IT'S easy to see why Ronan Keating must have felt terrified. After all, he
was soon to embark on his three week, length-of-Ireland charity walk in aid
of the Marie Keating Foundation - a breast cancer awareness charity founded
by Ronan's family and named after their mother who died from the disease
five years ago - now he began to fear he himself might have cancer.
Testicular. Not surprisingly, this isn't something Keating has discussed in
public before but he does, with me, because he "totally" agrees men need to
be made aware of the risks of testicular and prostate tumours as much as
women need to be warned about breast cancer. Maybe more so.
Why? Because most guys probably don't know what their prostate is. Or that
many of the 10,000 men who die in Britain each year of prostate cancer might
still be alive if they'd been alerted in time to the tumour. Ronan is fully
aware of such figures and of similar facts about testicular cancer. So he
acted rapidly.
"I check myself regularly for testicular cancer, but two months ago I got a
scare and panicked," he says, sitting in Cork's Silver Springs Hotel on the
last lap of his charity walk. "I was on holiday, noticed something, phoned
the doc, it didn't go away, so when I got home I went to see him. And,
believe me, it is embarrassing for a bloke to get on a table and say, 'Doc,
check it out!'"
It beats dying, Ro!
"Damn right it does!" he responds. "And it's also embarrassing for a woman
to sit in front of a male doctor, take her top off and ask him to check for
cancer. Either way, because I am so involved with the foundation and know
cancer can be passed on genetically, I had it checked out. Yet my GP said it
wasn't cancer. But that was terrifying."
Ronan believes his mother's cancer could have been cured had she been
treated earlier. "But she was naive about cancer, we were naive." Hence his
commitment to the MKF and palpable pride in the fact that 20,000 people have
already stepped inside its three mobile information and awareness units and
1,000 have been referred to specialists.
"And we will save lives, please God," he says. "In that sense, my mam is
still standing at my shoulder saying, 'go for it, Ro,' like she always did
whenever I wanted to do something. Such as become a singer, whatever. And I
do believe spirits watch over us. I believe my ma is a spiritual force
watching over me. And I think she'd be proud of what I'm doing. Not just in
terms of this walk but how my life has turned out. With Yvonne, the kids and
my career."
Since Ronan and I last did an interview, two years ago, his son Jack has
been joined by a baby sister, Marie, making his home life "better than
ever". Yet even if Keating claims his career, too, "has never been better"
and tellingly notes that he's "sold more records than Boyzone did", he's
obviously had to make some tough decisions along the way. Such as leaving
Boyzone and, more recently, letting go his long-time manager Louis Walsh.
Indeed, Ronan once told me Boyzone was a "second family" and that himself,
Keith Duffy and Stephen Gately, in particular, were "like brothers".
Likewise, he claimed he "absolutely" loved Louis, who was his "best friend
and father-figure" and someone who'd always be his manager. So what
hap-pened? In terms of, say, Louis?
"I found myself at a crossroads in my life about 10 months ago," Ronan
replies. "I was in France and suddenly felt, 'I can't do this any more, I
can't get up and sing We Have Tonight with Lulu. I'm singing someone else's
song. It doesn't ring true. I didn't even choose to do this duet with her.
Louis is managing Lulu and this is a set-up.' But it was a hit. That's what
Louis'd say: 'You had a f**kin' hit, Ronan, didn't you?' Yet that's not what
it's all about for me. Louis would be happy with me doing cover versions
forever. I love cover versions like If Tomorrow Never Comes and will do one
on my next album, but I just realised, 'I can't go on doing this, the smile
is wearing away.' And I'd always said if I stopped enjoying what I was doing
I'd stop. So I did. I just couldn't go on singing other people's songs. I'd
pick up my guitar and think, 'I can write songs myself,' so that's what I'm
doing now." That said, Keating doesn't want to add to the
"Ronan-wants-to-be-a-credible-singer-songwriter" school of slagging he gets
these days.
"But there is that in me," he continues, somewhat exasperated. "I have
written songs. Yet even The Long Goodbye they say I didn't write, that Paul
Brady did. For f**k's sake I wrote the f**king song too. And all the songs
on my next album, apart from one cover version, I'll have written or
co-written. That's why Louis and I had to part. I had to take a different
path. I can't do the same thing forever."
Ronan also claims he and Walsh "had many conversations" about the path
Keating's career could take and that there was at least one "fiery exchange
in the Four Seasons Hotel" before they finally split. Presumably Louis
was pissed off, in part, because he'd no longer be receiving a percentage of
Ronan's earnings. Though when I talked to him recently, socially, he also
seemed hurt by the break-up.
"Louis was earning more money with Westlife than he ever was with Boyzone or
anyone" Ronan responds. "And I hope it was never a matter of money with
Louis. It would hurt me if I found out it was. It's never been about money
for me. But I still love Louis to bits. And even though we've parted he's
still a father-figure to me. The press said we'd fallen out but that's not
true. You know Louis. His bitterness lasts 24 hours. So, at the start, he
did attack me in an interview, saying, 'Ronan wants to be Colin Farrell,' or
something like that. Yet that was it. We met up, recently, at the Westlife
gig in Belfast and stood talking all night. Yet you're right, he did say he
was upset by the break-up but now realises it's better for him and for me.
After 10 years together it was like a divorce! Yet even though he's not
involved with what I'm doing we still talk. Sometimes."
Even so, Ronan still "misses Louis" and misses "talking to him every day,
the slagging, the crack, the laugh we had." But before we all start crying
let's shift the focus to Ronan's 'divorce' from Boyzone - a subject that
still seems to fascinate many people. Particularly following recent media
claims that the remaining four members were reuniting for a tour and if
Ronan wasn't "back on board" they'd replace him with another lead singer.
"There's no reunion tour, I don't know where that story came from," Ronan
says. "Yet I did say to someone the other night, 'Now is the time for
Boyzone to get back together and do something.' But I can't be part of it,
because of what some people in the band have said about me. I couldn't just
walk into the room and say, 'Let bygones be bygones.' Not after what they
did to me. Or tour and not talk to the guy next to me."
What did Boyzone do to Ronan?
"One thing happened, and that was my reason for saying 'Goodbye, lads,' but
I've never talked about it and I won't now."
Come on Ro! You're talking to the interviewer who did actually allow Keith
Duffy to have his say in this newspaper and accuse you of breaking up
Boyzone, failing to return phone calls and denying him and the rest of the
guys the chance to do "one last tour" some years back out of which each
could have "made a million" and been "set up for life". All of which made
Keating out to be a big-headed "bollix" who'd gone solo and didn't give a
damn about his former group. Is that too simplistic a reading of it all,
maybe just the way Keith and co see things?
"I read that interview and that is how I came across but, yeah, it is too
simplistic, maybe the way the other guys see things and it's not correct,"
Ronan responds, angrily. "So I'll say this about that tour they were talking
about. When Boyzone decided to take a break we all shook hands, said,
'Right, good luck, let's take a year or two, do our own thing.' Then, six
months later I'm in the middle of promoting my first solo album, I've made a
commitment to my record company and Boyzone say they want to tour. I
remember getting a call telling me, 'The lads are trying to go on tour
without you,' and that was the nail in the coffin of Boyzone for me.
Besides, that tour they wanted me to do would have been purely a
money-making tour - which I didn't want to do. I was in Boyzone for the
music, the magic. And we went out on top. Nine nights at the Point. So the
idea of doing it all just for money, to set anyone up for life, is not for
me. I'm doing this because I love music. I'm not doing this to set myself up
for life."
So is Ronan friends with any former Boyzone members now? "No," he replies,
sadly. "For a time I was talking to some of them, then they stopped calling.
There was a bitterness there, a jealousy, whatever. And it is true, at least
three of us we were like brothers at one stage."
THIS seems to have been particularly true of Ronan and Keith, which makes
their falling-out even sadder. Indeed, Keating once told me that after the
death of his mother, while Boyzone were on tour, he'd sit up drinking Jack
Daniels all night with Duffy, sometimes weep, and "Duster" would stay right
there with him till dawn.
"He was there for me," Ronan reflects. "And Keith and I probably were the
closest in the band. But that just disappeared. And I haven't seen him. I
met him in an airport once, a year and a half ago, and I said, 'How are ya,
Keith?' and he said, 'How ya doing?' but it was cold. And I went to give him
a hug but he pulled back, so I got on my flight and said, 'F**k that.' And I
called Stephen twice recently, left messages on his answer machine and he
never called back."
There won't ever be a Boyzone reunion tour, will there? "I don't think so."
This sure is a long way down from the first time I interviewed Boyzone in
the Pod nine years ago, when they were just a bunch of teenage kids
rehearsing for their first gigs and dreaming ofstardom.
"It is, yeah," Keating agrees. "But even back then, Louis told us it would
all end in tears."
Nevertheless, maybe Boyzone should have one more meeting in the Pod, try
sort out their problems and I'll act as referee!
"It would be nice if we could do that," Ronan muses. "But egos and
jealousies stand in the way. I feel that, now, more than ever. And the
focus, for me, still is on my solo career. And, to tell you the truth, I'd
like to be sitting here in another nine years talking to you about my songs.
Not about Boyzone getting back together. Because Boyzone is that size (Ronan
indicates a tiny distance between his thumb and forefinger) compared to the
music I'm doing now. Boyzone means nothing to me any more. I've gotten over
them and I hope everyone else can. Though I know there is a certain amount
of animosity towards me because people think I broke up Boyzone. But I
didn't."
Adding a coda to his conversation on Boyzone, Ronan says, "It's like losing
school friends, you get up and move on." And acknowledges that he's
"incredibly lucky" to be "blessed with friends" who have been in his life
since before Boyzone. "And a brilliant family." So will he and Yvonne have
more children?
"We're happy with two wonderful kids and want to raise them to the best of
our ability so, no, there won't be any more," says Ronan, eager to elaborate
on just how "wonderful" Jack and Marie are. He's clearly much happier
talking about his kids.
"Jack has become my little friend. We do everything together, talk about the
same things. He's interested in motorcycles, cars and movies so we hang out
and play. And his energy makes me be a kid again, which I love. And "Missy"
is a princess, plays up to me and it's just beautiful. So Jack and Marie are
everything I ever wanted. They put a smile on my face every day. And Yvonne
is my pillar of strength."
Ronan pauses, sadness suddenly sweeping over his face. "But, y'know, as much
as I feel Mam is still with me I wish she was here to see the kids growing
up," he explains.
"My dad is here and that's magic. And Yvonne's folks are here. But it would
be great for the kids to have been able to see my mam, be with her, share
some memory of her."
So Ronan obviously agrees that you never really get over the death of a
parent, you just learn to deal with the pain in your own way.
"That is so true," he reflects. "You learnt to deal with it simply so you
can get on with your life. But the pain never goes away. That is what I've
realised in relation to Mam's death. But, like I said earlier, I believe
she's with me all the time. Watching over me. I still hear her saying things
like, 'Stop drinking!' Or, 'You're a holy show! Get a haircut.' She's
probably listening to me doing this interview and going, 'Oh Ro, what did
you say that for!' God, if only she hadn't died, from breast cancer. But I'm
chuffed that I'm able to use her name, and my fame, for a cause as great as
the Marie Keating Cancer Foundation."
The Marie Keating Foundation can be contacted at Unit 4, Leixlip Shopping
Mall, Main St, Leixlip, Co Kildare. Phone (01) 624-6314; email
info@mariekeating.com
Joe Jackson