]

In May 2012 Take That were presented with an Ivor Novello Award for their Outstanding Contribution to British Music.^[76]

It was reported later that month that Gary Barlow had begun to work on new material for Take That's upcoming seventh studio album whilst in Australia.^[77] Gary Barlow has recently said that Take That's upcoming album will most likely be released in 2013.

Solo careers[link]

In other media[link]

In April 2006, EMI licensed the band's songs to be used in the musical Never Forget,^[78] a musical based on songs of the band from the 1990s. Take That posted and then later removed a statement on their website distancing themselves from it.^[78]

Take That wrote and recorded the theme song "Rule the World" for the film Stardust directed by Matthew Vaughn, which was released in cinemas across the globe in October 2007.

In 2007, their song "Back for Good" was used as part of the soundtrack for popular Korean drama The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince.

Take That presented their own TV show Take That Come to Town, a variety show in which they performed some of their biggest hits. The show also featured comedy sketches with one of Peter Kay's alter egos Geraldine McQueen. It aired on 7 December 2008 on ITV1.

In November 2010 ITV aired Take That: Look Back, Don't Stare, a black and white documentary which focused on the band working together for the first time in 15 years. Through a series of interviews the band look back at their achievements while also looking forward to what the future holds for them.^[79] On 18 November 2010 Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow appeared together live for the first time on the "Popstars" program in Germany singing their hit "Shame".

In 2011, Take That's song Love Love was chosen as the theme song for the film X-Men: First Class and later, When We Were Young was chosen as the main theme for The Three Musketeers movie. Both tracks come off the EP Progressed.

Gary Barlow has been confirmed as a judge on The X Factor starting with the 2011 series.

Sony launched their first Take That video game with SingStar Take That in 2009 for the PlayStation 3 system.

Awards and nominations[link]

Live band[link]

• Mike Stevens – musical director, keys, guitar, saxophone
• Michael "Milton" McDonald – guitar, vocals
• Lee Pomeroy – bass guitar
• Karlos Edwards – percussion
• Donavan Hepburn – drums
• Jamie Norton – keyboard
• David Tench – keyboard
• Ben Mark – guitar

Discography[link]

• Take That and Party (1992)
• Everything Changes (1993)
• Nobody Else (1995)
• Beautiful World (2006)
• The Circus (2008)
• Progress (2010)
• Progressed (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

	Book: Take That
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Take That

• Official website

James Kimberley Corden^[1] (born 22 August 1978)^[2] is an English actor, television writer, producer and presenter. He is co-creator and star of BBC comedy shows Gavin & Stacey and Horne & Corden, and acted in the 2009 film Lesbian Vampire Killers. He attracted attention for his performance in the lead role in the award-winning comedy play One Man, Two Guvnors, which transferred from the National Theater to the West End and then to Broadway.

Early life[link]

Corden was born to Malcolm and Margaret Corden^[3] in Hillingdon, Greater London,^[1] and grew up in Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire.^[4] He has an older sister, Andrea Henry,^[3] and a younger sister, Ruth Corden.^[5]

Career[link]

Corden obtained his first part at eighteen years old^[6] in the musical Martin Guerre.^[7] He then starred in the British television series Fat Friends as Jamie Rymer, and played Gareth Jones in the series Boyz Unlimited. His television work includes a credited minor role as Razor #1 in Renford Rejects (Series 1 Episode 2, 1998), a role playing a bookish student in Teachers (Series 1, 2000) and he also made a guest appearance in Little Britain. Corden's film credits include Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? (1999) and Mike Leigh's All or Nothing (2002).

In 1998, Corden appeared in an advertising campaign for Tango, where his every word is being copied by overweight balding ginger men using megaphones that the company were promoting as a free gift. The advert was subsequently banned after complaints of a trend in school children bullying others in the same manner as the advert.^[8]

Corden played a small part in Channel 4/T4's Hollyoaks. He played a caretaker of the local college briefly around 2001–02. In an August 2008 interview with Esquire Magazine, he commented on his disdain for the programme and members of the cast.^[9]

Corden played the role of Timms in the original London stage production of Alan Bennett's play The History Boys, as well as in the Broadway, Sydney, Wellington and Hong Kong productions and radio and film versions of the play.^[10][11][12] Corden stars in the BBC Three comedy Gavin & Stacey that he co-wrote with his Fat Friends co-star Ruth Jones.

Corden guest hosted Big Brother's Big Mouth with his Gavin & Stacey co-star Mathew Horne in August 2007. He appears in the film of Toby Young's autobiography How to Lose Friends & Alienate People and series two of Gavin & Stacey.

In February 2008 he shot a BBC pilot, Hey, Hey, We're The Monks. He collaborated with Horne on a 2009 sketch show named Horne & Corden, described by the BBC as a "traditional comedy entertainment show in the style of Morecambe and Wise."^[13] The show ran for only one series and was poorly received by the critics, with Corden later admitting "the absolute truth is I wasn't good enough."^[14]

In February 2009, he co-presented the Brit Awards with Mathew Horne and Kylie Minogue.^[15] On 13 March 2009, he appeared in a sketch for Comic Relief giving the England football team a motivational talk. He later went on to present a section with Mathew Horne showing their best bits of comedy from the last two years along with highlights from the night.

In 2009, he had a minor role in The Boat That Rocked as Bernard, a deejay for Radio Sunshine. This clip was taken out of the film for the US release (retitled Pirate Radio), and is now in the deleted scenes feature on the DVD.

In March 2010, Corden began hosting the Sky1 comedy/sports panel show A League of Their Own alongside team captains Andrew Flintoff and Jamie Redknapp. In March 2010, he presented Sport Relief 2010 alongside Davina McCall and others and contributed a "sequel" to the 2009 England football team sketch this time giving a motivational talk to various sport stars including Jenson Button and David Beckham.^[16]

In March 2010, Corden took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March. On 5 June 2010, he performed his England World Cup single with Dizzee Rascal on the finale of Britain's Got Talent. All of the proceeds from the single will be going to Great Ormond Street Hospital.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2010, Corden played Craig Owens in the Doctor Who episode "The Lodger", in which the Doctor moved in with him. Corden returned as Owens in "Closing Time" in the sixth series. In December 2010, This Is JLS, an hour long Christmas special featuring the boyband and The X Factor runners up, was aired on ITV1, with Corden writing and producing some of the sketches featured in the special.

In February 2011, Corden again presented the 2011 BRIT Awards. In March, Corden reprised his role as Smithy in the Smithy Red Nose Day sketch. The sketch included appearances by Gordon Brown, JLS, Paul McCartney and Justin Bieber. It received positive reviews from critics and was highly regarded as the best sketch of the night.^[17]

Starting in June 2011, Corden played the lead role in the comedy play One Man, Two Guvnors. The show won Best Play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for 2011.^[18] It transferred from the National Theater to the West End, and then to Broadway, with Corden continuing to play the lead.

In February 2012, Corden once again hosted the BRIT Awards, making his times as host three times in total. There was controversy over the fact that he had to cut Adele's award acceptance speech short for time limit reasons. She proceeded to "flip-off" the audience although she later said it was directed to the "suits". ^[19]

Personal life[link]

Corden was in a relationship with actress Sheridan Smith until June 2009.^[20]

He is engaged to former TV producer Julia Carey, introduced to him by former housemate Dominic Cooper.^[21] The couple announced in late September 2010 that they were expecting their first child together.^[21] They became engaged on Christmas Day 2010,^[22] and their son, Max, was born on 22 March 2011.^[23][24]

He is such a supporter of West Ham United F.C. that he wants to be the mascot.^[25]

Awards and recognition[link]

Corden was nominated for the 2000 RTS Award for Network Newcomer – On Screen for his work on Fat Friends.^[26]

Corden won Best Male Comedy Performer and Gavin & Stacey won Best New British Television Comedy at the 2007 British Comedy Awards.^[27]

At the 2008 Television BAFTAs, Corden won the BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance.Gavin & Stacey won the Sky+ Audience Award for Programme of the Year, the only award at the ceremony voted for by the public, beating the likes of The Apprentice and Britain's Got Talent.^[28]

Gavin & Stacey won the award for Most Popular Comedy Programme at the National Television Awards 2010, beating other nominees Benidorm and Harry Hill's TV Burp.^[29]

In May 2012 Corden was nominated for the prestigious Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his role in One Man, Two Guvnors.^[30]

Selected credits[link]

Theatre[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
1996–1998	Out of Tune[disambiguation needed ]
1998	Renford Rejects	Razor #1
1999	Boyz Unlimited	Gareth
2000	Shut Down Non Tango Drinkers (Tango advert)	James Rayner
2000–2005	Fat Friends	Jamie Rymer	Four series
2001/2002	Hollyoaks	Wayne	One episode
2001	Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story	Giant's son
2001, 2003	Teachers	Jeremy	Two series
2003	Weight Watchers Extreme	Mike Neasham	One episode
2004	Little Britain	Dewi Thomas (Daffyd's brother)	One episode
2004	Dalziel and Pascoe	Ben Forsythe	One episode
2007–2010	Gavin & Stacey	Smithy	Co-Writer
2007, 2008	8 Out of 10 Cats	Himself	Four episodes
2007, 2008	Big Brother's Big Mouth	Himself
30 October 2008	Never Mind the Buzzcocks	Himself	Guest team captain, Series 22, Episode 6 Guest host, Series 23, Episode 1
6 July 2008	Top Gear	Himself
28 December 2008	The Big Fat Quiz of the Year	Himself	On a team with Sean Lock
2009	Horne & Corden	Various characters
2009	Red Nose Day 2009 – Comic Relief	Himself	Co-host
2009, 2010	Chris Moyles' Quiz Night	Himself
25 December 2009	The Gruffalo	Mouse (voiceover)	BBC Christmas Special
2010	A League of Their Own	Himself	Host
2010	Red Nose Day 2010 – Sport Relief	Smithy	Sketch
19 March 2010	Sport Relief	Himself	Co-host
5 June 2010	Britain's Got Talent	Himself	Singing with Dizzee Rascal
12 June 2010 – 11 July 2010	James Corden's World Cup Live	Himself	Host
12 June 2010, 2011[31]	Doctor Who	Craig Owens	Series 5, Episode 11: "The Lodger"; Series 6, Episode 12: "Closing Time"
2 September 2010	The King is Dead	Himself	Series 1, Episode 1: "The President of the USA"
2011	Red Nose Day 2011 – Comic Relief	Smithy	Sketch
2011	Little Charley Bear	Narrator	CBeebies
29 October 2011	Piers Morgan's Life Stories	Himself
25 December 2011[32]	The Gruffalo's Child	Mouse
2012	Stella (UK TV series)	Steven

Video games[link]

• Fable II – Monty (2008)

See also[link]

• Teenage Cancer Trust

References[link]

External links[link]

• James Corden at the Internet Movie Database
• James Corden at the Internet Broadway Database
• Agency CV

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Gary Barlow
Barlow performing with Take That, 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Gary Barlow
Born	(1971-01-20) 20 January 1971 (age 41) Frodsham, Cheshire, England
Genres	Pop, pop rock, soft rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, performer, record producer, record programmer, pianist
Instruments	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Years active	1988–present
Labels	Sony, Polydor, Future, San Remo[1]
Associated acts	Take That
Website	www.garybarlow.com

Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of pop group Take That and the head judge^[2][3][4] on the The X Factor.^[5][6][7] Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters. He has had two Number 1 singles and a Number 1 album as a solo artist, and has had sixteen top 5 hits, eleven Number 1 singles and seven Number 1 albums with Take That.^[8][9] He is also a six-time recipient of the Ivor Novello Award and has sold over 45 million records worldwide with Take That.^[10][11]

History[link]

1970–89: Early life and career[link]

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 said he enjoyed watching Top of the Pops on television, and when he was ten years old, he watched an episode of the programme 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.^[12]

In 1986 Barlow entered a BBC Pebble Mill at One Christmas song competition with "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. Barlow's first performance was at the Connah's Quay Labour Club in the late eighties and he was paid £18 per performance on Saturday evenings.^[12][13]

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 Michael Braham, who first took Gary's first professional head-shots. Nigel is a friend of Michael's, and introduced Gary 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 will be built around Barlow's vocals and songwriting skills.

1990–1996: Take That[link]

Barlow, who wrote the majority of the group's songs, is generally recognised as the musical talent behind Take That.^[14][15] After choosing 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 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 debut album Take That & Party was released on 17 August 1992. It reached number 2 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 1 in the UK Album 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 2 and 3 respectively.^[16] Barlow received an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1994 for the number 1 hit song "Pray" included on the album.^[17] Their 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 90s. The album had three number 1 singles, including Barlow's "Back for Good" which peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100^[18] and was brought forward an unprecedented 6 weeks before its official release such was the demand for the single.^[19] 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. In 1994 Barlow alongside Rick Astley did backing vocals for Elton John's version of Can You Feel the Love Tonight from The Lion King.

1996–2000: Solo career[link]

[edit] Open Road

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 Album Chart and went on to sell 2 million copies worldwide.^[20] Barlow's first ever 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^[21] and a number 8 in the Netherlands with "Are You Ready Now".^[21]

[edit] Twelve Months, Eleven Days

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 peaked at number 16.^[21] 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.^[21] Twelve Months, Eleven Days was released soon after the second single to little promotion and peaked at a disappointing number 34, which led to Sony recalling Barlow's 'greatest' song according to critics, the scheduled third single from his second album "Lie to Me".^[22] This resulted in both Barlow and BMG parting company. To date Barlow has sold 4 million records worldwide as a solo artist.

2010-present[link]

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. Gary 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.^[23]

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 begun to work together in L.A 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.^[24] The single peaked at number 2 in the UK, being certified as Silver by the BPI, whilst also charting in 19 countries worldwide.^[25]

Barlow's 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.^[26] The concert received praise from critics^[27] as Barlow was joined by guest appearances from Chris Martin, Ellie Goulding, Midge Ure and his bandmates from Take That, whilst 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.^[28] Barlow's performance was praised by critics as he returned to Hyde Park as a solo artist for the first time since 1999.^[29]

On October 24, 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^[30] and were praised by fans and the media alike with Barlow playing the biggest hits from his 20 year career.^[31][32]

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.^[33] 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.^[34]

In April 2012, Gary 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.

2006-present: Reformation of Take That[link]

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 stadium tour. The band released their comeback single "Patience" which went to number 1 for four weeks whilst 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.^[35] 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.^[36] It was re-released as a tour edition with hit single "Rule the World" in 2007 and peaked again at number 1.

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 which was the most preordered album of all time.^[37] 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.^[25][38] In June and July Take That performed a record breaking tour named Take That Present: The Circus Live throughout the United Kingdom selling sold over 1 million tickets in just 5 hours.^[39]

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.^[40] 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 will take place in 2011.^[41] 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.^[42] 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.^[43][44] 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.^[45]

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.^[46][47] On 21 November 2010, Progress debuted at number one in the United Kingdom, becoming the band's seventh number-one album.^[8] 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.^[48] To date Progress has sold 2.8 million copies in the UK^[49] 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^[50] and the new musical direction they have taken.^[51]

Other projects[link]

Songwriting and publishing[link]

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 U.S. 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 Elliot 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 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.^[52]

Gary Barlow has recently signed a new 5 year song writing publishing deal with Sony music.^[53] He has been voted as the greatest British songwriter of all time in a 2009 OnePoll, who surveyed 3000 people^[54][55] John Lennon was second and Paul McCartney of The Beatles was third.^[54]

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."^[56] He has also written for the likes of Robbie Williams, Westlife, Lily Allen, Blue and Dame Shirley Bassey and many more.

Future Records[link]

In 2009 Barlow began work on his own record label Future Records, under the umbrella of Universal Music, and signed his first artist, classical singer Camilla Kerslake.^[57] Since then Barlow has also signed UK rapper Aggro Santos to his label^[58] and the winner of Sky 1s Must Be The Music, Emma's Imagination.

[edit] X Factor

On 7 May 2011, it was announced that Barlow was in advanced talks to replace Simon Cowell as a judge on The X Factor.^[5][6][7] He was officially confirmed as a judge on 30 May alongside the returning Louis Walsh, and fellow new judges Kelly Rowland and Tulisa Contostavlos, who replaced Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole.^[59][60] 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 head judge on the X Factor in 2011, ITV producers opened talked with Barlow to return for a second series as head judge. ITV sources believe that 'while viewing figures were down a few million [during series 8], the feeling is it would have been worse without Gary' and so have offered Barlow a substantial increase on his £1.5million salary from last year to ensure that he returns to the panel. On 17th of April 2012 it was announced that Gary Barlow will return to The X Factor for a second year, he was the first judge to be announced to be returning.^[61]

Outside music[link]

Acting career[link]

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.^[62]

Social media[link]

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 265,000 people.^[63] Within two months of joining Twitter, Barlow reached over 1 million followers.^[64]

Charity work[link]

Gary 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 Ronan Keating, made it to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro safely on 7 March 2009, raising millions for Comic Relief.^[65]

Gary's charity efforts in 2009, including his organising of the BT Comic Relief Kilimanjaro Climb and his organising of 'Children In Need Rocks', raised in excess £6 million. In addition to the charity events organised by Gary, the pop star has also shown support for fellow artists' charity efforts including that of Ronan Keating. The pair sang Take That's Back for Good written by Barlow at Ronan's Emerald and Ivy Ball^[66] in Battersea, South London, on Saturday. The starry bash 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). Gary dedicated the band's song "Rule the World" to "everyone whose lost someone – Dad, this is for you". It was a very special night raising £2M and ending with Gary 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.^[67]

To celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary Gary invited family and many friends to a special event in London. It was a rare event that Gary allowed a popular magazine to photograph the event. A highlight was a special Bingo session hosted by Gary. 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.^[68][69] The campaign has been mentioned and endorsed by many celebrities, including Chris Moyles of Radio 1.

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.^[70]

Gary 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.^[71]

In January 2011 Gary 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 a his 20 year career in music. He has also announced that all of the profits from the show went to charity.^[72]

It has been announced that Gary Barlow is planning to organise a charity walk to the North Pole to raise money for BBC Sport Relief.^[73]

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.^[74] The concert was received positively by the media, with them praising the involvement of Gary Barlow in the Children in Need project.^[75][76]

As well as organising the Children in Need 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'.^[77] The CIN Rocks concert, single and gala contributed to £26 million raised for Children In Need that year.^[78]

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.^[79]

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."^[80]

At the beginning of May 2010, it was announced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had asked Gary Barlow to organise her 85th birthday 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".^[81][82] This was confirmed on February 2012 with Gary Barlow being named as the lead organiser and producer of a concert that will take place outside of Buckingham Palace and featuring globally recognised superstar artists.^{[83][84][85][86]} Barlow said "The Diamond Jubilee concert will celebrate the 60 years of The Queen's reign with an amazing lineup of world-class artists coming together to play at one of the biggest and most exciting live music shows in recent years."^[84]

Personal life[link]

Gary married Dawn in 2000, 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 4th child.^[87] Later, he revealed that the child would be the couple's third girl. ^[88] He revealed in his autobiography that he is a supporter of Liverpool FC with their anthem, "You'll Never Walk Alone" being one of the first songs he learned to play on piano.^[89] He is also a supporter of rugby league team, Warrington Wolves.

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.

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."^[90]

Barlow's father Colin died aged 71 on 15 October 2009.^[91] The singer rushed back to his parents' home in Frodsham, Cheshire, and cancelled an engagement to launch his celebrity-packed Children in Need show,^[92] whilst also postponing the launch of the Take That edition of Singstar.