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Mark Anthony Patrick Owen (born 27 January 1972 in Lancashire, England) is an English singer-songwriter from Oldham and a founding member of pop group Take That. The band were successful during the early 1990s and have enjoyed more success since their reunion in 2005.

[edit] Early life

Owen lived in a small council house with his mother Mary, his father Keith, brother Daniel and sister Tracy in Oldham, Greater Manchester. His father was a decorator, later getting a job at a police station. His mother was a supervisor in a bakery in Oldham. Owen was educated at the Holy Rosary Primary and St Augustine's Catholic School in Oldham. Owen's first ambition was to be a pilot, but he became very interested in football. He starred in school plays but showed no interest in music at school, preferring football. He played for Chadderton F.C. for a brief period. He also had trials for Manchester United, Huddersfield Town and Rochdale, but damaged his groin so was unable to continue. He finished school with 6 GCSEs in Physics, Art, RE, Economics, Maths and English. He is an avid supporter of Liverpool F.C., as is Gary Barlow, another member of Take That.

[edit] Take That

Take That formed in 1990 and during his time with Take That, Owen sang lead vocals on "Babe", which was released in December 1993 from the Everything Changes album. It reached number one in the UK, but was knocked off the top spot at Christmas by Mr Blobby . He also sang lead vocals on "The Day After Tomorrow" from the Nobody Else. On 13 February 1996 it was officially announced that it was the end of Take That.

Take That reformed in 2005 and Owen completed a critically acclaimed sell-out tour entitled The Ultimate Tour. The band embarked on The Beautiful World Tour in 2007, which proved another sell-out success. Before the start of the tour the band released an album entitled Beautiful World. In the early days of Take That, Owen was never keen to write songs for the band and the work was normally left to Gary, but ever since the comeback he, along with Jason Orange and Howard Donald, has started composing so now the album is a joint effort from all four of the boys. Three singles were released off the album in the UK: Patience (in 2006), Shine (in 2007), which both reached number one in the charts, and I'd Wait for Life in June 2007, which peaked at number 17 due to lack of promotion before their tour. A DVD of the concert tour was released after the climax of the tour.

In 2008 it was announced that the band were to start production on a follow up to Beautiful World. Preceding the album, the single "Greatest Day" was released on 24 November 2008. The album The Circus was released on 1 December in the UK. The album featured Owen taking lead vocals on the songs "Hello", "Julie", "Up All Night" and "Hold Up A Light", and sharing lead vocals on the songs "The Garden" and "Said It All".

[edit] Solo career

After Take That split, Owen became the first of the band's ex-members to release a solo record. He reached number three in the UK Singles Chart with his debut single, "Child".^[1] His second single, "Clementine", also went to number three.^[1] In 1997 his album Green Man was released, charting at a number 33. After another single, "I Am What I Am", charted at number 29, Owen was dropped by BMG Records in late 1997.

Owen won the second series of Celebrity Big Brother in November 2002 with 77% of the public vote against television presenter Les Dennis. After being invited to perform on stage with Robbie Williams at Knebworth, he returned to the spotlight and signed a deal with Island/Universal Records. In August 2003, Owen returned to the charts with the Top 5 hit, "Four Minute Warning", which remained in the Top 40 for eight weeks. His second album, In Your Own Time, was released in November 2003, entering the charts at number 59. After a second single, "Alone Without You", charted at number 26, Owen was dropped by Island/Universal Records.

In April 2004 he established his own record company, Sedna Records. He released his third solo album, How the Mighty Fall in 2005, which was recorded at Sunset Studios, Los Angeles in 2004. In February 2006 he released "Hail Mary" as a single from the album.

Although Owen had enjoyed every second of the success since Take That's reunion, he is planning on resuming his own career. Owen is planning on releasing solo material and being back on stage with his own band.^[2]

[edit] Personal life

Owen dated art student Joanna Kelly after leaving Take That. He then dated and lived with actress, Chloe Bailey, in the Lake District.On 8th November 2009, Owen married his girlfriend, Emma Ferguson in Cawdor, Scotland. They have two children - Elwood Jack (born 19th August 2006) and Willow Rose (born 25th November 2008).

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• 1996 Green Man UK #33
• 2003 In Your Own Time UK #59
• 2005 How the Mighty Fall

^[1]

[edit] Singles

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Danish discography
• [1]