Gary Barlow Gary Barlow was born on the 20th January 1971 in Frodsham in Cheshire and attended Weaver Vale Junior School and then Frodsham High School. From a very early age he worked every Saturday night as a musician in Connah's Quay Labour Club. At the age of fifteen he entered the BBC's "Pebble Mill" competition, 'A Song For Christmas', and was runner up in the competition. Part of the prize included an invitation to 10cc's Strawberry Recording Studios in Stockport. It was here that he was to meet Mark Owen. After six years as the creative leader of the group Take That, despite a somewhat fallow period, Barlow enjoyed some success as a solo artist. His 1996 debut single, 'Forever Love', went straight to number one position in the UK charts and firmly established him as a serious singer/songwriter. In 1997 he followed up with 'Love Won't Wait' and later that year the number one UK chart-topping album 'Open Road' album was released. Later, singles like 'So Help Me Girl' followed. 1998 saw Barlow on a world tour to promote his album with many fine live performances before returning home to record his second album. Continuing friction between Barlow and ex-Take That singer Robbie Williams continued to hit the media and Barlow's image and fortunes suffered as a result, while Williams' career was in the ascendancy. Barlow's 1999 single 'Stronger' flopped, as did the next, 'For All That You Want'. Continued poor media image saw the 'Twelve Months, Eleven Days' album also fail to sell, only reaching the UK's number 35 position in the music charts. Barlow's fortunes had reached an all-time low. Live shows had to be cancelled and recording commitments were aborted. In March 2000, BMG/RCA released Gary Barlow from his recording contract. That year he also married his dancer girlfriend, Dawn and they became parents to two children, Daniel and Emily. In 2001, he and his family moved to live Santa Monica, California, and he has been working with Gloria Estefan, and commuting regularly between Manchester and Los Angeles. He has recently worked on albums with Elton John, Blue, Donny Osmond, Hear'say, Monica Naranjo, Vanessa Amorosi and Atomic Kitten. In recent times, Take That have reformed, reached number 1 position more than once in the music charts again and seem to have regained their fan base - Barlow's fortunes have re-emerged with the band.