History Music / GaryBarlow

After Take That first broke up, Gary attempted to launch a solo career that failed to take off. He then focused on being a songwriter and producer before Take That reformed as a four-piece (sans Music/RobbieWilliams) to great acclaim. Since the reunion and Gary's reentry into the limelight, the hits and accolades have been non-stop, with Gary even organizing the music for [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen Elizabeth II's]] Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 and traveling around the Commonwealth[[note]]including the smaller territories that don't receive many outside visitors[[/note]] to compose a commemorative single for the occasion, earning him an OBE (although comedians liked to joke that Gary was practically begging for a knighthood at the time).

-->'''Gary:''' ''[before leaving to perform a show in [[Main/TheWarOnTerror Afghanistan]] for the troops, [[Main/BlackComedy on the possibility he might not return]]]'' Concert for Gary, Albert Hall. Don't have Robbie on.

!!GaryBarlow provides examples of:

* BreakupBreakout: Contrary to popular belief, Gary actually enjoyed more success than Robbie Williams in the immediate aftermath of Take That's breakup. But Robbie's career soon took off dramatically while Gary faded into the background.

-->'''Gary:''' ''[before leaving to perform a show in [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror Afghanistan]] for the troops, [[Main/BlackComedy on the possibility he might not return]]]'' Concert for Gary, Albert Hall. Don't have Robbie on.

* VitriolicBestBuds: seems to be what his relationship with Music/RobbieWilliams has settled into after the healing of their feud. They alternate between [[Main/HoYay never, ever shutting up about how much they love each other]] (what one biography dubbed "an outbreak of soppiness that would be comical if it weren't so touching") and making jibes that make it seem like the feud that break out again at any moment.

* WeightWoe: Got a reputation for being "the fat one" even back in the early days of Music/TakeThat. Things got much worse after the disintegration of solo career, after which he turned to binge eating as a coping mechanism. [[FormerlyFat The weight is all gone now]], but it still occasionally comes up in interviews that he has to be quite careful about what he eats.

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: This is the constant comparison between Gary and Robbie Williams. While Gary is a truly talented singer-songwriter, his compositions and stage style don't have the same flair as Robbie's. This ended up working to Gary's benefit as he aged because he's now viewed as someone who matured while Robbie is viewed by some people as clinging to his past glories and trying to hold on to something he should have let go years ago.

Gary Barlow [=OBE=] (Born 20 January 1971) is an award-winning English singer-songwriter who first came to fame as the lead singer of Music/TakeThat in the 1990s. He is also known for being Simon Cowell's replacement as head judge on ''Series/TheXFactor''.

Gary Barlow [=OBE=] (Born 20 January 1971) is an award-winning English singer-songwriter who first came to fame as the lead singer of Music/TakeThat in the 1990s. He is also known for being Simon Cowell's replacement as head judge on TheXFactor.

* IronWoobie: When Take That reformed and Gary began speaking about what he went through in the wake of his solo career falling apart, people began to realize just how much the public humiliation had affected him and were amazed at how he could move forward with so little resentment.
** His fourth child, a daughter named Poppy, was stillborn but he had to take to the stage for the 2012 Olympic closing ceremonies soon after. He doesn't say much about Poppy out of respect for his wife, but music critics note that his single "Let Me Go" seems to be a tribute to his daughter's memory.

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: This is the constant comparison between Gary and Robbie Williams. While Gary is a truly talented singer-songwriter, his compositions and stage style don't have the same flair as Robbie's. This ended up working to Gary's benefit as he aged because he's now viewed as someone who matured while Robbie is viewed by some people as clinging to his past glories and trying to hold on to something he should have let go years ago.
* TheWoobie: Gary was utterly humiliated by the public and had a massive breakdown when his solo career didn't take off as he'd hoped. While Gary had some initial success, he was quickly overtaken by Music/RobbieWilliams, who took every opportunity to air his grievances in public and humiliate Gary whenever the chance arose. The music press also jumped on the bandwagon, labeled Gary as being a talentless hack, and criticized everything he did simply because he was involved. Gary calls this period his 'wilderness years'. It would be more than a decade before people realized just how much Gary suffered because of their ridicule.
** Unable to take the humiliation, Gary completely withdrew from public life and fell into depression. He gained a large amount of weight from stress eating during this time, so much so that people wouldn't even recognize him on the street because of the dramatic change in appearance. Once he got his weight under control and started looking like his old self, however, he still wouldn't go out in public without at least wearing a hat and sunglasses because, by his own admission, he wanted to be anyone but Gary Barlow.
** Gary tried to move forward with his life and decided to focus on being a songwriter and producer, music labels refused to accept his submissions simply because of who he was. Furthering the humiliation, the labels would enthusiastically accept his songs when he submitted them under an assumed name.
** It wasn't until a retrospective in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Take That's break up did people start to reassess how Gary had been treated and come to admit that it was Gary who was responsible for Take That's success. Since Take That's reformation, public opinion of Gary swung so much in his favor that music journalists have said that if a negative story about him ever came up, they'd have to think very carefully about running it because the public would come after them rather than Gary.
** To his credit, Robbie Williams has been genuinely apologetic for his behavior towards Gary and they made amends before Take That reformed as a five-piece.
** Nigel Martin-Smith, Take That's creator and first manager, has said that Gary's initial lack of success was actually to Gary's benefit because while Robbie Williams had immense success, Gary settled down to a genuinely happy marriage and started a family whereas Robbie had an extremely tumultuous public life and has been in and out of rehab. Robbie has also said that he'd have traded his solo success for Gary's family life[[note]]Robbie's since gotten married and started a family of his own[[/note]].

After Take That first broke up, Gary attempted to launch a solo career that failed to take off. He then focused on being a songwriter and producer before Take That reformed as a four-piece (sans Music/RobbieWilliams) to great acclaim. Since the reunion and Gary's reentry into the limelight, the hits and accolades have been non-stop, with Gary even organizing the music for [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen Elizabeth II's]] Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 and traveling around the Commonwealth to compose a commemorative single for the occasion, earning him an OBE (although comedians liked to joke that Gary was practically begging for a knighthood at the time).

* CreatorBreakdown: He had a massive breakdown when his solo career didn't take off as he'd hoped. While Gary had some initial success, he was quickly overtaken by Music/RobbieWilliams, who took every opportunity to air his grievances in public and humiliate Gary whenever the chance arose. The music press also jumped on the bandwagon, labeled Gary as being a talentless hack, and criticized everything he did simply because he was involved. Gary calls this period his 'wilderness years'.
** Unable to take the humiliation, Gary completely withdrew from public life and fell into depression. He gained a large amount of weight from stress eating during this time, so much so that people wouldn't even recognize him on the street because of the dramatic change in appearance. Once he got his weight under control and started looking like his old self, however, he still wouldn't go out in public without at least wearing a hat and sunglasses because, by his own admission, he wanted to be anyone but Gary Barlow.
** Gary tried to move forward with his life and decided to focus on being a songwriter and producer, music labels refused to accept his submissions simply because of who he was. Furthering the humiliation, the labels would enthusiastically accept his songs when he submitted them under an assumed name.
** It wasn't until a retrospective in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Take That's break up did people start to reassess how Gary had been treated and come to admit that it was Gary who was responsible for Take That's success. Since Take That's reformation, public opinion of Gary swung so much in his favor that music journalists have said that if a negative story about him ever came up, they'd have to think very carefully about running it because the public would come after them rather than Gary.
** To his credit, Robbie Williams has been genuinely apologetic for his behavior towards Gary and they made amends before Take That reformed as a five-piece.
** Nigel Martin-Smith, Take That's creator and first manager, has said that Gary's initial lack of success was actually to Gary's benefit because while Robbie Williams had immense success, Gary settled down to a genuinely happy marriage and started a family whereas Robbie had an extremely tumultuous public life and has been in and out of rehab. Robbie has also said that he'd have traded his solo success for Gary's family life[[note]]Robbie's since gotten married and started a family of his own[[/note]].

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: This is the constant comparison between Gary and Robbie Williams. While Gary is a truly talented singer-songwriter, his compositions and stage style don't have the same flair as Robbie's. This ended up working to Gary's benefit as he aged because he's now viewed as someone who matured while Robbie is viewed by some people as clinging to his past glories and trying to hold on to something he should have let go years ago.

** His fourth child, a daughter named Poppy, was stillborn but had to take to the stage for the 2012 Olympic closing ceremonies soon after. He doesn't say much about Poppy out of respect for his wife, but music critics note that his single "Let Me Go" seems to be a tribute to his daughter's memory.

After Take That first broke up, Gary attempted to launch a solo career that failed to take off. He then focused on being a songwriter and producer before Take That reformed as a four-piece (sans Music/RobbieWilliams) to great acclaim.

* CreatorBreakdown: He had a massive breakdown when his solo career didn't take off as he'd hoped. While Gary had some initial success, he was quickly overtaken by Music/RobbieWilliams, who took every opportunity to air his grievances in public and humiliate Gary whenever the chance arose. The music press also jumped on the bandwagon, labeled Gary as being a talentless hack, and criticized everything he did simply because he was involved.

** It wasn't until a retrospective in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Take That's break up did people start to reassess how Gary had been treated. Since Take That's reformation, public opinion of Gary swung so much in his favor that music journalists have said that if a negative story about him ever came up, they'd have to think very carefully about running it because the public would come after them rather than Gary.

* HappilyMarried: He has been married to Dawn Andrews, who was a backing dancer for Take That's final tour in 1990s, for nearly 20 years.

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: This is the constant comparison between Gary and Robbie Williams. While Gary is a truly talented singer-songwriter, his compositions and stage style don't have the same flair as Robbie's.