Gary Barlow looking forward to Wolverhampton Civic concert

Tickets for Gary Barlow's whistle-stop UK tour sold out in record time. The singer hit the road back in November, taking in six towns and cities last month.

He scheduled a further five dates for December, including Sunday's sold-out gig at Wolverhampton Civic Hall, and he'll play just five more in January.

When tickets went on sale, Barlow admitted he was very excited about playing to his fans: "I'm really excited about these dates. Playing live is my favourite thing and I haven't played a solo show for over a year now. Last year playing two London shows was brilliant, we all had such a good time, so I thought 'right, let's get out and see the rest of the country'."

Barlow is one of the hardest-working performers in showbusiness and in addition to his commitments to Take That and the X Factor, he also found time to support the Little Noise Sessions, which raise funds and awareness for Mencap.

The sessions, which took place at the St John-at-Hackney Church in November, were supported by Toshiba, and Gary played to 1,200 fans, giving his followers an unrivalled opportunity to see him in an intimate setting.

The star was also part of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds project, which recently visited Birmingham. Wayne said: "It was great working with Gary Barlow. I contacted him through Jason Donovan, because they are good friends and their children go to the same school. He loved the idea and we went for lunch.

"After that, it was simple. It just clicked. We allocated 36 hours to record and we managed to complete everything in just eight. It was a great session. Gary is a great professional."

Barlow is one of the nation's greatest ever singer/songwriters and has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. He is a six-time recipient of the Ivor Novello Award and has written 12 number one singles.

He has enjoyed seven number one albums with Take That and received the OBE earlier this year for his services to the music industry and charity. He is such a popular artist that tickets for his present tour, which went on sale on October 19, sold out more quickly than those for The Rolling Stones' comeback dates. It was also revealed by ticket marketplace SeatWave that Gary Barlow's solo shows had sold six times more tickets than Robbie Williams' solo concerts, despite being on sale for less time.

Barlow's talent as a songwriter is widely recognised and in 2009 he was voted the greatest British songwriter of all time, following a OnePoll survey of 3,000 people. John Lennon was second and Sir Paul McCartney was third.

Barlow has also become an unofficial laureate songwriter, having been asked to pen songs for the Queen. Her Majesty asked Barlow to organise her 86th birthday and her Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012.

A source said: "Her Majesty has been made well aware of his charity work and the events he has put together. She knows that Gary has got the power to pull in the big names across the music industry and to ensure it's a party to match the occasion."

Barlow was proud of his commitment to the event, bringing together an amazing line-up of world-class artists for one of the biggest and most exciting live music shows in recent years.

By Andy Richardson