Chart Battle: Can Gary Barlow knock Robbie Williams off Number 1?

Star pals

Robbie and Gary have been in the music biz over 20 years – who they don’t know isn’t worth knowing. Robbie’s first star name collaboration was with Kylie Minogue on Number 2 single Kids. He followed that up with a duet with Hollywood megastar Nicole Kidman on Something Stupid – an Official Singles Chart Christmas Number 1. He even got to sing with his hero Frank Sinatra on his first swing album Swing When You’re Winning. On his new album Swings Both Ways, Robbie calls upon some of pop’s biggest names to share the stage with him: Lily Allen, Michael Bublé, Rufus Wainwright, Olly Murs and Kelly Clarkson all make guest appearances. Offstage, Robbie has never shied away from the A-list, dating famous ladies including Nicole Appleton and Rachel Turner and getting involved in a high-profile spat with Liam and Noel Gallagher.
Gary’s got plenty of celebrity pals, but keeps a lower profile. Gary has collaborated with Andrew Lloyd-Webber, duetted with ABBA legend Agnetha Faltskog, sung with Michael Bublé (before Robbie did) and can count Elton John, Chris Martin and, of course, Robbie Williams among his mates.

WHO WINS: This is a toughie. Oh hang on, didn’t Gary actually get asked to organise a birthday party for the Queen? Celebs don’t come much bigger than Her Majesty. This one goes to Gary. Yep, seriously.

Fun factor

Robbie and Gary both had a lighthearted start to their pop career. Their very first video as Take That – Do What U Like – saw the boys strip down to their birthday suits, cover themselves in jelly and have their bottoms mopped by long-legged ‘lovelies’. Since then, Gary has, um, calmed down a bit, but Robbie’s crown as joker of the pop pack has rarely been challenged. Whether he’s dressed up in a leotard in Let Me Entertain You, stripping down to his briefs in Rock DJ or, on his new album, singing songs called Nobody Likes A Fat Popstar, Robbie always comes up with the goods when it comes to the LOLs. Gary’s still got a sense of humour, but he’s a bit drier, leaving the outlandish stuntsand provocative talk to his former bandmate

WHO WINS: For pure japery value, Robbie ‘takes the crown’ this round.

Extra-curricular activities

When you step outside the pop arena, it’s Gary who’s the most active. In between albums and tours with Take That, and his revived solo career of course, Gary has somehow found the time to star as a judge on three series of The X Factor. He certainly likes to keep himself busy: he organised a special concert to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and has organised three Children In Need Rocks concerts for the BBC’s annual charity event. Robbie has preferred to concentrate on his pop career – with staggering success. He has worked on books, dabbled in radio and, excitingly, voiced the hapless dog Dougal in a movie version of classic children’s show The Magic Roundabout. He was also the mastermind behind Soccer Aid, a series of celebrity football matches that raise money for UNICEF. Both busy boys – when do they get time to do DIY or nip to the supermarket? (They're popstars, not your next door neighbours, y'know – Celebrity Ed)

WHO WINS: Robbie sticks to what he does best, but Gary likes to have his fingers in plenty of pies. He’s a productivity marvel. This round goes to Gazza.

Signature song

Robbie has plenty of classic singles under his belt, but if you had to think of the ultimate Robbie tune, what would it be? Angels? She’s The One? Let Me Entertain You? Rudebox? Erm, perhaps not. Gary, too, has more than a few singalong classics under his belt, through his work as Take That’s chief songwriter. From Pray or Back For Good in the old days, to Patience and Rule The World in Take That’s new era – Gaz is not short of a tune. Angels is the track that changed everything for Robbie and, despite never hitting the top spot, is his biggest seller. Angels has given Robbie his ticket into the million sellers’ club. Gary can’t match that as a solo artist – yet – but Rule The World has sold over 970,000 copies (and didn’t get to Number 1 either, fact fans).

WHO WINS: Everyone knows the chorus to Angels – even people who don’t like it. Rule The World rules OK, but we can’t argue with a million seller. Angels is the holiest of holies – Robbie wins.

Chart record

This is the hardest round of all. Totting up Take That’s, Gary’s and Robbie’s chart hits is quite a task. – there's loads of 'em! When it comes to Top 10s, Gary has enjoyed 19 with Take That and six by himself – Let Me Go, new at Number 3 this week, is his 27th. Robbie managed 12 Top 10s with Take That and a staggering 31 on his own (including when he’s been a featured artist). Gary has had eleven Number 1s on the Official Singles Chart with Take That, and three of his own – bringing his chart-topping total to 14. Robbie scored seven Number 1 hits with Take That and seven of his own – making 14 for him too. Are you still with us? Come on, don't drop out now – we're nearly there.

Moving on to the albums, and the stats get even more impressive. As part of Take That. Gary has spent 30 weeks at the top of the Official Albums Chart, with six Number 1s. He topped the charts once alone with Open Road in 1997 and once with the Commonwealth Band in 2012. All but two of Robbie’s albums have topped the charts and six of them have sold over two million copies – I've Been Expecting You, Swing When You're Winning, Greatest Hits, Sing When You're Winning, Life Thru A Lens and Escapology. Four of Take That’s – Beautiful World, Progress (with Robbie), Never Forget – The Ultimate Collection (with Robbie again) and The Circus – have managed the same feat.

WHO WINS: We were tempted to make this a tie, as Gary’s chart record is pretty impressive and outshines many of his peers. But with 11 chart-topping albums (and that 1000th Official Albums Chart Number 1 honour going to Swings Both Ways) and the most solo Number 1 singles of the pair, the gold star goes to Robbie.