Aged 15, Barlow entered a BBC Pebble Mill at One competition called A Song For Christmas with a song called Let's Pray For Christmas. After getting through to the semifinals he was invited to London's West Heath Studios to record his song. This inspired Barlow to perform on the northern club circuit, singing cover versions and his own songs.

Aged 18 in 1990, he appointed Wigan show business agent Barry Woolley to be his manager and recorded a single (Love Is In The Air) under the stage name Kurtis Rush. After the single's commercial failure, Barlow came under the influence of pop manager Nigel Martin-Smith and formed Take That, becoming the lead singer. He was introduced to Martin-Smith by Manchester photographer Michael Braham who Barlow paid to take publicity shots. Braham who was also an aspiring actor was also represented by Martin-Smith at the time and knew he was looking for members to form a pop group as Britains answer to New Kids On The Block who had become a worldwide phenomenon.

Woolley then sued Barlow shortly after, and the case was settled days before it was due to enter high courts in 1995.

Barlow, who wrote most of their songs, was generally recognised as the musical talent behind Take That. The five-piece vocal group consisted of Barlow, Robbie Williams, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Howard Donald. This UK group were signed to RCA records and after a number of top 40 hits, eventually secured their first Number 1 with Barlow's Pray. Previous hits included A Million Love Songs, It Only Takes A Minute and Could It Be Magic.

The group issued four albums between 1992 and 1996. The debut set was entitled Take That & Party. The following year saw the release of Everything Changes. Barlow received an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song in 1994 for the song Pray included in the album. Their third outing, which was to be their last studio album, Nobody Else, came in 1995). A Greatest Hits collection followed.

In 1996, Take That split up, and Barlow went solo. His first release, the single Forever Love, was an immediate number one hit in the UK. His album, Open Road, also went to the top of the chart, as did his second solo single Love Won't Wait written by Madonna and Shep Pettibone. The remix was produced by Junior Vasquez. The original demo remains one of many unreleased Madonna songs. He also reached #3 in the United States adult contemporary music charts with So Help Me Girl, also a top 20 UK hit. Another single (the album's title cut), Open Road, reached #7 in the UK. He followed that up with his second album Twelve Months, Eleven Days.

Barlow performed at the first two annual Capital FM-hosted Party in the Park events in London's Hyde Park in 1998 and 1999.

An unexpected backlash came in the very late 1990s, when the media (who had just been declaring him as the greatest songwriter of current times) turned their backs on Barlow. The press staged a battle between Barlow and his former bandmate, Robbie Williams after his single Angels was a hit.

With little support from both the press and radio, Barlow was not in much of a position to compete. (Williams made fun of the missing success of the allegedly more talented Barlow in a hidden track at the end of his record Escapology in 2002, singing "Where has Gary Barlow gone?").

Barlow quit his career as a singer, with his final single remaining unreleased, he returned to songwriting and producing, writing hits including single Not Me, Not I for Delta Goodrem. Barlow is company president of True North Music Company. He has also worked with Elton John, Blue, Atomic Kitten, Donny Osmond, Lara Fabian and Christina Aguilera amongst others.

On Sunday 17th August 2008 he took part in a birthday tribute concert for songwriter Don Black, Lyrics by Don Black, at the London Palladium. He performed the song Born Free, originally a hit for Matt Monro, with guest conductor David Arnold. On 20th of october a spoof song he had written with peter kay beat the X Factor winner Leon Jackson to number 2 in the singles chart

Following a successful TV documentary, Take That experienced a career renaissance in 2006 when the post-Williams line-up reformed for a sell-out stadium tour. They released a single (Patience - reached UK Number 1 position on 26 November and stayed there for 4 weeks). Patience was also voted The Record of the Year in 2006. They have released their first album of new material in over ten years. The album went in at Number 1 in the UK album charts. Most of the songs on their new album are joint band compositions co-written with other songwriters, unlike earlier albums, which were mainly penned by Gary Barlow. In 2007 the band won their tenth Brit Award. 2008 saw the band get nominated for four Brit Awards (Best British Group, Best British Album, Best British Single and Best British Live Act). They won Best British Single and Best British Live Act.

In his autobiography My Take, Barlow mentions he was on the Edgware Road tube train that was one of the targets of the 7 July 2005 London bombings. He also stated that Robbie Williams took full advantage of his misfortunes during the media competition that was staged between the two.

In a 2005 television documentary on Take That, TAKE THAT: For The Record, Williams retracted his previous taunting of Barlow, claiming that he would swap all of his current success for Barlow's happy family life.

Barlow has achieved the respect of the whole of the music industry for his talent

On 12 January 2000 Gary married his long-time girlfriend, Dawn Andrews. Barlow has two children:Daniel (born 16th August 2000) and Emily (born 31st May 2002). His wife, Dawn ,is expecting their third child early next year.

Gary is currently working on a collaboration with Grand Master Flash to rerelease the 80's hit'Rappers Delight'.