This was meant to be Gary Barlow's quiet year. Take That were taking a break, and although a certain concert was on the horizon, it felt as if he had already done most of the preparation.
Instead, he says, it's been "madness". Amid everything - receiving an OBE, playing at the closing ceremony of the Olympics - it's not hard to guess what event stands out. "It's got to be the Jubilee. Really it has," he says, still flabbergasted by what he pulled off. After planning the concert for 19 months he actually missed most of it. His attempts to watch from his dressing room were distracted by a flood of visitors. "So many of the artists were coming in and saying, 'This is brilliant! I can't believe it!'" He managed to drag himself away for the "surreal" climax, when he was surrounded by the likes of Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. "You look down the line and there's Prince Charles. The crowd was all down the Mall - as far as you could see, people's heads. Now I just sit and think, 'That's probably as good as it's gonna get.' I'm still celebrating."
Two weeks later, in mid-June, the announcement of his OBE granted cause for further celebration. Can we expect to see Sir - or even Lord - Gary Barlow in the future? "I never want to get to the point where I think, 'I've done it all now and I've been awarded - I'm done, good night.'"
There was little time for gloating, as Jubilee preparations - which included work on "Sing", his chart-topping collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber, and an accompanying BBC documentary - were quickly followed by auditions for The X Factor. If his maiden series on the show proved difficult - "I'm not an easily stressed person but that stressed me out" - he's learnt to relax. "I've had more fun than I've had for years. I used to dread the live shows every week, but I'm going to own it this time."
To cap it all, he has a GQ Men Of The Year award to place next to the OBE. How does it feel? "Amazing. I always go to these things and spend the night dreading my award coming. I'm going to bloody enjoy this one."
Originally published in the October 2012 issue of British GQ.
