Howard Donald
Howard Paul Donald (born 28 April 1968) is an English singer, songwriter, drummer, pianist, dancer, DJ and record producer. He is a member of the pop group Take That. He was also judge on the German reality talent show Got to Dance from 2013 to 2014, during a Take That-hiatus. Donald was educated at Littlemoss High School in Droylsden, gaining no GCSEs, and trained for three years as a vehicle painter, on the Youth Training Scheme (YTS). A budding DJ, his musical interests were largely informed by his brother Colin's vinyl collection, and included electronic acts such as Kraftwerk, John Foxx, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) and Gary Numan. As a teenager Donald became interested in dancing and frequented the burgeoning breakdancing circuit in the Greater Manchester area, where he would first come into contact with future bandmate Jason Orange. He auditioned for Nigel Martin-Smith's new boy band project at his office in Manchester and was selected. The group was eventually named Take That. Nigel Martin-Smith recruited Donald, along with Gary Barlow, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams to form a British boyband, Take That. The band enjoyed five years of success until Williams left in 1995, leaving them to carry on as a quartet. Along with Orange, Donald featured less on lead vocals than Barlow, Owen and Williams during the band's first era, however did sing lead vocal on the single "Never Forget", which reached No. 1 in the UK in 1995. In early 1996, Donald's bandmates Barlow, Owen and Orange came to the difficult decision that Take That was to split. They told Donald, who was not happy, but went along with their decision. Following the split, Donald attempted a solo career, recording an unreleased single, "Speak Without Words", and returned to DJing. In the 2005 documentary Take That: For the Record, Donald confessed to being unstable enough to have the intention of committing suicide by drowning himself in the River Thames, not long after the split. In 2005, Take That reformed and announced a reunion tour, The Ultimate Tour in the summer of 2006, following the release of their Greatest Hits album, Never Forget: The Ultimate Collection. The tour was followed in late 2006 by their first studio album since 1995, Beautiful World, and from it they achieved two number ones in "Patience" and "Shine". Beautiful World featured Donald on lead vocals on two tracks; "Beautiful World" and "Mancunian Way". The song "Mancunian Way" is a tribute to the band's hometown of Manchester. On the 2008 Take That album The Circus, Donald sang lead on two tracks, "What Is Love" and "Here". He also shared lead vocals with the rest of the band on the album's opening track, "The Garden". On the 2010 Take That album Progress, Donald sang lead vocals on the track "Affirmation". He also played drums on several songs on the Progress album and mixed a B-side track for the second single "Kidz" called "Revenge of the Kidz". On the 2017 Take That album Wonderland, Donald sang lead vocals on "Every Revolution". In 2021, Donald appeared on The Masked Dancer, masked as Zip. He reached the final and was unmasked in third place. Donald was one of the judges on a dancing show Got to Dance in Germany from 2013 to 2014. ... Source: Article "Howard Donald" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Known For
Credits
- 2024 · Take That: This Life – Live In Concert as Himself
- 2023 · Take That - Live at the Capital's Jingle Bell Ball 2023 as Self
- 2023 · Radio 2 In Concert Take That as Self
- 2023 · Greatest Days as Train Busker
- 2023 · The Coronation Concert as Self
- 2020 · Michael McIntyre's The Wheel as Self - Expert
- 2019 · Take That : Greatest Hits Live as Self
- 2019 · Shopping with Keith Lemon as Self - Special Guest
- 2019 · Take That: Odyssey (Greatest Hits Live) as Self
- 2018 · Take That: We've Come a Long Way as Self
- 2017 · Take That: Wonderland Live from the O2 as Self
- 2017 · One Love Manchester as Self
- 2017 · An Evening with Take That as Self
- 2016 · Robbie Williams: BRITs Icon as Self
- 2015 · Take That: These Days On Tour as Self
- 2015 · Take That Live at Apple Music Festival as Self
- 2015 · Take That Live 2015 as Self
- 2015 · The 90s: Ten Years That Changed the World as Self (archive footage)
- 2014 · Die Helene Fischer Show 2014 as Self - Take That
- 2012 · London 2012 Olympic Closing Ceremony: A Symphony of British Music as Self - Take That
- 2011 · Take That: Progress Live as Self
- 2010 · Take That: Look Back, Don't Stare as Self
- 2010 · Take That: The Circus Live as Self
- 2009 · Take That: In Session At Abbey Road as Self
- 2009 · Children in Need Rocks the Royal Albert Hall as Self
- 2009 · Take That: Where Did It All Go Right ? as Self
- 2009 · Skavlan as Self - Guest
- 2008 · Take That: Come To Town as Self
- 2008 · Celebrity Juice as Self
- 2008 · Take That - Beautiful World Live as Self
- 2008 · Take That: The Journey as Self
- 2007 · Concert for Diana as Self - Take That
- 2007 · Take That: Live At Primavera, Madrid as Self
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self - Musical Guest
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self - Take That
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2006 · An Audience with Take That as Self
- 2006 · Take That: The Ultimate Tour as Self
- 2006 · Take That: The Ultimate Story as Self
- 2006 · Take That: For the Record as Self
- 2005 · Take That - Never Forget - The Ultimate Collection as Self (archive footage)
- 2004 · The Truth About Take That as Self
- 2002 · Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway as Self - Performer
- 1995 · Take That: Nobody Else - The Movie as Self
- 1995 · Take That - Hometown: Live at Manchester G-Mex as Self
- 1994 · Take That - Live in Berlin as Self
- 1994 · Take That: Everything Changes as Self
- 1994 · Tape That as Self
- 1993 · Take That: The Party - Live at Wembley as Self
- 1993 · Take That Away! as Self
- 1992 · Take That & Party as Self
- 1989 · Blauer Panther as Self
- 1988 · LIVE with Kelly and Mark as Self
- 1987 · Le monde est à vous as Self - Take That
- 1978 · An Audience with... as Self
- 1964 · Top of the Pops as Self - Host
- Future · Take That's Greatest Days: 30 Years in the Making as Himself
- Future · Take That as Self
- Future · Take That at the BBC as Himself
- Future · In Session At Abbey Road as Self