Biography

Boyzone was formed in November 1993 following an audition in Dublin.  The six boys originally selected were Ronan Keating, Shane Lynch, Stephen Gately, Keith Duffy, Mark Walton and Richie Rock.

The day after forming, the band performed a hastily arranged dance routine to 'Burn Baby Burn' on the Irish Late Late Show presented by Gaye Byrne.  Far from well received, the performance saw them virtually written off ny many crirics.  Within six months Mark Walton left, unable to cope with the pressure and Richie Rock was sacked after skipping rehearsals and some early gigs.  Mikey Graham was brought in to replace them and yhe line up was complete.  Now it's a very different story, Boyzone's last album 'By Request' spent a staggering 7 weeks at the top of the UK album chart and when the boys release a single everyone just seems to step out of their way!

In the summer of 1994 Boyzone's first single 'Working My Way Back To You' was released only in Ireland and reached number three in the charts.  The song later became something of an embarrassment to the band - it was soon deleted and has never been included on an album.  Their first UK single 'Love Me For A Reason' was released in December 1994 and courted attention when the boys performed at the Smash Hits Poll Winner Party.  The single entered the charts at number 10 and then climed to be number two by Christmas, only being kept off the top by East 17s 'Stay Another Day'.

Boyzone's first single of 1995 was 'Key To My Life' which reached number three, followed by 'So Good' which also reached number three.  In the summer of 19995 a strange turn of events befell the band.  Mikey fell off a horse and hurt his neck and spine and Shane broke his ankle in a freak accident jumping over a stream to retrieve a basketball (?).  The accident meant that the  band's first UK tour had to be drastically altered.  Although Shane missed serveal appearances he was able to attend Boyzone's launch party gor their first album 'Said and Done' which was held at Chessington World of Adventures. The album went straight in at number one int the UK and Ireland.  The band ended the year with the release of 'Father and Son' - the song that Ronan had sung at their auditions.  One of their biggest selling singles to date, it reached number two in the UK charts.  They ended the year by winning Best New Act at the Smash Hits Poll Winner Party.

Boyzone began 1996 with an unexpected nomination in the Best International Newcomer Category at the Brit Awards.  For a large part of the summer they toued the UK.  Early in 1996 it was revealed that both Mikey and Keith's girlfriends were pregnant.  Mikey's daughter Hannah and Keith's son Jordon were born shortly before the start of Boyzone's UK tour and rumours suggested that the band would split.  However, Boyzone soon proved the critics wrong, releasing the album 'A Different Beat' in November 1996, another number 1.  Boyzone completed a great year by winning 6 awards at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party.

In February 1998 Ronan Keating's world  fell apart when his mother Marie died of breast cancer, to be followed two weeks later by his grandmother and in April by his 16 year old cousin.  In March Shane married Esther from the group Eternal, after refusing to admit they were seeing each other.  'All that I need' hit number one in April, and was shortly followed by Ronan marrying his girlfriend Yvonne on the Caribbean Island of Nevis.  At the launch party for their third album 'Where We Belong' in May Mikey announced his engagemnt to his girlfriend Karen, although sadly they later split up.  Mikey now has a new girlfriend - dancer from their tour Karen Corradi.  'Where We Belong' went straight to number one in the UK album charts and later went to number one again when it was re-released containing the tracks 'No Matter What' and 'I love the Way you Love Me'.  In June Keith married his long term girlfriend Lisa Smith, mother of his son Jordan in Las Vegas.

In February 1999 'When the Going Gets Tough' was released in support of Comic Relief.  It stayed at number one for two weeks and became the biggest selling Comic Relief single ever.  In March Ronan and Yvonne celebrated the safe arrival of their son Jack.  In May they gained their sixth number one single with 'You Needed Me', and celebrated during their sell-out UK tour.  The Boyzone interview CD, 'By Request', book and video were all released on the 31st May and the tickets for their December tour also went on sale, during the May tour.  So May was an expensive month for Boyzone fans!  On June 15th Steve bravely made the announcement that he was gay and in love with boyfriend Eloy De Jong, from the now disbanded boy band Caught In the Act. A few disloyal fans did abandoned the band, but the support from the true fans was overwhelming, and when Steve appeared at Party in the Park he received the biggest cheer of the day.  Ronan's first solo single 'When You say Nothing at All' was released in July and remained at number one for 2 weeks.  Steve plans to release his first solo song 'A New Begginning' on May 29th.  Boyzone's concert at the RDS in Dublin was released on video at Christmas and the Boyzone film is currently being filmed..........