Personal Life
In 2000 Barlow married Dawn Andrews, who was a dancer on their 1995 Nobody Else Tour. They have three children, Daniel (born 2000), Emily (born 2002) and Daisy (born 2009). On 19 February 2012, Barlow announced that he and his wife Dawn were expecting their fourth child. It was announced by Barlow that their daughter, named Poppy, had been delivered stillborn on 4 August 2012.
Barlow released a short statement reading "Dawn and I are devastated to announce that we’ve lost our baby. Our focus now is giving a beautiful funeral and loving our three children with all our hearts. We’d ask at this painful time that our privacy be respected". Despite the loss of his daughter one week previous, Barlow performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony singing the hit "Rule the World" which drew praise internationally for the strength and determination of Barlow to take to the stage so soon after his tragedy. Due to his family tragedy, it was announced that Barlow would not attend the X Factor press launch.
He revealed in his autobiography that he is a supporter of Liverpool FC, with their anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" being one of the first songs he learned to play on piano. He is also a supporter of rugby league team, Warrington Wolves.
In his autobiography My Take, Barlow mentions he was on the Edgware Road tube train that was one of the targets of the 7 July 2005 London bombings.
In 2009, Barlow named "Don't Give Up", the 1986 duet between Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, as the song that had most inspired him. He said: "I don't think you can listen to this song without feeling inspired, it could save anybody. The lyrics are so inspirational. Specifically I was having a very low moment in the 1990s and the song came on the radio. There have only been a very few times when I've had to pull the car over to listen to a song – this was one of them."
Barlow's father Colin died aged 71 on 15 October 2009. The singer rushed back to his parents' home in Frodsham, Cheshire, and cancelled an engagement to launch his celebrity-packed Children in Need show, while also postponing the launch of the Take That edition of Singstar.
During the 2010 General Election campaign, when the Conservative party announced their intention to encourage musical achievement amongst young people in schools with a competition called School Stars. Barlow appeared at a school staged campaign event and sang "Greatest Day", backing the introduction of the programme by Conservative Party leader, David Cameron.
In June 2012, it was revealed that along with Take That band-mates Howard Donald, Mark Owen and over 1,100 other people; Barlow had invested £26 million in music industry investment schemes. The news attracted controversy when it was understood that the schemes could serve as tax shelters for high net worth people. Barlow was accused of tax avoidance, not tax evasion, however, as the scheme itself is not illegal. Barlow's lawyer responded to the claims, stating he "paid significant tax, and that they believed the schemes were not for tax avoidance purposes but were legitimate commercial enterprises" and that there is no evidence to prove he avoided tax.
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