Kent Take That fans campaign to get Gary Barlow to sing at their birthday parties
Published: 00:01, 21 March 2016
Gary Barlow superfans are hoping for a birthday they will Never Forget by convincing he star to perform at their birthdays.
Atty Hussein is among die-hard Take That fans across the country hoping to get the star to appear at her milestone celebration.
After surprising brides at their weddings last year, Barlow has now offered to sing at landmark birthdays.
He Tweeted last week: “If you have a milestone birthday this year start your campaign now, 21, 30, 40, 60, 110! I’ll come sing at your party.”
Within minutes of the tweet going out Atty, who turns 40 in November, and her friends were on the case.
She said: “My best friend messaged me and said ‘You’ve got to do it’. My friends and I got on our phones straight away and started planning our campaign.
“I’ve been organising my party since October last year. If you think of a wedding, it is going to be the equivalent of that, because I’m never getting married. So it is going to be big anyway, but Gary would add something really special.”
Atty has been a Take That fan since she was 14 and saw the boyband in its very early days performing at an under 18s nightclub.
The retail consultant, who even keeps a cardboard cut-out of the star in her St Mary’s Island home, said: “I have followed him throughout his career. I went to 21 of 37 dates of the tour last year.”
When asked why she loved Barlow so much, Atty said: “I’ve met him several times and he has got a wicked sense of humour. He would do anything for his fans and he is really talented.”
Atty, of The Causeway, has lost count of the number of times she has seen Barlow perform but she said having him at her birthday bash would be a dream come true.
She added: “If he were to walk into my birthday I would probably cry. Or scream.”
Another Take That-mad mum rallying friends and family behind a campaign is Jo Chapman, of Morris Close in Boughton Monchelsea.
Jo, who wants Barlow to perform at her 40th, has been putting posters up in her car, on lampposts and friends’ windows in her bid to get the singer to appear on her milestone day.
The superfan has also taken to social media to beg the star to come to Maidstone, on May 14 – estimating she tweets him up to 40 times a day.
She says it would be her greatest day, and one she would never forget.
Last year the Take That frontman hit the headlines for turning up unannounced to sing at people’s weddings. But this month he told his 4.2m Twitter followers 2016 would be a year for surprising fans on their birthdays instead.
The mum-of-three said: “I’ve been a Take That fan since they started in 1990 and have loved them ever since.
“I’ve wanted to meet Gary Barlow for years so when I saw he was planning on singing at people’s birthdays I thought ‘now is my chance’.
“I like everything about him, he’s the best man in the world. He’s so kind hearted I love him and his music. And my children are nearly as obsessed as me.”
Mrs Chapman, who even has a ginger cat called Barlow, said her dream would be for Gary to sing her favourite song Everything Changes at her party.
She saw her first live Take That gig at Wembley Arena in 1994.
Since then she has been to a total of 10 of the band’s concerts, including the same tour twice last year, and two of Gary Barlow’s solo ones.
She confesses to have cried when they split up in 1996, and again when they reformed in 2005.
“It would mean absolutely everything if he turned up, I’d probably pass out and miss the whole thing,” she said. “It would be the best present I could ask for.”
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Jenni Horn