Boyzone are an Irish boy band created in 1993 by the talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's The Late Late Show. Its most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Stephen Gately, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating, and Shane Lynch. As of 2018, Boyzone had released seven studio albums and nine compilation albums.
In 2012, the Official Charts Company revealed the biggest selling singles artists in British music chart history, with Boyzone currently placed at 29th and the second most successful boy band in Britain, behind Take That. According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), Boyzone has been certified for sales of 6.4 million albums and 8.6 million singles in the UK, with 25 million records sold by 2013 worldwide. Boyzone have had six UK No.1 singles and nine No.1 singles in Ireland. Of the 24 singles they released in the UK, 21 entered the top 40 (including 18 in the top 10 and 12 in the top 2) in the UK charts and 22 singles (including 19 in the top 5) in the Irish charts. They have had five No. 1 albums in the UK.
Boyzone split in 1999, but made a comeback in 2007, originally with the intention of just touring. Gately died on 10 October 2009 of a congenital heart defect while on holiday in the Spanish island of Mallorca. Boyzone went on tour in late 2018 to celebrate their 25th anniversary. An album to celebrate the anniversary was released on 16 November 2018. On 28 April 2018, it was announced that the band would split after their anniversary celebrations, which ended in 2019.
Following the success of their TV documentary in 2025, Boyzone have reformed for a one-off farewell stadium show in 2026.
History
Breakthrough and Said and Done (1993–1995)
In 1993, an advertisement appeared in Irish newspapers calling for auditions to form a new Irish "boy band" group. The advertisements were sent out by theatrical manager Louis Walsh who was looking to make an "Irish Take That" following on from that band's success. The auditions were held in The Ormond Centre, in Dublin, in November 1993. More than 300 people replied to the advertisement. At the auditions the applicants were asked to sing the song "Careless Whisper" by George Michael. Each audition would be taped and watched again to judge the applicant's performance. Out of the 300, 50 were selected for a second audition. For the second audition the applicants where asked to sing two songs, including one of their own choice with a backing tape. Mikey Graham sang "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" by Meat Loaf, Keith Duffy sang "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred, Ronan Keating sang "Father and Son" by Cat Stevens (a cover version of which the band would later release), and Stephen Gately sang "Hello" by Lionel Richie. Out of this 50, 10 were selected for a third audition. In the end, Keating, Gately, Duffy, Richard Rock (son of Dickie Rock), Shane Lynch and Mark Walton were chosen. This lineup of the group were mocked by both the audience and presenter Gay Byrne in an appearance on The Late Late Show in 1993, where they mimed and danced to the Clubhouse hit "Light My Fire". Graham originally was rejected but later joined after Rock's departure.
Boyzone played through 1994 in pubs and clubs all over Northern Ireland before PolyGram signed them up in 1994 and released the cover version of the Four Seasons' hit "Working My Way Back to You", featuring Graham and Gately on lead vocals. It reached No. 3 in the Irish Charts. The release of their cover version of the classic Johnny Bristol song, "Love Me for a Reason", broke into the British charts. The song hit No. 2 in the UK and was included in their 1995 hit debut album, Said and Done. The album reached the No. 1 spot in Ireland and the UK. In 1995, the singles "Key to My Life", "So Good" and "Father and Son" were released, which all got the attention of new fans in Europe.
A Different Beat and Where We Belong (1996–1998) Their second album, A Different Beat, was released in 1996. This album brought the band worldwide success, and sold 2 million copies worldwide. The song "Coming Home Now" was released as a single. Boyzone had their first UK No. 1 single, a cover of the Bee Gees' hit "Words". The album also contained the hit singles "A Different Beat" and "Isn't It a Wonder". In 1997, Boyzone released three singles: "Isn't It a Wonder", "Picture of You", and "Baby Can I Hold You/Shooting Star". The group performed "Let The Message Run Free" at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997, co-hosted by Keating, in Dublin and tried to break the US market with their version of "Mystical Experience", which they also recorded in Spanish. Ronan Keating – who by now had emerged as the lead singer and frontman – won the Ivor Novello Award for songwriting in 1997 for "Picture of You".
Their third studio album, Where We Belong, was released in 1998 and featured Boyzone's writing abilities; the album sold over 3 million copies worldwide. It contained the hit singles "All That I Need" (which stayed for six weeks in the MTV Asia charts), "Baby Can I Hold You" (Tracy Chapman cover) and "No Matter What".
Originally written for the Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical Whistle Down the Wind, "No Matter What" was the group's best ever selling single selling over 4 million copies worldwide and it is the biggest selling record for a boy band, it was also voted Song of the Year, 1998. Since the song was also recorded by Meat Loaf, Boyzone shared the stage with him to perform the song during his 1998 live concert in Dublin. They also sang the song in Italy with Luciano Pavarotti. Their 1998 tour of Ireland broke all sales records when 35,000 tickets were sold out in four hours.
By Request and hiatus (1999–2007)
In 1999, "When the Going Gets Tough", "You Needed Me" and "Every Day I Love You" were singles released which were worldwide hits. As well as their greatest hits compilation By Request—the highest-selling Boyzone album, having sold over 4 million copies worldwide—a tour followed from May–July 1999 in Ireland, the UK and Europe. In June 1999, Stephen Gately revealed that he was gay and was in love with the ex-Caught in the Act member Eloy de Jong. Also during this year Keating released his first solo single, "When You Say Nothing at All", which he had covered for the movie Notting Hill. In November 1999, after six years together and amid growing tensions behind the scenes, the group members decided to take some time off from Boyzone to pursue solo projects. Boyzone performed together for the last time in Ireland at the point depot during nine dates running from 3–8 January and 10–12 January 2000. They had sold more than 20 million records in total and all 16 of their singles reached the UK top five, making them the first Irish act to have four No. 1 hits in the United Kingdom charts.
For seven years after their split, the members had mixed success in their individual careers. Keating in particular remained a force in the music industry as he continued writing and managing other bands. Gately also continued his career as a solo artist, appearing in a number of West End stage musicals, and Duffy had some success as an actor, including a role in the UK television soap Coronation Street. Rumours came to a head and in early 2007 there were news reports that all five members and their manager, The X Factor judge Walsh, had met in Dublin to discuss and organise a comeback tour. On 11 October 2007, Walsh was interviewed on The Graham Norton Show; when asked by Norton whether there was going to be a re-launch of Boyzone he replied "I think so". On 5 November 2007, Keating confirmed that Boyzone would reunite for a special appearance on the BBC's annual fundraiser, Children in Need, performing a medley of hits, although had not yet commented on the possibility of a new tour or album. On 14 November 2007, it was reported that all five members of Boyzone were to begin a UK tour in May, which would be their first in seven years. On 16 November, Boyzone made a comeback appearance as part of Children in Need on BBC1 in the UK, with an Irish and UK tour announced for June 2008.
Back Again... No Matter What tour and Gately's death (2008–2009)
The group sold 200,000 tickets for the tour within three hours and sold 20,000 tickets on the first day of them going on sale for their concert in the RDS Dublin. Keating told the Daily Star: "We've been taking it easy on the Guinness and been out for dinners and just a couple of drinks. We're taking the tour plans very seriously. We're all on diets and we've been training in the gym every day. I'm probably the fittest now that I've ever been. I think we all look better now than before. I can't wait to be back on the road and all the guys feel the same." The 29-date tour, taking in cities such as Cardiff, Newcastle, Liverpool, London at the O2 Arena and Wembley, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham, Edinburgh Castle and the RDS in Dublin.
The tour began on 25 May 2008 at Belfast's Odyssey arena and finished at Carlisle Bitts Park on 23 August 2008. On 29 August 2008 Boyzone played alongside other acts such as Sandi Thom and Scouting For Girls at an event in Blackpool to switch on the Blackpool Illuminations, an annual event in the town. The event received coverage on BBC Radio 2. On 3 September, the video for Love You Anyway debuted on the digital music channel The Box. It features all five members of the best-known lineup of Boyzone with Keating taking most of the lead vocals. The single received its first play on 20 August 2008, live on Terry Wogan's Radio 2 Breakfast show. On 6 October 2008, "Love You Anyway" entered the UK charts at No. 5, making it their 17th consecutive top five single. On 8 December their second single of 2008 "Better" was released and charted at No. 22 in the UK charts, No. 26 in the Irish charts and N. 63 in the European hot singles charts. On 28 August 2009 the group joined Yvette Fielding in Edinburgh for a Ghosthunting with... show for ITV2.
In 2009, Boyzone played their Better Tour, which was the last tour to feature Gately. On 10 October 2009, Gately died suddenly at his flat in Port d'Andratx, Mallorca. Gately's bandmates flew to Mallorca on 11 October 2009; Walsh was expected to join them soon after. The surviving members of Boyzone, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating and Shane Lynch, issued a joint statement: Post-mortem and toxicology tests took place on 13 October and showed that Gately died from a pulmonary edema resulting from an undiagnosed heart condition.
On 16 October, accompanied by the four surviving members of Boyzone, his body was brought from Mallorca to Dublin where his funeral took place at the Church of St Laurence O'Toole the following day.
Fans responded with messages of sympathy on the social media. Boyzone manager Louis Walsh was quoted as saying: "We're all absolutely devastated. 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 (UK television talent show on which Walsh is a judge) and we will rally around each other this week. He was a great man.""Boyzone star Stephen Gately found dead". The Times.
Brother and BZ20 (2010–2013)