Take That

Take That is an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990.

The band currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen; the original lineup also included Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the lead singer and principal songwriter; Owen and Williams initially provided backing vocals, while Donald and Orange were mainly dancers.

They have had 28 Top 40 singles and 17 Top 5 singles on the UK charts, 12 of which reached number one, including Back for Good, Never Forget, Patience and Greatest Day. They have also achieved eight number‑one albums in the UK; internationally they total 56 singles and 39 number‑one albums.

Robbie Williams left the band in 1995; the remaining four completed their world tour and released a final single before splitting in 1996. The band officially reunited as a four‑piece (without Williams) for a 2006 tour and recorded new albums such as Beautiful World (2006) and The Circus (2008), regaining success and selling over 45 million records worldwide.

Williams rejoined Take That in 2010 for the album Progress, the first with the original lineup since 1995; that album became the best‑selling album of the 21st century on release. In 2014 the group recorded their seventh album, III, as a trio without Williams and without Jason Orange (who had left the band), and that album produced the number‑one single These Days.

Take That has won eight Brit Awards, including Best British Group, and received an Ivor Novello Award for outstanding contribution to British music; their Progress Live (2011) and Circus Live (2009) tours broke UK ticket‑sales records, and they performed at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.