Spare a thought for Take That fans today, for there is a large Orange-shaped hole in their hearts. After the joyous reunion of 2006, there is now only heartbreak and pain. Jason Orange, Take That’s no-one-is-ever-quite-sure-what, has officially quit the band.
In a statement released via Take That’s official website, the 44-year-old Orange said: “At a band meeting last week I confirmed to Mark [Owen], Gary [Barlow] and Howard [Donald] that I do not wish to commit to recording and promoting a new album.
“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. Most especially my gratitude goes to all of the good and kind, beautiful and ever-loyal fans of the band, without whom none of this could have been possible. Thank you.”
The remaining three band members – the other one, I think Robbie was his name, left (again) long ago – have stoically agreed to continue but fans will understand that this is the end of Take That as they know it. It is a time for mourning.
For though Orange was neither the musical brains (Barlow) nor the adrenaline shot of charisma (Robbie Williams and Mark Owen) behind the band’s success, he nonetheless embodied that fun-loving, silly and amusingly self-aware ethos that has ensured lasting, generation-spanning popularity, seven UK number one albums and hundreds of millions of worldwide record sales.
Make no mistake, Orange can sing, he can dance and he certainly knows his way around a dry-ice-infused key change, but it was the cohesion and solidity he brought to the band, that sense of understated decency, which will be impossible to replace. It simply isn’t possible for each and every member of a band to be centre stage all of the time. Talented musicians prepared to take more of a backseat are rare and invaluable.
One only needs to read the statement released by the three remaining band members to fully appreciate just how highly he was valued. “This is a sad day for us,” it reads. “Jason leaving is a huge loss both professionally and even more so personally.
“Jason’s energy and belief in what this band could achieve has made it what it is today, and we’ll forever be grateful for his enthusiasm, dedication and inspiration over the years.”
When Robbie Williams quit the band in 1995, the sense was that he no longer fitted into the gang – had he become too ego-driven to share the stage with four others? Certainly that was never the case with Orange, a famously private man (though some of his outfits have been a very public disaster).
The cynic might argue that Orange should have been grateful to be part of Take That at all – one wag on Twitter posted: “It must have been pretty awkward when Jason Orange quit the band and the other members had to ask if he had even been in it” – but he had every right to be up on the stage.
Those claiming that Orange was a mere passenger in Take That would do well to consider that, throughout musical history, similar accusations have been levelled at The Beatles’ Ringo Starr, Wham!’s Andrew Ridgeley and, more recently, One Direction’s Niall Horan. To achieve success, a band must always be more than the sum of its parts. Too many egos is a recipe for disaster, as bands such as Guns N’ Roses and Oasis have discovered.
Orange was integral to the success of Take That, he will be much missed as the band embark on a new album and tour – but the fans will Never Forget.
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