Gary Barlow admits he is still ‘angry’ about the tragic death of his daughter Poppy and confesses he feared it would lead to the end of his marriage
Gary Barlow has admitted he is still ‘angry’ over the tragic death of his daughter Poppy and fears her death could mean the end of his marriage to wife Dawn.
Poppy was tragically stillborn on August 4, 2012, just days before the Take That singer, 53, was due to perform at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympics.
And the musician has now admitted that he was never able to come to terms with the loss of his fourth child as he confessed: ‘I haven’t really found peace with it yet.’
Gary spoke candidly about his family tragedy on The Imperfects podcast, explaining: “I don’t talk about this in detail and I literally don’t because I’m still kind of figuring it out.
‘My wife’s emotions were completely different from mine. I’ve been angry about that for a long time, I haven’t really come to terms with it yet.’
Gary Barlow has admitted he is still ‘angry’ over the tragic death of his daughter Poppy after she was born stillborn on August 4, 2012.
Speaking on the Imperfect Podcast, the musician said he was never able to come to terms with the loss of his fourth child and feared her death would mean the end of his marriage to wife Dawn (pictured in 2012).
Gary also revealed he feared Poppy’s death would lead to him and Dawn, 54, splitting due to the difficult loss, but instead added that the pair grew closer as a couple.
He continued: ‘We had a worrying statistic when it happened to us: About 95 percent of couples split up when something like this happened to them.
‘I think it comes down to the fact that men deal with it differently than women. My wife is doing much better than me, she is a much stronger person than me. She’s been really great the whole time.”
The couple are also parents to Daniel, 22, Emily, 19, and Daisy, 13, while he also opened up about how it affects them.
‘We are one of the lucky couples because it has brought us closer together and we have three other children and that has helped us.
‘The youngest was not bothered by it at all, but the oldest two still talk about it a lot. It’s an extremely complex issue that none of us should ever have to go through.
‘I think it has made me stronger, I think so. I think things like that have to be done, don’t you? There was definitely a point where I wondered if we would ever get back to the level we were before, but I think we are there.”
After Poppy’s death, Gary wrote the song Let Me Go as a tribute to his daughter, as he admitted that he had used his music to find some solace in his grief.
He explained: ‘We had a worrying statistic when it happened to us: about 95 percent of couples split up when something like this happened to them… We are one of the lucky couples because it has brought us closer and closer together. together and we have three other children and that has helped us’
After Poppy’s death, Gary wrote the song Let Me Go as a tribute to his daughter, as he admitted that he had used his music to find some solace in his grief.
“For me, the way I deal with most things in life is usually don’t talk about it, I write music. I have a lot of music that keeps her alive for me every night.
‘When I see the audience singing along, that’s life for me, that’s what she brought and it’s right here in front of me and it happens a few times a week on stage and that’s how I keep her close to me. My wife uses another set of techniques.”
Gushing over Dawn’s power, Gary added: ‘She’s really special, very special. She is a no-nonsense mother. She raised our children, I didn’t. I do this job that’s fucking all-encompassing, I travel all over the world, she left her job to raise our kids.
“Leave her dreams aside and I still have to do mine. She did a fantastic job. Everyone who meets our children always says how wonderful they are. She’s a wonderful woman, she’s quite strict with me, I have to be honest.’
Gary previously spoke about the moment they heard of Poppy’s death in 2022: ‘It’s August 2012, Dawn has had a last minute check-up. Only four days to go, we are all so excited. The name is on the nursery, the Moses basket, the crib, clothes all over the floor, waiting for the main player to arrive.
“Dawn is calling and something is wrong. This is one of those calls where you live a lifetime in a second.
‘We all have coping mechanisms, in the past there was bulimia and the hallelujahs in the toilet. I’m not saying just running will cure it, but those were my coping mechanisms. I solved this by turning into a damn Inspector Gadget.”
He explained that he realized he would have to see stillborn Poppy born after Dawn was induced – but added that despite being scared of it, he found the moment magical.
He added that in the days and weeks after Poppy was born, he saw a strength in his wife that he found inspiring.
If this article has affected you, please call the stillbirth and neonatal care charity SANDs on 0808 164 3332 or visit www.sands.org.uk.