Take That: From boy band to national treasures

The cat is out of the bag that Manchester pop royalty Take That will be headlining Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park this year on Sunday 10th September, and we can barely contain our excitement.

Gary, Mark and Howard will be topping the bill of the 'festival in a day', where they’ll be joined by Radio favourites Blondie, Shania Twain, James Blunt, Rick Astley, Emeli Sande, Stereophonics, Seth Lakeman and Wildwood Kin.

In honour of the occasion, we thought we'd remind ourselves of the wild and eventful history of one of the UK's biggest and most loved pop acts. Here is Take That's journey, from boy band to national treasures.

In Manchester, back in 1989, music manager Nigel Martin-Smith met an impressive young singer-songwriter called Gary Barlow. He became determined to build a New Kids On The Block style boyband around Barlow’s obvious talent, and held auditions the following year.

22-year-old vehicle painter Howard Donald and breakdancer Jason Orange dazzled with their dancing skills, while baby-faced bank employee Mark Owen and cheeky 16-year-old Robbie Williams wowed with their vocal talents. The classic Take That line-up was complete.

The band’s debut album Take That & Party was released in 1992 and reached No.2. With songs such as It Only Takes A Minute and Do What You Like (with a notorious video featuring leather fringing, hi-NRG dancing and jelly wrestling) it’s still a pop classic.

Take That’s second album Everything Changes sold 3 million worldwide and saw the group nominated for the 1993 Mercury Prize. Featuring hits such as Pray, Babe and Relight My Fire (in which the boys teamed up with Lulu) it kicked off an era of crazed That That fandom, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since Beatlemania.

With Barlow’s Ivor Novello-scooping songwriting talents, their good looks and Mancunian charm, Take That were an unstoppable pop force.

1995 album Nobody Else featured their biggest ever hit single - and one of the greatest pop songs of the decade - Back For Good.

The track, premiered during the 1995 BRIT Awards, shot to No.1 in 31 countries and gave the lads their only US hit. But the song’s famous break up lyrics (“in the twist of separation, you excelled at being free”) proved to be a portent…

On July 17 1995, Robbie shocked the pop world, announced he was leaving Take That and breaking millions of young hearts across the globe. He would go on to have an incredible solo career, starting with a cover of George Michael's Freedom, before achieving hits with the likes of Angels, Let Me Entertain You and Rock DJ. He also became an in-demand collaborator, teaming up with Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman and even his old Take That colleague Gary Barlow for further chart success. Robbie has so far seen ten solo albums go to No.1.

In February 1996, Take That hosted a press conference confirming they would be breaking up. “Unfortunately the rumours are true,” said Gary. “How Deep Is Your Love will be our last single together and the Greatest Hits will be our last album. From today Take That is no more.” How wrong this statement would eventually prove to be – but it would be a decade before we found that out.

The news caused such distress that the Samaritans actually set up a special helpline to support distraught fans.

Gary and Mark both went on to experience solo success, with Gary’s 1997 debut album Open Road selling 2 million copies worldwide. Mark also won Celebrity Big Brother 2 in 2002, beating the likes of Sue Perkins and Les Dennis to the public vote.

And if you're a Take That and a Star Wars fan, you can look forward to Gary Barlow making an appearance in the new Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi, later this year.

In 2006 Take That came out with the longed-for news that they would be reuniting, though still without Robbie. Comeback single Patience topped the charts, as did new album Beautiful World. It was like they'd never been away.

The ‘man band’ have been riding a wave of incredible success ever since, with a run of stirring singles like Shine and Greatest Day. They have also become famous for laying on some of the most flamboyant, imaginative and extravagant pop tours around.

In a move which shocked but delighted fans across the world, Robbie Williams rejoined the group for their 2010 album Progress – which became the second fastest-selling album in British history.

It wasn’t long before Robbie was off again but this time it was on the friendliest of terms, with the door left propped firmly open.

As much-loved and enduring British pop veterans, Take That were an obvious choice to take part in Danny Boyle’s closing ceremony for the 2012 London Olympic Games. When the boys sang Rule The World there was barely a dry eye on sofas across the land.

Jason said his friendly goodbyes in 2014. Sad to see him go, but undeterred, the rest of the team have continued as a successful trio. In the same year the band raised £1.1 million at auction for Children in Need when Chris Evans organised a competition to hire them for a gig, anywhere in the country.

Take That thrilled and moved us all when they played to 50,000 people in their hometown's Old Trafford cricket ground, as part of the One Love benefit concert organised by Ariana Grande after a devastating terrorist attack.

Singing a suitably empowering and uplifting trio of tracks, including Shine, the band entertained both parents and kids in the crowd and the global audience watching or listening to the event. They even got to introduce their "brother" Robbie, who came on straight afterwards to sing solo hits.

We're now counting down the days until the boys (well, the men) hit the stage in Hyde Park's glorious open air.

Gary actually has form here, having headlined the very first Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park back in 2011. He gallantly stepped in last minute when Lionel Richie was forced to pull out due to illness, and paid his respects with a lovely cover of Richie's classic hit Hello. So we're sure he'll show Mark and Howard the ropes.

Now we've reminded ourselves of quite how many adventures Take That have been through to become the national treasures they are today, we're even more keyed up for a mass sing-a-long to hits like These Days, Never Forget and Patience. See you in the park!

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