Â鶹Éç

Gary Barlow is one of the UK’s most successful songwriters and performers. As a member of Take That and as an established solo artist, Gary has had a grand total of 16 Number 1 singles. He has sold in excess of 50 million records, and won the Ivor Novello Award six times.

In 2012, Gary joined forces with Andrew Lloyd Webber to write the song “Sing” to commemorate Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee. It was performed outside Buckingham Palace as part of a special Diamond Jubilee Concert, and soared straight to Number 1.

As if his schedule weren’t jam-packed enough, he’s also found time to write not one but TWO hit musicals. He wrote the original score for Finding Neverland, the story of Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie which played on Broadway. He also co-wrote The Girls, a Calendar Girls-inspired musical which will be hitting the West End in 2017. Topping off his musical theatre hat trick, the stage show that our Let It Shine winners are set to star in has been co-written by Gary himself.

Gary is no stranger to singing competitions. In 1986, when he was just fifteen, he entered a Â鶹Éç Pebble Mill at One Christmas song competition with “Let’s Pray for Christmas,” reaching the semi-finals.

Now singer turned Judge, Gary knows what he’s looking for on Let It Shine, but says that most of all, “I want someone to shock me. I want someone I haven’t even thought of – and that’s the exciting thing.”

Will Gary find the talent he’s searching for? We’ll just have to have a little patience…