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Gary Barlow
| Biography |
Full Name: Gary Barlow
Birth Date: 20th January 1971
Place of Birth: Frodsham, Cheshire, United Kingdom
Family: Parents (Marge and Colin Barlow)
Older Brother (Ian Barlow)
Education: The first school was Weaver Vale in Frodsham. He
then continued to Frodsham High School. His
mother taught in this school. Gary left school after
obtaining six O levels.
Acting: Played Joseph in "Joseph & The Amazing Tehnicolor
Dreamcoat".
Talent: At 11 years old he chose a keyboard for Christmas
over a BMX bike. He was a self taught musician and
started writing his own songs.
Career: * At 11 years old he worked at Connah's Quay Labour
Club in Frodsham. He earned £18 for each Saturday
night gig.
* Met Heather and became partner. Both sang and
performed together for two years in the club.
* Got himself a job at the Halton British Legion in
Widness near Runcorn. He started to play four gigs
every weekend which finished at 2AM every night.
Gary started to earn £140 a night.
Beginning: At 15 years old Gary entered a national BBC Pebble
Mill competition called 'A Song For Christmas'. Gary
penned 'Let's Pray For Christmas'. He submitted his
song for the competition. It was chosen and Pebble
Mill invited Gary to London's West Heath Studios to
record the song. His song only reached semi-finals.
He met Bob Howes who introduced him to Rod
Argent. The prize for reaching semi-finals was
recording at Strawberry Studios in Manchester
where he met Mark Owen, the tea-boy. Both of
them formed 'Cutest Rush', singing cover versions
and Gary's own songs.
Stardom: Mark brought Gary to meet Nigel Martin-Smith who wanted to form a group. 'Take That' was formed with Gary as the lead vocalist. The other members were Mark, Robbie, Jason and Howard. "Take That"
& Party" was released in 1991. They soon became a
'huge machine'.
Split: On 13th February 1996 Take That broke up. They
appeared on a TV show in Amsterdam April 1996. After
that Gary flew back to London to work on his debut solo
album.
Solo: In July 1996 Gary released his first solo single titled
"Forever Love" and it debuted at #1 in the UK Single
Chart.
Dream: His dream of breaking into US turned into a reality
when he impressed Clive Davis the head of Arista, US
with his performance at BMG's world conference in
San Diego, US. Clive Davis gave Gary a "dream team"
that comprised Diane Warren, David Foster and Walter
Afanasieff.
Manager: It was around this time that Gary dropped his long
term manager, Nigel Martin-Smith who wasn't
supportive of his dream to break into US. He then
signed with Simon Fuller, the man who was
responsible for the huge success of the Spice Girls.
Another #1: After the long absence Gary released "Love Won't
Wait" which was written by Madonna and Shep
Pettibone. The song went to #1 and it became
Gary's second consecutive #1 hit in UK. At this
point "Open Road" hasn't released in US yet.
New Manager: Gary changed manager again and set up his own
management company called "GloBe Artists". He
is the Executive Director and his new manager
is Kristina Kyriacou.
#1 Album: "Open Road" was released in May 1997 in UK and it
debuted at #1 in the UK Album Chart.
America: "So Help Me Girl" was the first release in America. It
was a cover version of a country song originally
recorded by Joe Diffe. This song reached #44 in the
US Billboard Single Chart and spent three weeks at #1
in the Radio and Record chart in US. "Open Road",
the US version that includes "Superhero", a brand new
song not found in the UK version was released in
January 1998. "Superhero" was the second single off
the album but it didn't chart as well as the first
single.
Girlfriend: Gary and Dawn Andrew were engaged in March 99'.
On 14th January 2000 they got married. |
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