EXCLUSIVE: With the Take That Circus Tour 2026 underway, we look back at the band’s incredible early days as well as some of their most memorable concert experiences
Take That’s story began in 1989, when 19-year-old aspiring singer-songwriter Gary Barlow sent model agency owner Nigel Martin-Smith a copy of a demo tape he had recorded in his bedroom. Taken aback by Gary’s strong vocals and the maturity of his tracks, which included A Million Love Songs, Nigel wasted no time in calling him.
“I was shaking [when I listened to it],” recalls Nigel. “I was thinking ‘Wow’… I knew I’d got something that could actually be quite hot property.”
However, unsure of Gary’s potential as a solo artist, and keen to create the UK’s answer to successful US boy band New Kids On The Block, Nigel held auditions to find some bandmates for his protégé. “He said, ‘As a solo act you’re not ready, but I can put a vehicle around you – then give it five or six years and you’ll be ready by then’,” says Gary.
‘I was Take That’s make-up artist when Mark Owen did something so unexpected’
Take That’s touring disaster with ‘mic hanging off, trying to look dignified’
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
