Boyzone singer Stephen Gately died of unknown causes in his sleep on Saturday (October 10) after going out in Majorca, where the 33-year-old was vacationing.
“We’re all absolutely devastated,” Boyzone manager Louis Walsh told News of the World. “I’m in complete shock. I was only with him on Monday at an awards ceremony. We don’t know much about what’s happened yet. I only heard after The X Factor and we will rally around each other this week. He was a great man.”
Boyzone dropped by Seven’s ‘Sunrise’ to perform and then ‘The Morning Show’ to do an interview in Sydney, Australia. The reunited boy band talked about the decision to reunite, realizing how much they missed each other when they got back together after eight years, how the original plans were to just take a year off, and their hopes to bring their tour to Australia. Ronan Keating talked about how the internet has been the biggest change since their extended break. “Downloads, that’s 50% of the market now for charts back in the UK and Ireland and a lot of Europe,” he said. “It’s totally changed the industry for us.” Ronan added that their fanbase has also changed. “Our fans have grown up, which is great. They’re the same age as us now, which is a big change for us. We really noticed that on the concert tour. We see familiar faces in the front row but they brought their kids with them, which is really mad.” Watch their ‘Sunrise’ performance of ‘No Matter What’ at YouTube and check out the interview below.
The members of Boyzone chatted about their new album ‘Back Again… No Matter What’ in an EPK. They group first talked about what they had been doing during the long period before their comeback, the process that led them to get back together, their sold-out UK and Ireland tour, and more. “It’s been an absolute blast,” Ronan Keating said. “I’ve loved the guy’s company. I’ve loved working with them. It’s been a professional operation from the get go. Everyone’s been committed and worked hard. We got back into the gym. We got fitter than we’ve ever been. More determined, far more professional. It feels like a really great group to be involved in. I’ve enjoyed every bit of it.” Watch the clip below.
Boyzone spoke with News of the World about how they can’t wait to start performing together again after a split that lasted nearly a decade. “There’s a new single which we think will be the comeback song,” Ronan Keating told Rav Singh. “It’s different from what Boyzone have ever done before. It hits the radio in August.” Stephen Gately added: “There will be a disco and electro vibe—it’s going to be great and we’re all looking forward to it massively.”
Update: The entire story at notw.co.uk has since been removed after the British tabloid was famously shut down.
Gordon Smith of The Sun has details on Boyzone’s reunion tour plans, and their hopes to outdo fellow comeback acts the Spice Girls and Take That. “They’ve held audition for super hot female dancers in a bid to outsex the ones that Take That danced with on stage,” a source close to the band revealed. “I’ve heard they will be writhing around in their underwear. They’re also worried about singing live. They came from an era when nobody used to sing on tour so they got away with it. Think of S Club and Steps. But now it’s all changed.” Read more.
After seven years apart, Ireland’s original boy band Boyzone got back together – almost fourteen years to the day after their first ever appearance on ‘The Late Late Show’. The guys visited the RTE program on November 23rd in Dublin, Ireland, performing a medley of their hits ‘No Matter What’, ‘Love Me For A Reason’ and ‘Picture Of You’ before talking with host Pat Kenny. They played footage of that laughable initial appearance in 1993 (watch it all at YouTube), but the guys insisted they’re not ashamed of the performance. Watch the performance and interview at RTE.ie.
Boyzone posed during a portrait session to mark the reunion of the Irish boyband on Wednesday (November 7) in London, England. Check out pictures from GettyImages.
Ronan Keating is speaking out to The Sun after announcing on his Myspace earlier today that Boyzone are finally reuniting, at least for a one off charity performance. “After all the speculation, we are getting back together and we are very excited,” the 30-year-old told Victoria Newton. “We have been talking about it for a while now and decided to go out there on our own and have a go at it. At this stage all we have planned is to perform at Children In Need, and we are thinking about doing a tour. We haven’t got any plans to release a new album but we will see what happens. And we haven’t signed a record deal with anyone. We are just doing this thing on our own. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being back together with the lads, and even though there was some bad feeling about what has happened in the past, all that’s gone now.” Read more.
Ronan Keating sent out the following bulletin to his Myspace friends on Sunday (November 4):
There have been lots of Boyzone rumors flying around lately. I always said you would be the first to know of any news, so… On Friday 16th November the five members of Boyzone will be reforming for a special exclusive performance for the BBC’s ‘Children In Need’ show!