Gary Barlow

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. Barlow also served as head judge of The X Factor UK from 2011 to 2013 and Let It Shine in 2017. 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. 2Early life and beginnings Gary Barlow was born 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 Christma