Gary Barlow is grateful he and Take That bandmates Mark Owen and Howard Donald are good pals on and off the stage.
The singer, who debuted in the group in the early ’90s alongside former members Robbie Williams and Jason Orange, tells the Conversations podcast it’s a “good sign” Take That have “lasted this long”.
Admitting he’s “lucky” to be surrounded by such a “happy group of guys,” the Back For Good singer explains: “The one thing I’ve learned after all these years is that most bands are unhappy.
“If there’s one thing I can be thankful for, it’s that on the whole, we’re such a happy group of guys. I don’t know whether we’ve just got really lucky or we’ve grown into the shoes we now wear, or we put our efforts somewhere else. But when we’re together, we love a lot.
“It must have been years ago when we had any kind of fallout. Just good guys, nice people to be around. We’ve lasted this long and it’s a good sign.”
And Gary, who is currently working on solo projects outside of the Take That realm, hopes the band will “always” be in his life as it’s such a “great place to be”.
“It’s like, ‘If all else fails, go back to the band’. Because it’s a happy place, everyone loves it,” he adds.
“That’s my experience of being in the band and why I hope it’s always going to be in my life. We love it, we all started together in 1989 and here we are, still doing it. And it’s a great place to be.”
Gary, who released his fifth solo album ‘Music Played by Humans‘ last year, recently took to social media to tease his latest venture, admitting he’s “already scared of the outcome”.
Alongside a clip of himself working on new music, he penned: “I’m working on an extremely in-depth and complicated project right now. It’s pushed me to places I’d forgotten existed.
“Even though I’m only about half way through this project I’m already scared of the outcome.
“There was a moment I even thought of jumping ship and ditching the idea completely,” continued Gary. “All those doubts were of course in my head because now I’m at a point where I’m starting to feel proud of myself. I’m learning new skills.
“Activating the brain to memorise and problem solve. It’s been tough but b**ody hell it’s exciting.”
He concluded: “I’m hoping to get this piece on a stage in 2022.”
The Sing hitmaker didn’t share any further details about the project, including whether its a solo venture or part of a Take That project.