Take That

Band manager Nigel Martin-Smith in 1989 had a vision to create a youthful and highly appealing male singing group based on New Kids on the Block. Introduced to young singer Gary Barlow, Martin-Smith decided to design the group around Barlow’s talents, subsequently inviting Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and 16-year-old Robbie Williams. Originally performing under the moniker Kick It, Take That’s breakthrough came with a cover of the Tavares hit “It Only Takes a Minute”, followed by “I Found Heaven” and “A Million Love Songs”. Take That later released the album “Take That & Party” in 1992 which featured all of the hit singles theretofore released.

In 1993 the band released their second full-length album “Everything Changes” garnering generous amounts of popular appeal. The album peaked at No.1 and spawned six singles including “Pray”, “Relight My Fire” and “Babe”. Nominated for the Mercury prize the band saw some international esteem however wasn’t enough to break into the U.S. market.

On the wake of Take That’s third studio album “Nobody Else”, Robbie Williams came under some criticism from other band members for his drug use and was offered an ultimatum: sort himself out or hit the road. Williams chose the latter and Take That embarked on their first worldwide tour and released the album “Nobody Else” in America with Williams removed.

Sensing an opportunity to continue his solo careers in the shadow of artists like Elton John an George Michael, Gary Barlow and the group disbanded in 1996. Barlow’s debut solo single reached the No. 2 spot in the UK chart and Mark Owen began working on a solo album influenced by Paul Weller and Radiohead. In 1997 Robbie issued his solo album “Life Thru a Lens” which topped the charts as did his sophomore release “I’ve Been Expecting You” a year later.

In 2005 a new compilation of Take That hits “Never Forget - The Ultimate Collection” arrived which led to an ITV documentary where the band discussed things past. In late 2005 the post-Williams line-up announced they would tour around the UK in 2006 and released the album “Beautiful World”. The album shot straight to the No. 1 spot, sold over 2.8 million copies and is the UK’s 25th best selling album in chart history. The album was led by the single “Patience” which hit the No. 1 spot, the group’s ninth single to do so.

In 2008 Take That released their new single “Greatest Day” ahead of their fifth studio album “The Circus”. Like its predecessors the album broke many records and earned many awards, afterwards the band embarked on their Take That Present - The Circus Tour Live”.

Robbie Williams returned in 2010 with the single written by both Barlow and Williams entitled “Shame”. Subsequently the band released the single “The Flood” ahead of the group’s 2010 album “Progress”. In 2014 the group released the album “III” led by the No. 1 single “These Days".

In 2003, OneRepublic traveled west and played shows around the Los Angeles, U.S., area.

OneRepublic added pianist Drew Brown, bassist/cellist Brent Kutzle, and drummer Eddie Fisher to the lineup while playing its initial live shows. After being approached by many labels, the band signed with Velvet Hammer (an imprint of Columbia records), whose roster now includes the likes of Coheed and Cambria, Deftones, and System of a Down.

Unlike other bands under the Velvet Hammer label, OneRepublic’s sound has seen more mainstream than alternative success. With collaborations with producers like Timbaland on what is arguably its biggest hit to date, “Apologize,” remixed and recorded in 2006 and featured on Timbaland’s album Shock Value, OneRepublic has safely secured itself quite a few popular rock music fans. The band was also dropped from Columbia’s label around this time and signed to Timbaland’s Mosley Music Group.

“Apologize” appeared again in 2007, this time in its original form on OneRepublic’s debut album, Dreaming Out Loud. The remixed version of the song had record radio plays in North America (it was played 10,394 times in just one week) and this play score was only beaten by the single “Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis (which, was also co-written by OneRepublic frontman, Ryan Tedder). The other hit single from its platinum debut album is “Stop and Stare,” which saw almost equal success as the previous single.

OneRepublic’s second album, Waking Up, was released in 2009 and reached the top 10 on Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. Singles from this album included “All the Right Moves,” “Marchin On,” and “Good Life.”

In March of 2013, OneRepublic released Native, its third studio album and an official end to a hiatus that had lasted for three and a half years. Native hit number four on the Billboard 200 upon its debut, marking the band’s first time cracking the top 10 in the U.S. First-week sales exceeded 60,000, the best since Dreaming Out Loud.

The lead single from Native was “Feel Again.” Released on August 27, 2012, it climbed to number 36 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and later went platinum. The next single, “If I Lose Myself,” has been certified gold in both Australia and Italy. The next single, “Counting Stars,” exceeded all expectations by becoming the band’s biggest hit yet — it reached the top five in 14 countries and even hit number one in the UK and number two in the U.S. The accompanying music video has over 3.5 billion views on YouTube.

The tours after Native took OneRepublic across Europe, Oceania, North America, and Asia and featured co-headlining duties with acts like American Authors, Sara Bareilles, and The Script. 169 shows later, the band completed its biggest tour yet.

November 2014 saw photos from the band on Twitter with the caption “Hotel recording, Poland. Album 4.” Half a year later, Tedder announced that OneRepublic was heading in a new artistic direction. Since the band values innovation and never repeats the same sound twice, the new album would prove to be yet another surprise for fans.

The group announced in September 2015 that the next album would come early the next year. The wait was long — it wasn’t until May 12 that a new single called “Wherever I Go” dropped. The next single, “Kids,” came out on August 12, and the album called Oh My My came out October 7, 2016. Oh My My struck a chord with listeners, hitting number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 and becoming the highest-charting album in the band’s career to date.

Between 2017 and 2019, OneRepublic shifted its strategy in song releases. Lead singer Ryan Tedder wrote a candid post to fans, saying he was dealing with “crippling anxiety” and illness due to constant touring, promoting, and recording. He said the band would be releasing new music in the form of singles as opposed to traditional albums. In 2017, it released singles including “Born to Race,” “Rich Love,” “Truth to Power,” and “No Vacancy.”

It seemed that the love for music helped Tedder overcome his struggles — in September 2017, he announced the band had begun working on a fifth album. The band also featured on the song “Stranger Things” by Kygo, which came out in 2017. The next year, it opened for the Zac Brown Band on tour.

Its 2018 singles included “Start Again” (featuring Logic), “Connection,” and a cover of “White Christmas.” The lead single from the fifth album arrived on May 17, 2019 and was entitled “Rescue Me.” The subsequent singles, “Wanted” and “Somebody to Love,” preceded the announcement that the new album would be called Human and would come out in spring of 2020. After multiple delays, Human did finally come out in August of 2021.

Currently, the world awaits OneRepublic’s sixth studio album, which the band has teased with songs “Sunshine” and “West Coast.” Its singles were featured in Top Gun: Maverick and other films, building anticipation for what is sure to be a phenomenal release.

The band’s calendar currently includes concerts across multiple continents. Catch OneRepublic on tour to see one of the most exciting acts in rock today.