Closure at last as friends-again Boyzone plan farewell tour
Wednesday April 21st 2004
AGING boy band fans could be in for a treat.
Dormant Irish chart-toppers Boyzone yesterday hinted a farewell tour might be on the cards as early as next Christmas, all things going well.
The band, which has matured along with their fanbase since the curtain fell on their last gig in the Point Depot more than four years ago, are confident that there is still demand for one final tour.
Speaking at the launch of the third annual Celebrity Golf Classic in aid of the Irish Autism Alliance in Palmerstown House, Keith Duffy revealed that they will meet next week to discuss the plan in greater detail.
However the Coronation Street actor has said he will only consider a return to the popscene if it doesn't jeopardise his soap career, as annoying bar-manager at the Rovers.
"It's not something we planned but if you get enough of us in the same place you don't know what will happen.
"Four-and-a-half years ago we played the Point Depot and said we were going to take some time off.
"Now we're back together for the first time in a longtime and we're reminiscing about the old times.
"It wouldn't be a reunion it would be closure," he said.
"We're going to hook up again next week and thrash out who wants to do what.
"We'll see how it goes. But we're open-minded. We know there are as many people who don't want to see us as those who do want to."
Boyzone appeared to have buried the hatchet when they reunited to cheer Lynch to victory in the celebrity Olympics-style reality television show The Games last week.
Ronan Keating, whose solo singing career has so far failed to live up to expectations despite some early chart successes, said he will be giving the prospect of a reunion tour some "serious thought".
"It's something we'd need to think about. It's a big step for us to get back together after four years."
Bandmate Stephen Gately, who admitted he had been "very upset" when the band stepped out of the limelight four years ago, was confident Boyzone fans would support a comeback tour.
"We got a lot of hits on our website so I think we'd do well," he said.
However, Mikey Graham, who has been working behind the scenes as a producer since the band's hiatus, was rather more reticent.
"There's an awful lot to be considered. We have to test the waters to see what's still out there," he said.Gately hints at Boyzone comeback Friday, 16 May, 2003
Gately believes Keating will not be involved Former Boyzone star Stephen Gately has told the BBC that he is hopeful the Irish boy band will reunite - although without lead singer Ronan Keating. Gately, currently starring in the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, said he had been in discussions with the other three members of the group - Mike Graham, Shane Lynch and Keith Duffy - about the possibility of a comeback. "I don't know whether there will be another record - probably," Gately told BBC World Service's The Ticket programme. "I'd like there to be. Probably Ronan [Keating] won't be involved, but the four of us had dinner last week and had some discussions about what we could do in the future." He added that he believed there was still a huge market for future Boyzone releases, even without Keating's involvement. "There's still a great interest there," Gately said. "There's still a huge fanbase, and we just had a re-released album out and that went straight in at number six here in the UK without doing any promotion." Break Boyzone's record-breaking chart career - they were the first group in history to have 15 consecutive top three singles - seemed to have fizzled out after Keating began his solo career with a number one record, When You Say Nothing At All. In time, the rest of the group would attempt solo efforts, but only Keating's career has shown signs of longevity. But Gately said that his absence from the chart world had been simply due to his need for a break. "Being in a group for nine years, going around the world non-stop, takes its toll," he said. "I needed to just chill out and give my head peace for a while. Gately feels he has earned "respect" for his role in Joseph "Joseph is a good come-back - it's good for press, it's good for me, it's good for the company, it's good songs. "You get a lot of good press for doing a show in the West End and a lot of respect at the same time." Gately added that he would only be appearing in Joseph for six months, although he was keen to be a part of its continuing success story. The musical that has been so far seen by 15 million people since its original release in 1968. "I think it's down to the music," Gately said. "The melodies are so catching, people just come out humming the songs and knowing the songs. "It's a family-orientated musical as well, so everybody can go and watch it. "Close Every Door's a really nice song, I really enjoy singing that. "I love looking into the audience and seeing people's reactions when I sing it because I sing in a way that nobody's ever heard me sing before."
