Touring Take That - back for good?

NEWCASTLE, England, Apr 24 (Reuters) British boyband Take That, minus its most famous member Robbie Williams, kicked off a comeback tour, playing before a packed, mainly female audience at Newcastle Arena.

A decade after the cuddly quintet split, four of the original five members have reformed, proving their lasting popularity when the tickets sold out in minutes when they went on sale in December.

They have sold an estimated 300,000 tickets for the tour of Britain, and it has been reported that each was offered 1.5 million pounds to go back on the road.

Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange and Mark Owen took to the stage late yesterday to play some of their greatest hits.

At their height in the early 1990s, Take That were hailed as the biggest thing since The Beatles, with a string of number one singles in Britain including ''Pray'', ''Relight My Fire'' and ''Back For Good''. They also sold an estimated 10 million albums.

Their days were numbered when Williams, now a hugely successful solo artist, walked out on the band, and the following year, in 1996, Take That finally quit.

Reuters OM DB0432