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1. Gary Barlow was born on January 20, 1971 in Cheshire to parents Marjorie and Colin. He has one older brother, Ian.
2. In his autobiography, Gary reveals that his love of music started at an early age: "I was one of those kids that’s dancing forever in front of the TV looking at my reflection." He thanks Top Of The Pops for his early passion for music and claims it was a performance by '80s electronic band Depeche Mode that began his love affair with performing.
3. He is a self-taught pianist having bought his own keyboard at just 10-years-old and spending the next few years teaching himself to play his favourite songs.
4. During an interview with Jonathan Ross last year, Gary described Take That as "the gayest straight band in history".
5. After the heartbreaking split of Take That in 1996, Gary went on to have a successful solo career, including two number one singles and a number one debut album. In fact,
Gary’s first solo single, 'Forever Love', was originally written to be Take That’s next release but they split up before Gary showed it to the other boys.
6. Gary was on one of the tubes that was targeted in the July London bombings in 2005 and he recalls the events that unfolded in his autobiography, My Take.
7. Gazza married his long-term love, Dawn, in January 2000 having met on a Take That tour where she was a back-up dancer for the band. The couple have three children - Daniel, aged 10, Emily, aged 8 and Daisy, aged 1.
8. Barlow is a dedicated charity supporter and was the mastermind behind the successful sponsored climb up Mount Kilimanjaro that raised in excess of £6 million for Comic Relief. He walked alongside famous faces such as Cheryl Cole, Chris Moyles and Fearne Cotton despite injuring his back while training for the climb! Speaking of the challenge, Gary said: "The walk was steep, severe and heartbreaking."
9. Not only does Gary have millions in the bank and one of the best pop back catalogues in music history, he also owns a prestigious Blue Peter Gold Badge! Gazza was given the honour for his inspiring charity work.
10. Gary is a hugely talented songwriter. He wrote the majority of Take That’s hits as well as all of his own solo releases. Not only that, he has written songs for a whole variety of other performers including boy-band Blue, N-Dubz, Alesha Dixon and even Dame Shirley Bassey!
Additional reporting by Emma Humphrey
