Take That star Howard Donald hails ‘power of music’ at Greatest Days premiere

Howard Donald hailed “the power of music” ahead of the release of a new cinematic adaptation of Greatest Days – the hit musical about Take That.

The musician, who performs in the world-famous British pop group alongside Gary Barlow and Mark Owen, said music was able to “touch people’s hearts” and get them through “difficult times”.

Greatest Days is an adaptation of the jukebox musical, originally called The Band, which opened in 2017.

Original cast members for the production were selected through the BBC reality show Let It Shine.

The film, directed by Coky Giedroyc, stars comedian Aisling Bea, Jayde Adams, Alice Lowe and Amaka Okafor – with Barlow, Owen and Donald serving as executive producers.

Speaking at the world premiere of Greatest Days in London on Thursday, Donald told the PA news agency: “It’s obviously amazing.

“Music in general – not just Take That’s music – touches people’s hearts, creates friendships, gets people through difficult times, brings people together.

“The power of music is so, so powerful.”

The feel-good film, featuring many of Take That’s hit songs, follows five best friends who have the night of their lives seeing their favourite boy band in concert.

Twenty-five years later they are reunited and travel to Greece, to see an epic show by the childhood heroes and rekindle their friendships.

Owen said the film was “really special” because Take That had been a “passport to the world” allowing him to have multiple international experiences.

“It’s really special because when we first started it was before the days of social media and all that and there were people that would tell us that they learnt English through our songs,” he told PA.

“It was great, when we were turning up in those days – for me it was a passport to the world, the band because I lived in this little town called Oldham, and I hadn’t really been outside of Oldham.

“Then I joined the band and I started to go, first to London, then eventually we went to Germany, then we went to Japan, then we went to America.

“I was like ‘look at my passport, I’ve got all these stamps’.”

Bea added that the film was also a “love letter” to her character, an NHS nurse called Rachel, who is “passionate” about her job and feels the need to revive the “connection with her friends”.

Thursday’s premiere also featured an exclusive performance by Take That in Leicester Square’s Gardens.

Greatest Days arrives in UK cinemas on June 16.