Take That have reached the coveted number one spot on the UK Official Singles Chart with their first single as a trio. The single These Days knocked Band Aid 30's charity single Do They Know It's Christmas? from the top of the charts just one week after it became the fastest-selling single of 2014.
Gary Barlow shared a picture on Twitter with his bandmates Mark Owen and Howard Donald to thank fans for their support. The 43-year-old held a sign saying: "'These Days' Number 1!!! Thank you so much. xxx" He also told a fan that they celebrated their chart success with a "group hug".
These Days sold just 2,500 more copies than Band Aid 30, Sir Bob Geldof's song to help fight Ebola in West Africa, which features big names including Bono, One Direction and Coldplay. The track is Take That's 12th number one single, and their first since bandmate Jason Orange announced he was leaving the band at the end of September.
A statement posted on Take That's website broke the news, which saddened fans around the world. Jason confirmed that he didn't want to commit to recording and promoting a new record, adding: "I have spent some of the best years of my life with Take That and I'd like to thank everyone who has been a part of my journey, including my band mates, who I feel are like brothers to me."
Talking of the shock departure to Chris Evans, Gary said: "We'd been promising our fans for two years now 'this recrod's coming', and like Mark said, we got to the beginning of the year and we said to J 'Listen, we've got to start this record'. "We waited and waited until the last point and we're rushing everything now because we finally got a decision and we have to respect that.
"We want to move forward as a three right now." The band will surely hope to match their chart-topping success with their seventh studio album III, which is out now.