Gary Barlow OBE (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, pianist, composer and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of British pop-group Take That and served as head judge on series 8, 9 and 10 of The X Factor UK. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters, having written fourteen Number 1 singles and twenty four top 10 hits. He has had three Number 1 singles, six top 10 singles and two Number 1 albums as a solo artist, and has had seventeen top 5 hits, twelve Number 1 singles and seven Number 1 albums with Take That. He is also a six-time recipient of the Ivor Novello Award and has sold over 50 million records worldwide. He was appointed an OBE in 2012 for services to music and charity.