'''Gary Barlow''' (born January 20, 1971 in Frodsham, Cheshire, England) is an English singer, songwriter, bandleader and producer. He was one of the most successful songwriters of the 1990s, penning no less than 16 hit singles during the decade.
His career began as Kurtis Rush, releasing a single "''Love is in the Air''" in 1990.
Take That ... And Party
Barlow was generally recognised as the musical talent behind the successful boy band Take That. This 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"'' and ''"It Only Takes A Minute"''.
The band issued four albums between 1992 and 1996. The debut set was entitled '''"Take That ... and Party"''' in 1992; see 1992 in music. The following year saw the release of '''"Everything Changes"'''. Their third outing, which was to be their last studio album '''"Nobody Else"''' came in 1995; see 1995 in music. A Greatest Hits collection followed.
Barlow was reputedly less happy when other band members sung the lead vocals on songs. However, he remained the songwriter, and the hits kept on coming with the likes of ''"Back For Good"'' (yet another #1 in the UK and a Top 10 U.S. hit) and ''"Everything Changes"''. The song "Back For Good" caused some controversy because rumors surfaced that Barry Gibb in fact wrote this song but agreed to credit Barlow if he would arrange that Take That would cover a Beegees song (How Deep is your Love was covered). In a 2001 interview Robin Gibb stated this information was false and no such agreement was ever made. Barlow had indeed written this hit song himself.
Going solo
In 1996, Take That split up and Barlow went solo, and his first release, ''"Forever Love"'', was an immediate number one hit in the UK. His next album, '''Open Road''', also went to the top of the chart, as did his second solo single ''"Love Won't Wait"'' written by Madonna and Shep Pettibone. The remix was produced by Junior Vasquez. The original demo remains one of many unreleased Madonna songs.
He also topped the United States adult contemporary music charts with ''"So Help Me Girl"'', which was also a top 20 hit in the UK. Another single (the album's title cut) ''"Open Road"'' reached #7 in the UK.
Barlow performed at the first two annual Capital FM hosted '''"Party in the park"''' events in London's Hyde Park, in both 1998 and 1999.
