Boyzone marking ‘25’ this year, disbanding with a bang!

‘We’ve had 25 amazing years but now is the time to sign off with a great new album and our farewell Thank You & Goodnight Tour. We want to go out on a high and give our loyal fans the best possible memories of Boyzone.’

MANILA, Philippines — The hugely popular Irish boy group of the ‘90s Boyzone (Keith Duffy, Stephen Gately, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating and Shane Lynch) is celebrating 25 years this year. Forever tucked in their belt are numerous smash singles like No Matter What, Love Me For A Reason, Words, When The Going Gets Tough, All That I Need, Picture Of You and countless albums that reached the top UK, Irish and US charts marking the band as one of this era’s most successful boy bands.

Boyzone members have also announced that late this year they will be disbanding but with a bang! They have an ongoing world tour, a brand-new album (with a new single release collaboration with Ed Sheeran) and a Manila concert, which is set on Aug. 26 with a warm welcome by Asian Romantic Balladeer Christian Bautista at the Mall Of Asia Arena.

Thanks to Full Color Indonesia and Ovation Productions, The STAR got an exclusive Q&A with Ronan, Shane, Mickey and Keith.

Could you take us back to that first day you auditioned for Boyzone, where you were all asked to sing Careless Whisper at the Ormond Center of Dublin? What was the experience like for you? What were your expectations or funny moments?

“We were just young lads from the north side of Dublin that dreamed of being Ireland’s answer to Take That. We were put on the biggest TV show in Ireland the day that we were put together. A lot of people were laughing at us but we were convinced we were pop stars as we were on TV. Looking back it was a crazy way to start our careers but we’ve done OK since.”

(To Ronan) do you ever think what it would be like if you chose the path of becoming an Olympic athlete after college, instead of joining Boyzone?

“Who knows if I’d ever have been good enough to become a pro athlete. My elder brother had gone to college in the US on a scholarship so I was thinking of maybe trying that but then the Boyzone audition came along and everything changed.”

(To Shane and Kieth) take us to that time when you had that car accident. Was there a moment you thought you would never perform again after the experience?

“We were pretty lucky really to walk away from that but we never really thought much of it afterwards. I guess somebody was looking down on us that day.”

Christian Bautista

Your fondest memories of Stephen are…

“We grew up together in the band so we are all like brothers to each other. Losing Stephen still hurts every day but when we’re together on stage, we really feel like he is with us. He gave us the strength to carry on when we released the Brother album as a tribute to him, and he still gives us that strength now.”

You were a huge boy group in the ‘90s. You disbanded in 1999, reunited in 2007, sold two million albums after that. You are now planning to disband again by yearend. What are your thoughts on that? Will you ever get back together? Do you think at, let’s say, age 80 you would consider getting together once more?

“We’ve had 25 amazing years but now is the time to sign off with a great new album and our farewell Thank You & Goodnight Tour. We want to go out on a high and give our loyal fans the best possible memories of Boyzone.”

What is the process like for this new album? Is there a message or statement about this new album you wish to convey to your global fans?

“We’re really proud and can’t wait for everyone to hear it. It has flavors of all the different musical tastes we have as individuals within Boyzone. The first single, Because, is out now and was co-written by Ed Sheeran, so that’s a great way to start our final album campaign.”

This is your second time in Manila. What are your best memories on your first Manila concert? Your final message to Manila fans?

“We’ve been to Manila a few times over the years and it’s always been a crazy place. Lots of energy and amazingly passionate fans that sing every word of every song. We can’t wait for the chance to perform there again and say a final thank you to everyone for joining us on the final chapter of our incredible journey together.”

For tickets, log on www.smtickets.com or call 470-2223 or +63917-1495959.