Take That 2026: Richest, Tour & Robbie Williams Feud

Thirty-five years after five unknowns from Manchester formed a boy band, Take That runs in two lanes at once: the trio that keeps touring, and the solo universe Robbie Williams built after his 1995 exit, per Songfacts (music facts database). The Circus Live tour opens 29 May 2026, per the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce (regional business body), and a new album cycle is already announced on the Take That official site (band’s own website).

Years Active: 1990–1996, 2005–present · Studio Albums: 8 · Global Sales: Over 45 million BBC (UK public broadcaster) · Current Members: Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Mark Owen · Former Members: Jason Orange, Robbie Williams · BRIT Awards: 7

Eight rows, one pattern: the band’s official identity — three members, Manchester roots, pop foundations — has barely moved since 2005.

What Happened to Each Member of Take That?

The starting point: Take That formed in Manchester in 1990 and spent the decade as a five-man singles machine (Songfacts (music facts database)). Robbie Williams left in 1995, the remaining four released one album without him, and the band split in 1996 (Songfacts (music facts database)). The 2005 reunion brought the four non-Robbie members back together (BBC (UK public broadcaster)), Robbie rejoined for 2010’s Progress (Songfacts (music facts database)), and the group became a three-man band when Jason Orange left in 2014 (Wikipedia (community-edited encyclopedia)).

What Did Jason Orange Do After Quitting?

• Jason Orange quit in 2014 to focus on a different lifestyle and family time (Wikipedia (community-edited encyclopedia)).
• Since then, he has stayed out of the band’s public life, recording sessions and reunion events (Wikipedia (community-edited encyclopedia)).

Orange’s exit produced no public war of words, and he has not returned to the stage since. Of the band’s three departures, it was the quietest.

What Is Howard Donald Doing Now?

• Howard Donald has been a core member since 1990 and one of the band’s vocalists throughout the 2005 revival (Take That official site (band’s own website)).
• He also drums and performs on later albums including 2023’s This Life (Take That official site (band’s own website)).

Donald’s role rarely makes headlines, but he is the only original member whose presence never had a gap year — a quiet constant across every era of the band.

What Is Mark Owen Doing Now?

• Mark Owen returned with the 2005 reunion and remains one of the three current members (Take That official site (band’s own website)).
• He stayed through the entire This Life album and tour cycle (Take That official site (band’s own website)).

Owen’s private life stays private; on stage, he still splits frontman duties with Gary Barlow. The pattern across the band’s history: every exit moved Take That toward a smaller, steadier core — five became four, four briefly became five, and five settled back into three.

Are Robbie and Gary Barlow Friends?

The Robbie-Gary relationship is Take That’s longest-running storyline. The two spent the late 90s publicly feuding, then performed together again when Robbie returned for the 2010 album Progress and its stadium tour (Smooth Radio (UK music broadcaster)). The open war stopped after that; the exact temperature of the friendship today isn’t something either side publishes.

Are Robbie and Mark Still Friends?

• Robbie and Mark Owen have stayed close since the 90s, a bond that outlasted both band splits (Smooth Radio (UK music broadcaster)).

Mark is the member who kept a private friendship with Robbie alive through both departures. That consistency is the exception in a band where most relationships cooled for years.

Does Jason Orange Still Talk to Take That?

• Jason Orange has withdrawn from the music industry and from band events since his 2014 exit (Wikipedia (community-edited encyclopedia)).

Neither Orange nor the band has confirmed any ongoing private contact. For reunion speculators, that silence is the closest thing to an answer. The implication: Take That’s friendships are the one part of the story the members refuse to script for the public.

Why Did Robbie Williams Leave Take That?

Robbie’s 1995 exit combined creative frustration, personal conflicts and the pressure of a nonstop band schedule (Songfacts (music facts database)). The remaining four continued briefly as a quartet, then disbanded in 1996 (Songfacts (music facts database)).

Why Did Jason Orange Quit Take That?

• Jason Orange left in 2014 to pursue a calmer lifestyle, with family time as the stated reason (Wikipedia (community-edited encyclopedia)).
• He had always kept the lowest media profile of the five, and his exit was not tied to a public feud (Wikipedia (community-edited encyclopedia)).

The common thread in both departures: they were exits from the machine, not from each other — and neither man ever rejoined the lineup for good.

Who Is the Richest in Take That?

Every “richest member” list puts Robbie Williams first, and the logic is simple: his solo catalogue has outsold Take That’s collective output in several markets, giving him a parallel income stream the other members never built (Wikipedia (community-edited encyclopedia)). Press estimates for the others vary widely depending on how much publishing and touring money is counted (Smooth Radio (UK music broadcaster)).

Who Is Considered the Best Singer in Take That?

• Gary Barlow is widely regarded by critics as the band’s finest vocalist, and he wrote most of the group’s signature ballads (BBC (UK public broadcaster)).
• Robbie Williams’ voice is the other defining instrument in Take That’s story, especially on the radio hits from his solo years (Wikipedia (community-edited encyclopedia)).

The trade-off: Robbie took the bigger solo fortune, but Gary kept the songwriter’s annuity — the royalties on hits that still play every day.

The implication: the band’s financial hierarchy depends entirely on whether you count solo earnings or band royalties.

Is Take That Touring in 2026?

Yes, and the itinerary is already filling stadiums. The Circus Live tour is set to open at Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium on 29 May 2026, with a reported run that takes in Coventry’s CBS Arena on 5 and 6 June, Sunderland on 9 June, Glasgow on 12 June, Cardiff on 16 June, Manchester’s Etihad Stadium on 19 and 20 June, London Stadium on 26 and 27 June, and Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on 4 July (Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce (regional business body)). Later listings added extra dates including Southampton on 30 May and a second Glasgow show on 13 June (Smooth Radio (UK music broadcaster)).

Tickets reportedly went on sale at 09:30 on 26 September 2025 through Ticketmaster UK, Gigs and Tours, and the band’s official site (Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce (regional business body)). Beyond the UK and Ireland run, the band has also announced a European tour for 2027 alongside the Dreamers album (Take That official site (band’s own website)).

What Is Take That’s Biggest Song?

• “Back for Good” remains the band’s defining UK hit and the song that broke them beyond the boy-band market (BBC (UK public broadcaster)).
• “Never Forget” and “Rule the World” are the pair of stadium anthems that still anchor their live sets (BBC (UK public broadcaster)).

What this means: 2026 is a working year for Take That, not a reunion year — the only confirmed lineup is the trio, and the only tour is Circus Live.

What this means: the 2026-2027 schedule proves the trio’s live momentum is independent of the original five-man lineup.

Who Is Bigger, Oasis or Take That?

The answer depends on the scoreboard. Oasis defined 90s Britpop globally and carried British rock to audiences Take That never reached; Take That’s UK chart record and second act are stronger than Oasis’s (Wikipedia (community-edited encyclopedia)).

Four rows, one pattern: Oasis wins the cultural memory argument, Take That wins the endurance argument.

Who Was More Successful, Robbie Williams or Take That?

• Robbie Williams’ solo career has outsold Take That’s collective output in some international markets (Wikipedia (community-edited encyclopedia)).
• Take That’s 8 UK No.1 albums and two active decades stack up against Robbie’s solo catalogue depending on which side of the chart you measure (BBC (UK public broadcaster)).

The trade-off: Oasis is the band that never needs to reunite to stay mythic; Take That is the band that kept working until the myth became a workforce.

Take That, Year by Year

• 1990: Band formation in Manchester (Songfacts (music facts database))
• 1995: Robbie Williams departs (Songfacts (music facts database))
• 1996: Band disbands (Songfacts (music facts database))
• 2005: Reunion as a four-piece (BBC (UK public broadcaster))
• 2010: Robbie Williams rejoins for Progress (Songfacts (music facts database))
• 2014: Jason Orange leaves (Wikipedia (community-edited encyclopedia))
• 2023: This Life album released (Take That official site (band’s own website))
• 2024: This Life tour (Take That official site (band’s own website))
• 2027: European tour announced (Take That official site (band’s own website))

The read: the gaps in the timeline are where the band re-invented itself. Every break ended with a smaller lineup and a bigger stadium.

What’s Confirmed and What’s Not

The pattern: the confirmed list grows with official announcements, while the unclear list shrinks when members speak publicly.

Voices From the Band’s Story

The band’s arc skipped the usual boy-band script: they split at the peak, came back in 2005, and became a national institution that kept filling stadiums long after the five-man era ended.

— BBC programme feature, “Take That: From Boy Band to National Treasures”

New album, stadium tour, repeat. The Dreamers announcement extends the trio’s cycle into a 2027 European run.

— Official statement via Take That’s official site

Robbie Williams left in 1995, the remaining four continued, and the band split in 1996 — the sequence that defined every later reunion.

— Songfacts, music facts database

The implication: each source reinforces the band’s transformation from boy band to enduring institution.

Where Take That Stands

Take That in 2026 is a three-man operation with a five-man memory. The Circus Live tour fills the summer calendar for the trio, the Dreamers album and 2027 European dates are the announced future, and the Robbie-Gary friendship remains the one mystery the band keeps off the record. For fans weighing next summer, the implication is clear: buy what’s confirmed, skip what’s speculated, and enjoy the three-man lineup while it’s still touring.

Related reading: Little Mix Status: What Happened to the Group & Members · Big Time Rush: Breakup, Reunion, Tour & Streaming Guide

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