Gary Barlow suffered the biggest low when his solo career hit a wall in the late ’90s and he lost the ability to write songs.

After departing Take That, the star released Open Road in 1997 and Twelve Months, Eleven Days in 1999.

However, despite his debut topping the charts, neither record managed to live up to the highs of bandmate Robbie Williams’ debut LP, Life Thru A Lens, which moved 2,105,561 copies, and Gary’s confidence hit rock bottom.

Speaking to Sirius XM , the Incredible singer reflected on being dropped by his record label at, at the age of 31, being left “angry” at where his career had taken him.

Admitting he “hated” those years, Gary recalled: “I spent so long feeling angry, with myself, with the press, my management – even Robbie, sometimes.

“My link to music is the only thing that keeps me on an even keel, I love it so much, but it’d become my enemy. That was the worst thing: I’d lost my connection to it.”

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After releasing his first album, Open Road, Gary signed with Clive Davis’ Arista label and moved to the US. However, their working relationship didn’t gel, and he failed to break the States.

He added: “I left the UK in the mid 90s, high on confidence after writing the then song of my career, Back For Good, and I toured the world for five years.

“I was in the best shape. I then signed for someone who had a different idea

“I actually lost pretty much everything and forgot how to write a song,” lamented Gary.

After an extended hiatus, the musician finally reunited with his Take That bandmates Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Jason Orange in 2005 and their comeback album, Beautiful World, released the following year, was a hit.

Gary dropped his most recent album, Music Played by Humans, in 2020, featuring collaborations with stars including Michael Bublé, Sebastián Yatra, Barry Manilow, Alesha Dixon and Beverley Knight.

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Music Played By Humans is available on download, CD and vinyl now.