Take That

They may have started as a manufactured group - put together by Nigel Martin-Smith in 1989 as Britain's answer to New Kids on the Block - but Take That soon established their own identity after their first hit in 1990 with a cover of the Tavares' It Only Takes A Minute. Slick dance choreography combined with fun personalities and fresh-faced pop made them the biggest British teen idols of their generation, selling over 25m records between 1991-96, including a string of No 1s, including Relight My Fire with Lulu and their biggest hit of all, Gary Barlow's song Back For Good, which topped the charts in 31 different countries. In 1995 Robbie Williams left the band in bitter circumstances and less than a year later their fans were left broken-hearted when Take That announced their official split. They reformed (minus Robbie Williams) in 2005 to pick up where they left off, were finally reunited with Robbie Williams in 2010 and went on to win the BRIT for Best British Group in 2011 (after being nominated several times in previous years).