The Boyzone Story -Continued-
The birth of Boyzone at the end of 1993 saw the Irish music
mold well and truly broken. Following the huge success of U2
and the Cranberries,
critics gave the five boyz from Dublin little
hope of ever leaving the Emerald Isle -
let alone make it across the water.
However, when their debut single,'love me for a reason'
crashed into the charts at #2 in '94
it was ensured that Ronan Keating, Stephen Gately, Keith Duffy,
Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham became the most promising and exciting
Irish export since...well...Guinness!!!
They won the smash hits award for best new act shortly afterwards but,
a betting man still would have given you even odds on them
going the distance. It's a jungle out there after all.
But, Boyzone's assault on the charts continued healthily with the singles
'key to my life' and 'so good', both of which went to #3 and were also written by the Boyz.
Their acclaimed cover of the Cat Stevens classic 'father & son' proved
even more popular, hitting #2 and showing no immediate inclination
to move down. The pin finally dropped when Boyzone scored their first #1 hit
in December 1996 with 'words'.
Since then Boyzone have become the first act in chart history to reach the top 3 with their first 14 singles.
We all know the story from here onwards, while the press have been poring
over the band's marriage's, babies, and the color of their socks
Boyzone have been busy recording three number one albums, their last long
player 'where we belong' saw the Boyz increasing their share of the
creative pie. Much of the album was written but the band and showcases their
work with the likes of Ray Hedges, Steve Lipson and Johnny Douglas.
'Where we belong' topped the album chart on two separate occasions.
Despite the huge increase in musical respect now afforded to the band
it wasn't until Ronan walked home with the ultra prestigious Ivor Novello
award for 'picture of you', that Boyzone were noted evolving and
were taken seriously by their peers and steadily maturing but loyal fans.
The very same fans also ensured that Boyzone ran home with the record
of the year award for 'no matter what', (written by Andrew Lloyd Webber)
at the end of 1998.
For five years now Boyzone have been dominating the radio playlists,
the tv and most importantly the charts. They have been the face
and the voice of Pepsi, they have 4 Irish music awards under their belts.
Ronan has presented the MTV Awards, Miss World and the Eurovision
song contest and the BBC 1 talent show 'get your act together'.
Shane races cars for Ford beating british rally car champion
Alistair McRae in his first ever race!
Stephen presented the 1998 smash hits poll winners party, the childline
show and is currently working on the soundtrack for watership down.
Keith is turning down modelling offers from the likes of John Rocha
and caused a stir at the '99 brits by playing drinking games with
buddy Robbie Williams
And Mikey has been seen kick boxing in an underground Irish film.
Collectively, Boyzone have earned themselves fans including.....
Mr. Bean, Israel's Miss World, Brian Kennedy and Bono (who asked
the band to appear in U2's 'sweetest thing' video),
The Bee Gees, Pavarotti, and David Bowie. And they are the first
group from Ireland to have 5 number ones.
-taken from 'by request' album jacket-
Coming soon: The Boyzone story continued -1999 to the present
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