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Sky News has spoken exclusively to the four remaining members of Boyzone in their first and only full interview since the death of band member and ‘little brother’ Stephen Gately.

Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch spoke to Sky News reporter Enda Brady in Dublin this weekend. The interview, highlights of which will be broadcast on Sky News on Sunday 01 November 2009 with an extended version available on Sky News Active and Sky Anytime, sees the band discuss how they all received the devastating news of Stephen’s death, how they managed to get through the following week and how they are going to try to carry on as a four piece to honour Stephen’s memory. 
 

During the intimate interview, they share treasured memories of their friend, talk about how visiting Stephen in the funeral home and then having to choose his coffin was the hardest thing they have ever had to do, and reveal how they felt stronger when they were with Stephen on the flight home from Majorca and overnight in the church before his funeral.
 
The boys also reveal that Stephen was the happiest he’s ever been in the months preceding his death, how excited he was about the new album and how proud they were of the people of Dublin for the send off they gave their ‘Steo’ .  

Boyzone on:
 
Bringing Stephen’s body back from Majorca:
 
Keith – “There was for those two and a half hours flying back, there was something about the five of us being together on that plane. It didn’t seem so bad, do you know what I mean, because we were together and there was a safety…”
 
Mikey – “…as they brought Stephen off the plane and I think that moment, it was devastating for all of us to stand there and among many moments during that week, but I think that particular moment when we probably, more than ever in our career in Boyzone, understood just how much of a fantastic bond we have and the strength that we were able to give each other.”
 
Shane – “Steo was with us constantly there in our conversation, the way he just is and the way he made us laugh, we constantly reminded ourselves of that, in joy literally up there in the air, away from reality and we had a good time up there and actually landing was just that switch to this is now what we have to face, seeing the guards and seeing everyone there, it was just so real and as Mick said, watching them take the coffin out, I think that’s the first time…we didn’t see the coffin go on board, we knew he was there but seeing him come out, that was that realisation out there.  As Mick said, I think that’s when we really understood how strong we were with each other, how we looked out for each other and how to make this right for Steo as the events were about to unfold in public as it were.”
 
 
Going to see Stephen in the funeral home:
 
Ronan – “…to turn up on the Friday night at the funeral home was the hardest thing I think I’ve ever had to do in my life and I think all the lads feel the same, I know they do. 
 
“When I walked into the funeral home I just crumbled, as we all did.  I fell to pieces, it was there that I realised he was gone, really gone and that was very hard, for all of us, for our families, our wives were with us thank God, Louis was there and Mark was there and then when Andrew came in it was very difficult, it was very hard, so that for me was when it really became real, I struggled from then on.”
 
Choosing a coffin for Stephen:
 
Keith – “I think that was probably the hardest thing that any of us have had to do in our life was to go into a room like that, I suppose it is just like a showroom and do that and this was something that was going to be the last thing that your friend is going to lie in.”
 
 
Staying with Stephen overnight in the church before his funeral:
 
Ronan – “The four of us decided to stay with him on the Friday night in the church and it was, you know, all of us are so happy that we did it, it was our last night together as a five piece, our last real night together as a five piece and it felt like that, it felt like we were quiet.  We lay on the floor to the left of the coffin in our sleeping bags and we cried and we laughed and we could hear him telling us jokes and we could hear him answering back, what he would say back if we said something and we didn’t get much sleep, a little bit but that’s not what it was about, it was just about spending time with Steo and we knew Steo well, he didn’t like the dark, he didn’t like being on his own.
 
“The next day people said ‘What was it like?  Were you scared?’ but it was a beautiful amazing experience to be there with Steo that night and also outside, we went out at around 6 a.m. and the fans had spent the night outside also and it was unbelievable, we didn’t expect to see these people that were fans who wanted to show their respect in their way as well.  People from all over, people from Asia, from South Africa, from South America, from North America, from Europe obviously, incredible.  I felt very proud, I felt very proud that he was our mate and he classed us as his brother and to have known him like that and that these people wanted to do that for him, I felt very proud, it was amazing.”
 
 
Keith – “The next day was to be the most difficult day of all and the strength that we had that day was amazing because we really felt that Steo was at peace and that we had kind of said goodbye a little bit that night, you know.”
 
Stephen’s happiness in the months before his death:
 
Ronan – “…he was just so excited about the album, he was loving it, was loving the songs, loving the idea of making this record and looking forward, he was never happier.  In all the years I’ve knew Steo I’ve never seen him as radiant, as happy, as healthy, as strong, as confident, as comfortable in his own skin and that’s what’s really difficult for all of us as well because he was so alive, so alive, a spirit that was so alive.”
 
 
The future for the band without Stephen and the new album with Stephen’s vocals on it:
 
Ronan – “This is the first time we have sat down as a four piece ever.  We only ever did three of us or five of us, we never did four because it felt like someone was not there basically.  Now this is all we have left, is the four of us, so we have to decide what we’re going to do.  We have decided that what we do now is we’re going to make the next album for Stephen, we’re going to go forward as Boyzone and we’re going to make this new record and we’d like to do that as soon as possible because we have individual things that we have to go and do but we don’t want to be apart, we want to stick together because we find comfort in being together at the moment and also when we’re together we feel Stephen’s here, so as much as possible we feel the four of us want to be together so we just want to really get out teeth into this album, get moving on it and get it made.”
 
“We have a couple of songs with Stephen’s vocal on it so that’s a saving grace, thank God we have that, that’s very important to all of us and we know the fans would really appreciate that too so we think that’s what we’re going to do.  That’s where we are at the moment and we’re taking each day as it comes and we’re just trying to see where the wind takes us really.”
 
“I hope that we can try and keep that going for him, keep his memory alive when the four of us perform, if we can do that.  We don’t know that we can but we’ll try.“
 
Shane – “We had a number of tracks given to us to sort through on the Tuesday, we had a meeting at Polydor and stuff and me and Steo were saying this could be track three, track four, oh it’s amazing, he was just constantly on the phone, he was so excited with the different songs, I can’t wait to get in the studio and do this song, I can’t wait to do that one.  It was quite incredible, he was just fired up, he was a different man, he really was, a different guy, he loved being an entertainer, he loved this industry, that’s what he was born to do and the fact that Boyzone were coming together for an album was just his world,  it really was  his world.”
 
How faith is helping them:
 
Shane – "We're all strong in our faith... We say our prayers, and have a clear understanding that God doesn't make mistakes. What we don't understand right now will be revealed to us in time, there is a bigger picture.... Whether I like it or not it's not my decision whether somebody lives or dies... I loved Steo to bits he was one of my best friends he was a brother I always confided in."
 
Being proud of how the people of Dublin honoured Stephen despite his difficult childhood there:
 
Mikey – “Stephen grew up at a time in Dublin when the Irish society hadn’t matured and their opinions on homosexuality weren’t as they are today, so Stephen had a very difficult time in that sense growing up as we all know, as a lot of gentlemen like Steve did.  I think that evening was a great sign of how much Ireland has come on in its opinions towards that so he did have a difficult childhood in that sense growing up but they certainly paid huge tribute to one of their own and I think that the local people, the nation, the world has shown magnificent support to Stephen…
I’ve never been so proud to be able to honour a friend in the way that we did and I have never been so proud to be Irish, to be a part of that community that was showing so much respect and on the grander scale, to be human and I think an awful lot of people were very, very human, they showed true goodness that human people can do, I think they showed throughout the whole of this event, you know, so proud, proud to be walking down the street.” 
 
 
For further information please contact:
Charlotte Dixon – Publicity Manager, Sky News
Tel: 020 7800 4341
Mob: 07824 824834
charlotte.dixon@bskyb.com
 

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