New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Sony/ATV
Music Publishing has extended its worldwide deal with multi-award-winning singer-songwriter
Gary Barlow and will represent his entire song catalog for the first time.
The new long-term agreement covers not only all the songs he has written since first signing with the company more than a decade ago alongside future works, but Sony/ATV will now additionally look after all his early songs as well. These include
Take That classics such as "Back For Good", "Never Forget" and "Pray" and his initial solo hits, including "
Forever Love".
Sony/ATV UK Managing
Director and President of European Creative Guy Moot said: "Gary Barlow is a one-man phenomenon and rightly hailed as one of the greatest ever British songwriters. The songs he has written for
Take That have thrilled several generations and contain countless classics, but that is only one part of his incredible story as he also has a flourishing solo career, has written for numerous other artists and now has a successful musical on Broadway."
Gary Barlow said: "I've had an amazing journey over this past decade since first signing with Sony/ATV, which has involved me writing for some amazing artists, the return of
Take That and now having a show on Broadway. Sony/ATV have been hugely supportive along the way and I'm excited that they will now be looking after my entire song catalog for the first time."
Gary Barlow is one of the most successful and decorated British songwriters and recording artists of all time, having penned 13 UK No. 1 singles both with and away from Take That. This is in addition to an extensive number of global hits he has written and performed, while his long list of awards and honors includes six Ivor Novellos and an OBE from the Queen.
Built around the songwriting talents of Gary Barlow,
Take That emerged in the early Nineties to become one of the most successful UK acts in history with a string of hits mainly written by him. These included "A Million Love Songs", "Why Can't I Wake Up With You", "Pray", "Babe", "
Everything Changes", "Love Ain't Here Anymore", "Sure", "Back For Good" and "Never Forget".
When
Take That split in 1996 he launched a solo career which opened with two UK No. 1 singles, including the self-penned "
Forever Love", as well as a No. 1 album, Open Road. These, his other early solo repertoire and songs from the original incarnation of
Take That will now be looked after by Sony/ATV in addition to his other songs.
After initial success as a solo artist he then headed in a new direction writing for other artists and scored a number of substantial hits. However, all this success was eclipsed by what turned into one of the greatest pop comebacks of all time when
Take That announced they were reforming in 2005, firstly for a tour and then to record a brand new album. Following its 2006 release, Beautiful World went on to sell 2.8 million copies just in the U.K. and included the chart-topping hits "
Patience" and "
Shine", both co-written by Barlow and the rest of the band. "
Shine" won him and
Take That an Ivor Novello as it was named PRS for
Music Most Performed Work. He later shared with the group another Ivor for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.
A further substantial hit followed with "
Rule The World", while the group's 2008 album The Circus was another No. 1 and included the chart-topping single "
Greatest Day". The albums Progress (2010) and III (2014) delivered further No. 1s and more hit singles, including "
The Flood" and "
These Days".
Despite the demands of Take That, he has remained an in-demand songwriter for others, having written with or for acts including Lily Allen, Dame Shirley Bassey, Agnetha Faltskog, Olly Murs,
Will Young and his erstwhile band colleague Robbie Williams. He also oversaw the music for
Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, which included a commemorative song written with Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber called "Sing" and an album of the same name, both of which topped the UK charts.
In addition, he successfully relaunched his solo career with the chart-topping album Since I Saw You Last and hit single "
Let Me Go" taken from his first solo album in 14 years, "Since I Saw You Last", which sold 700,000 copies in the UK and was the ninth biggest-selling album of that year.
He now also has a hit musical on his hands as the co-writer with Eliot Kennedy of Finding Neverland. It opened on New York's Broadway in March with a cast including Matthew Morrison,
Laura Michelle Kelly, Kelsey Grammer and Teal Wicks. It last month won four honours at the Audience Choice Awards in the US, including being named Favourite New Musical.
