[3] Growing up, Owen lived in a small council house with his mother Mary, his father Keith, brother Daniel, and sister Tracey in Oldham.

Owen was educated at Holy Rosary Primary and St Augustine's Catholic Schools, both in Oldham.

[4] He had little interest in music and played football briefly for Chadderton F.C.,[5] in addition to having trials at Manchester United and Rochdale.

[7] After selecting Gary Barlow as the group's lead singer in 1989, Nigel Martin-Smith introduced Owen, Howard Donald, Jason Orange and finally Robbie Williams to the fold.

Although Owen's vocal contributions were limited in Take That's original run, he was arguably the most popular member of the group, on account of his boyish good looks and sweet demeanour,[11] regularly earning awards such as Smash Hits' "Most Fanciable Male in the World" and "Best Haircut".

Following this success and renewed interest, Take That experienced a career renaissance in 2005 when the post-Williams line-up reformed for a sell-out stadium tour.

[15] It was announced that the group was in the process of writing Take That's sixth studio album, set for release in late 2010.

Due to unprecedented high public demand for tickets, ticketmaster websites across the UK and Ireland crashed and all initial tour dates sold out in under 15 minutes.

On the first day of the release of Progress, the album sold over 235,000 copies across the UK, making it the fastest selling record of the century.

[22] To date Progress has sold 2.4 million copies in the UK[23] and has achieved similar chart success across Europe.

Owen won the second series of Celebrity Big Brother in November 2002 with 77% of the public vote against television presenter Les Dennis.

After being invited to perform on stage with Robbie Williams at Knebworth, he returned to the spotlight and signed a deal with Island/Universal Records.

He released his third solo album, How the Mighty Fall on 18 April 2005, which was recorded at Sunset Studios, Los Angeles, in 2004.

Owen said that it was more "his" album than the last couple because he had had full control over every aspect of the record and it was a true representation of where he was in his life.

Although it did not chart well, his second single was added to the European soundtrack of the American film Mr. and Mrs. Smith starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

"[25] NME announced in October 2012 that Owen had finished recording the album and planned to tour the following spring.

The album was then mixed in New York at the Electric Lady Studios by Michael Brauer, Charlie Russell, Ben Mark and Jamie Norton.

He confirmed the album would feature a collaboration with singer-songwriter Ren Harvieu, and production from Alt-J producer Charlie Russell.

On 1 May 2013, Owen uploaded new photographs and videos to his official website, including the deluxe album artwork, which depicts him in a white room, scribbling on the wall, whilst wearing a dapper hat.

It's said the singer will be performing at the Isle of Wight Festival in June,[31][32] It is early days, but he is [...] toying with the idea of another solo record.

"[33][34] On 13 May 2022, Owen officially announced on his social media platforms that he was making a new record, but shared no further details at the time.

Owen performed the song at the National Lottery Big Jubilee party, along with the Take That hit "Shine".

[49] In March 2010, in the midst of recording for Progress, Owen publicly admitted to having multiple affairs, one of which lasted from late 2004 until September 2009, and an alcohol problem.

[57] In 2024 Owen released a coffee blend named 'Shine' in collaboration with Change Please, a social enterprise aiming to tackle homelessness.