14 DAY TRIAL // For the first time in 15 years, the boys / men from Take That walked on the same stage together again, to perform their brand new single “The Flood” – at last night’s X Factor results live show.
The announcement that they were putting all differences in the past and reforming for a brand new album came as a complete shock, despite the fact that rumors of a possible Take That reunion had never ceased to make the rounds for the past decade or so.
Now, in what was their first live performance as a 5-piece since Robbie Williams quit, Robbie, Gary, Jason, Mark and Howard proudly took to the stage to sing “The Flood” – and killed it.
As the Daily Mail can confirm, the performance was the best of the night – or even of the entire season, depending on who one asks – with the five acting as if they’d never been apart, let alone bitterly feuding for so many years.
At the beginning of the song, while Robbie sang his solo, he even seemed so moved by the moment (and, undoubtedly, the experience) that he had tears in his eyes. Not that this affected his voice in any way, of course.
Towards the end of the performance, it was no longer a secret that all of them were happy to be back again, doing the thing that put them on the map in the first place.
This was precisely the message they tried to deliver in the brief talk with host Dermot O’Leary, with Robbie calling the Take That comeback the most “magical, fantastic” thing.
“The whole day in the dressing room has been as much fun as being on here,” Gary Barlow said. He and the other bandmembers spoke afterwards about the new album, “Progress,” which is out in stores in the UK today.
Early estimates indicate “Progress” will be the biggest Take That album to date, topping even the records they set in the past with previous albums.
“Take That and Robbie Williams have enjoyed significant chart success over recent years but the demand for this first album with Robbie back in the fold is higher than anything that either of them have achieved before, Julian Monaghan, head of music buying at Amazon.co.uk, says for the Mail.
“It is going to be a massive seller throughout the Christmas period and with the sell-out tour still to follow, it could be at the top end of the music charts for a long time to come,” Monaghan adds.
And Take That weren’t the only reformed band to take to the X Factor stage last night, since Irish boyband Westlife also performed some new material.
Now in a 4-member format, Westlife sang their new song, “Safe.” They too have a brand new album coming out.
Below are the Take That and Westlife performances on the X Factor results live show. Enjoy.
Westlife – “Safe”