Szerkesztő:Kriszta67/Gary Barlow

Gary Barlow
Életrajzi adatok
Születési név	Gary Barlow
Pályafutás
Műfajok	pop
Aktív évek	1988–napjainkig
Együttes	Take That
Hangszer	vokál, zongora, billentyűs hangszerek
Tevékenység	énekes-szövegíró, zongorista, lemezproducer
Kiadók	Sony Music, Polydor, San Remo, Future Records
Sablon • Wikidata • Segítség

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Gary Barlow (*1971. január 20. -) angol énekes-szövegíró, zongorista és lemezproducer. A Take That nevű angol pop-rock együttes frontembere. Barlow egyike Nagy-Britannia legsikeresebb dalszerzőinek. Szólóénekesként két első helyezett kislemeze és 1 albuma van, 16 top 5 sikerdala, 11 első helyezett kislemeze és 7 nagylemeze van a Take Thattel közösen.

Barlow ötször nyerte el az Ivor Novello-díjat és 2009-ben a OnePoll minden idők legnagyobb brit dalszövegírójának választotta.

Jelenleg az The X Factor tehetségkutató televízióműsor brit változatának zsűritagja.

Life and career

1971–1989: korai évek

Barlow életrajzában úgy emlékszik vissza, hogy a zene iránti szeretete kisgyermekkorában kezdődött. "Egyike voltam azoknak a kölyköknek, akik állandóan a TV előtt táncoltak és a tükörképüket nézték."

Azt mondta, szerette nézni a Top of The Pop című műsort a televízióban és amikor 10 éves volt, látott egy epizódot, amelyben a Depeche Mode nevű együttes új kislemezét (1981-ben), a Just Can't Get Enough című számot mutatta be. Nagyon tetszett neki és elhatározta, hogy Karácsonyra egy billentyűs hangszert kér a szüleitől. A következő néhány évben ideje nagy részét azzal töltötte, hogy a kedvenc dalait gyakorolta.

1986-ban Barlow benevezett Let's Pray For Christmas című dalával a BBC-n induló Pebble Mill at One show versenyébe, melynek neve A Song For Christmas volt. Amit túljutott az elődöntőkön, meghívták a londoni West Heath Studio-ba, hogy felvegyék vele a dalt. Ez inspirálta Barlow-t arra, hogy északi klubokban lépjen fel a dal feldolgozásaival és saját dalaival. Első komolyabb fellépése Connah's Quayben a Labor Clubban volt a 80-as évek végén, 18 fontot kapott a fellépésért szombat esténként.

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 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.

1989-ben

1990–1996: Take That

Barlow, who wrote the majority of the group's songs, is generally recognised as the musical talent behind Take That. 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. Barlow received an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1994 for the number 1 hit song "Pray" included on the album. 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 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. 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

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" 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. 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 and a number 8 in the Netherlands with "Are You Ready Now".

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. 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 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". This resulted in both Barlow and BMG parting company. To date Barlow has sold 4 million records worldwide as a solo artist.

2005–present: Reformation of Take That

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. 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 2.7 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 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. 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 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.

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 lineup since their 1995 album, Nobody Else. The band also announced a stadium tour entitled Progress Live which will take 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 nearly 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.

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.

Other Projects

Songwriting and Publishing

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 USA on a 6 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, Charlotte Church and Will Young.

In October 2007, Barlow founded San Remo Live Publishings as an independently run management company to establish and support artists and songwriters.

Gary Barlow has recently signed a new 5 year song writing publishing deal with Sony music. He has also been voted as the greatest British songwriter of all time, ahead of Paul McCartney and John Lennon of The Beatles.

Future Records

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. Since then Barlow has also signed UK rapper Aggro Santos to his label and the winner of Sky 1s Must Be The Music, Emma's Imagination.

Outside of Music

The X Factor (UK)

It was announced on 7 May 2011 that Gary Barlow was in advanced talks to be a judge on The X Factor. He was officially confirmed as a judge on 30 May.

Acting career

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.

Charity work

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 Sunday 7 March 2009, raising millions for Comic Relief.

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 belted out Take That's Back for Good written by Barlow at Ronan's Emerald and Ivy Ball 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.

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. The campaign has been mentioned and endorsed by many celebrities, including Chris Moyles of Radio 1.

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".

Barlow appeared to perform hit single "Shame" alongside Robbie Williams at Twickenham Stadium in aid of the Help for Heroes charity on 12 September 2010.

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 across the world as well as becoming a top ten hit in America.

It was announced in December that Gary Barlow would be organising a special show, named GB40, at Shepherd's Bush Empire to celebrate his 40th birthday. This event will see 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 will go to charity.

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.

Personal life

Barlow married his sweetheart 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). Barlow is a popular believer in the law of attraction and credits this theory of thought with much of his success. 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. 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."

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, whilst also postponing the launch of the Take That edition of Singstar.

During the 2010 General Election 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 and sang "Greatest Day", backing the introduction of the programme by Conservative Party leader, David Cameron.

Discography

Albums

Year	Title	Peak Chart Position
		UK	GER	NL	FIN	SWE	NO	AUT	SWI	BEL (WA)	BEL (VL)	AUS	NZ	US
1997	Open Road	1	10	13	29	25	34	13	6	20	7	30	43	–
1999	Twelve Months, Eleven Days	35	67	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Singles

Year	Title	Peak Chart Position																Album
		UK	IRE	GER	NL	FIN	SWE	NO	AUT	SWI	FRA	BEL (WA)	BEL (VL)	AUS	ITA	US	US A.C.
1996	"Forever Love"	1	3	5	6	6	12	9	11	5	27	4	5	7	5	–	–	Open Road
1997	"Love Won't Wait"	1	5	35	32	16	53	–	20	23	–	–	43	16	5	–	–
	"So Help Me Girl"	11	14	78	58	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	36	–	44	3
	"Open Road"	7	29	63	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	"Are You Ready Now"	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
1998	"Hang on in There Baby"	–	–	69	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	"Superhero"	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	106	23
1999	"Stronger"	16	–	73	–	11	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	Twelve Months, Eleven Days
	"For All That You Want"	24	–	94	–	6	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
	"Lie to Me"	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2010	"Shame" (with Robbie Williams)	2	8	11	4	–	24	–	20	19	–	19	21	62	7	–	–	In and Out of Consciousness
As featured artist
2010	"Everybody Hurts" (with Helping Haiti)	1	1	16	–	–	21	–	–	16	–	–	–	–	17	–	–	Single Only

Notes:

• "So Help Me Girl" was Gary's debut single in the U.S.
• "Are You Ready Now" was only released as a single in the Netherlands.
• "Hang on in There Baby" was only released as a single in Europe, and was only available in the UK as an additional disc with the 'Open Book' VHS Video.
• "Superhero" was only released as a single in the U.S.
• "Lie to Me" was withdrawn before it was released as a single.

Awards and nominations

Sablon:Awards table |- | rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|2011 |Shame |Virgin Media for Music Video |style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Jelölve |- |Shame |Virgin Media for Best Collaboration |style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Jelölve |- | style="text-align:center;"|2010 |Gary Barlow |Blue Peter Gold Badge |style="background: #9EFF9E; color: #000; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2 notheme"|Elnyerte |- | style="text-align:center;"|2009 |Gary Barlow |The Sun Newspaper's Lord of the Year |style="background: #9EFF9E; color: #000; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2 notheme"|Elnyerte |- | style="text-align:center;"|2008 |Shine |Ivor Novello Award for most Performed Song |style="background: #9EFF9E; color: #000; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2 notheme"|Elnyerte |- | style="text-align:center;"|2007 |Gary Barlow |GQ Awards for Man of the Year |style="background: #9EFF9E; color: #000; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2 notheme"|Elnyerte |- | rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;"|1998 |Gary Barlow |BRIT Award for Best British Male |style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Jelölve |- |Open Road | The London Awards for Best Album |style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Jelölve |- |Love Won't Wait |Top of the Pops for Best Single |style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Jelölve |- | rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"|1997 |Forever Love |FMQ Awards [Finland] for Best Single |style="background: #9EFF9E; color: #000; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2 notheme"|Elnyerte |- |Forever Love |TMF Awards [Netherlands] for Best Single |style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Jelölve |- |Open Road |GQ Awards for Best Album |style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Jelölve |- |Forever Love |Echo Awards for Best Single |style="background: #9EFF9E; color: #000; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2 notheme"|Elnyerte |- | style="text-align:center;"|1996 |Never Forget |Ivor Novello Award |style="background: #9EFF9E; color: #000; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2 notheme"|Elnyerte |- | style="text-align:center;"|1995 |Back for Good |Ivor Novello Award for the Song of the year |style="background: #9EFF9E; color: #000; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2 notheme"|Elnyerte |- | style="text-align:center;"|1994 |Pray |Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song |style="background: #9EFF9E; color: #000; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2 notheme"|Elnyerte |- | style="text-align:center;"|1993 |Gary Barlow |Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of The Year Award 1993 |style="background: #9EFF9E; color: #000; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2 notheme"|Elnyerte |}

Videography

Year	Song	Director
1996	"Forever Love"	Sophie Muller
1997	"Love Won't Wait"	Rocky Schenck
	"So Help Me Girl"	Rocky Schenck
	"So Help Me Girl" (US Version)	Alan Smithee
	"Open Road"	Rocky Schenck
	"Are You Ready Now?"	Darius Bhejcon
1998	"Hang on in There Baby"	Darius Bhejcon
	"Superhero"	Alan Smithee
1999	"Stronger"	Dani Jacobs
	"For All That You Want"	Dani Jacobs
	"Lie to Me"	Tom Ford
2010	"Everybody Hurts"	Joseph Kahn
	"Shame"	Vaughan Arnell

Books

• Gary Barlow: My Take. Bloomsbury Publishing 2006, ISBN 978-0-7475-8764-4
• Gary Barlow: My Take. Bloomsbury Publishing 2007, ISBN 978-0-7475-8806-1 (paperback edition, updated to include Take That's comeback)

External links

• Hivatalos weboldal
• BT Red Nose Climb Gary Barlow and celebrity friends set out to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief