"Hold Up a Light" is the fifth and final single from

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

group

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singe ...

's fifth studio album, '' The Circus''. It was released to promote Take That's first live album '' The Greatest Day – Take That Presents: The Circus Live''.

Background

"Hold Up a Light" was written by band members

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

Howard Donald Howard Paul Donald (born 28 April 1968) is an English singer, songwriter, drummer, pianist, dancer and record producer. He is a member of English pop-group Take That. Donald was also judge on the German reality talent show ''Got to Dance'' from ...

Jason Orange Jason Thomas Orange (born 10 July 1970) is an English former singer and dancer, known for being a member of Take That. He departed from the group in September 2014. Early life Jason Thomas Orange was born on 10 July 1970 in Manchester, Lancashi ...

Mark Owen Mark Owen (born 27 January 1972) is an English singer and songwriter best known for being a member of pop group and band Take That; as of 2019, the group have sold 14 million albums and 11.4 million singles in the UK. In Owen's solo career, he ...

, along with live band members

Jamie Norton Jamie Norton is a British musician and songwriter performing under the moniker of Fougère since 2020. He has written songs with Take That including the 2009 hit ''Hold Up a Light''. In April 2019, Norton and Take That's Mark Owen released a st ...

and Ben Mark. It was released to radio stations and as a digital download on 14 December 2009. It features Owen on lead vocals, with Barlow taking a partial lead. The song was released as a single after its successful reception from fans whilst on tour. The physical version of the single was available to buy exclusively at stalls around the stadium during their Circus Tour, as well as for a short period of time through Take That's official website. The song charted at number 8 on the UK Airplay Charts and at number 123 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The song also featured on Take That's

Progress Live Progress Live was the eighth concert tour by British pop group Take That. The tour, sponsored by Samsung, supported their sixth studio album, ''Progress'' as they visited major cities in the UK and Europe. It was the first tour to feature all f ...

tour, where they performed it together before reuniting with

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

Critical reception

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

said the song was designed "to encourage a lighters-aloft moment."

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

described the track as "perky" and "magical".

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

noted: " 'Hold Up a Light', led by Mark Owen, is a fist-pumping anthem that will require a lot of ticker tape when played live."

Music video

The official music video for "Hold Up a Light" was premiered on ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

''. The video sees the four band members performing the song live on the Wembley leg of their record breaking ''Circus Tour''.

Personnel

– lead vocals, backing vocals *

– backing vocals *

– backing vocals

Track listing

# "Hold Up a Light" – 4:28 # "Hold Up a Light" (live at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

) – 4:30

Chart positions

References

2009 singles Take That songs Songs written by Gary Barlow Songs written by Jason Orange Songs written by Howard Donald Songs written by Mark Owen Songs written by Jamie Norton Songs written by Ben Mark 2008 songs {{2000s-pop-single-stub