Irish Take That Fans

Compiled by Jolene Prendergast 

Howard Paul Donald was born on 28th April 1968 in Droylesden, Manchester to Mum, Kathleen and Dad, Keith.  He is the middle child of two older brothers, Michael and Colin and a younger sister and brother, Samantha and Glenn.  With a mother who was a singer and a father who was a dancer, Howard was always destined to be involved in music in some way.

Having completed an apprenticeship, he took on his first full-time job as a vehicle spray painter, while also doing part-time modelling work in his spare time.  It was while modelling that he came to know an agent, Nigel Martin-Smith, who at the time was putting together the UK's answer to New Kids On The Block.  It was only through the pure luck of being given a half day from his spray-painting job that Howard was able to attend the audition for the boy band and Take That, as we know it, was born.

Howard, along with Jason Orange, soon became the choreographers of the band, between them putting together countless dance routines for the band to perform.  Striking up a close friendship with Gary Barlow, Howard soon began to compose his own songs and it was with the release of the album Everything Changes in 1993 that he was finally given his first lead vocal on the track If This Is Love, which he co-wrote with Dave James.  It was at this point that the band member affectionately known as "The Body", came into his own in the recording studio.  Having an amazing ear for harmonies was one of his many talents.  In 1995, he followed his first lead vocal with Never Forget on the band's third studio album, Nobody Else - a song which has since become Take That's anthem. 

It is widely known that Howard was the one worst hit by Take That's Break-up in 1996.  He has admitted to feeling suicidal at points and said that, like the break-up of a relationship, it took him a while to move on.  However, he was helped in this task by the promise of a solo career of his own and so, shortly after the demise of Take That, he put together a collection of his own written tracks and recorded his own album.  With the album complete, preparations were put in place for the release of the first single, Speak Without Words, including the recording of a video for the track.  Unfortunately after many months of waiting, the single and album were never released.

However, Howard's songwriting skills earned solo artist Kavana a Top 20 hit in the UK charts in 1997 with the song Crazy Chance, which had been written by Howard while still in Take That.  Howard also penned tracks for another solo artist, Adam Rickett, and was responsible for the theme tune to Channel 4's Planet Pop, aired in the late 90s.

Howard's days performing live on stage were far from over even with the close of the Take That era.  He went on to perform alongside Gary Barlow at two of Gary's solo performances, including the Party in the Park in Hyde Park in 1998, where they dueted on Never Forget, as well as showcasing some of his own solo tracks at two separate events in Prague and in Manchester.

Returning to an old love of DJing, Howard soon began to use his celebrity tag to bag himself DJ slots across Europe, most notably in Germany, where he had a huge following from his Take That days.  He is renowned for his eclectic House Music, and unsurprisingly, this has resulted in packed dance-floors when he's on the decks.

On a more personal note, Howard became a father for the first time in 1999, when his daughter, Grace, was born.  His second daughter, Lola, arrived six years later, in 2005.  Howard has professed to a love of fatherhood, and divides his time between Bournemouth, England, where Grace lives, and Munster, Germany, where Lola and Howard's partner, Marie-Christine live.

In late November 2005, Take That reformed to record a documentary which would catalogue their rise to fame and the lives that they persued post Take That, as part of the promotion of a repackaged greatest hits album, subsequently named The Ultimate Collection.  Having been reunited with four out of the original five band members, Howard agreed to take part in a reunion tour the following summer, which in turn led to a new album.  Beautiful World was released in November 2006 and Howard sung two lead vocals on it - the title track Beautiful World and Mancunian Way.

During the band's Beautiful World Tour in Autumn 2007, while in Vienna, Howard was admitted to hospital with a collapsed lung as a result of an injury he sustained while on stage.  Fortunately, his recovery didn't take too long and he briefly rejoined the other three members back on stage in Hamburg, and was finally welcomed back to full health and a full show in Birmingham on the 15th November 2007.

The band have just completed their second come-back album The Circus, which features two lead vocals from Howard, on tracks What is Love? and Here.  He also shares vocals on some of the other tracks.  The band are currently preparing for The Circus Stadium Tour, which opens in Sunderland on 5th June 2009. 

Howard has also scheduled some DJ dates, including one date in Northern Ireland on 28th February!  Please check his official website for more details.

Howard's official website is www.howarddonald.de