Gary Barlow
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Gary Barlow OBE |
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Barlow in 2013
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gary Barlow |
| Born |
20 January 1971 Frodsham, Cheshire, England |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1986–present |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | garybarlow |
Gary Barlow OBE (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of British pop-group Take That and served as head judge on series 8, 9 and 10 of The X Factor UK. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters, having written fourteen number one singles and twenty-four top 10 hits. He has had three number one singles, six top 10 singles and two number one albums as a solo artist, and has had seventeen top 5 hits, twelve number one singles and seven number one albums with Take That. He is also a six-time recipient of the Ivor Novello Award and has sold over 50 million records worldwide. In 2017, Barlow is taking on the role as a judge on his new BBC show, Let It Shine.
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 Christmas. He spent most of his spare time teaching himself to play his favourite songs.
He has credited Elton John with inspiring him to play the piano.
In 1986, when Barlow was fifteen years old, he entered a BBC Pebble Mill at One Christmas song competition with "Let's Pray for Christmas". After reaching the semi-finals, he was invited to London's West Heath Studios to record his song. This inspired Barlow to perform on the northern club circuit, singing cover versions and his own songs. Barlow's first performance was at the Connah's Quay Labour Club in the late 1980s and he was paid £18 per performance on Saturday evenings.
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