Gary Barlow has cancelled Take That’s 30th anniversary world tour plans due to a family illness.
Barlow, 47, and band mates Mark Owen, 46, and Howard Donald, 50, wanted to go on a global arena tour beginning in April, with dates planned in Australia and South America.
But the group will instead remain in Europe so Barlow can stay close to home after a loved one fell ill.
He told the Daily Mirror: “We had a big ambition next year to do a world tour, but I have actually got an illness in my family and it means I am not going to travel for the next two years extensively.
“So all the plans for South America and Australia that were coming off…
“I thank my two band mates who have been so very understanding, but I just have to be at home – I cannot leave.
“I didn’t want people getting frustrated that we’re not getting out there. I’m a little stuck at the moment, so please be understanding.”
Barlow will spend time next year writing a film with Sir Tim Rice, the revered lyricists who wrote musicals including Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita.
The news comes after former Take That member and X Factor judge Robbie Williams revealed his plans to join the band on tour.
Speaking earlier this month, Williams also said he wanted to try to bring former band mate Jason Orange on board.
He told Magic Radio: “As long as we stay healthy, I’m sure there’ll be another moment where we all get together. Maybe we can coax Jason back, who knows?
“We shall have to see. But definitely, definitely in the future. We will all ride again. Next year when the boys are on tour, I’m on tour too.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here