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It was the most touching and emotional of farewells.
As Stephen Gately lay in an open coffin on the night before his funeral following his tragic and untimely death in 2009, he was surrounded by his Boyzone bandmates.
The four – Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch, Mikey Graham and Ronan Keating – had always described themselves as Stephen’s ‘brothers’ and so, in honour of their beloved Stephen, they didn’t leave his side for the entire night at the St Laurence O’Toole Roman Catholic church, in Dublin.
Poignantly, as they sat beside his coffin, they enjoyed one his favourite meals, fish and chips, together.
At the time, the band – particularly Ronan – was keen that this homage was shared with journalists reporting on the funeral, myself included.
As I stood behind a security barrier on Dublin’s tough Sheriff Street, where Stephen had grown up, publicists for the band regularly updated me with the tributes Ronan and his bandmates were making for Stephen, who had died suddenly at his home in Majorca three weeks before. He was just 33.
Members of Boyzone during the 1990s, from L-R: Keith Duffy, Ronan Keating, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately
Stephen performs in 2009 shortly before his death
Yet the reality behind this heart-warming scene was rather different.
The fact is that there had been years of vicious feuding within the band, prompted by what I’m told were Ronan’s ‘ideas of grandeur’.
They had initially split in 1999, seemingly down to the clean-cut frontman wanting to forge a solo career, away from the others whom he felt were holding him back.
Indeed, Ronan was utterly determined to follow in the footsteps of his hero, Bono, believing he had a chance of achieving not only the fortune of the U2 frontman, but the musical credibility, too.
‘Ronan was very ambitious,’ said one former colleague of the group. ‘He thought he was the stand-out one and that he was going to have successes the others were not.
‘He was desperate to be Bono, in fact he once asked to be his support act on U2’s American tour so much was his determination to crack the States.
‘It didn’t happen. You can imagine how gutted Ronan was. It made him very, very angry. The others found it all quite funny, but the truth of the matter is he ditched them because he was better than them.’
The band’s manager Louis Walsh – later an X Factor judge – jumped at the chance to manage a newly solo artist Ronan, hoping he would continue the success of Boyzone, who had been catapulted to fame in 1994 with their hit Love Me For A Reason.
Members of the band make a statement in 2009 following Stephen’s death
The band’s former manager Louis Walsh at Stephen’s funeral
Ronan Keating, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch carry Stephen’s coffin at the funeral
But it wasn’t to be – and the bandmates never really recovered from the emotional impact of their bitter break-up, despite the show of togetherness following Stephen’s death.
Today, emotions run just as high, I’m told: ‘The scars are still there, the hurt ran very, very deep. They are still all so cross about it all.
‘All of these years and there is so much bad blood … they have moved on but forgiveness has been almost impossible.’
Next Sunday, on February 2, a new three-part series, commemorating 30 years since Boyzone was formed, will document the continuing bitterness from these difficult days.
Screened on Sky Documentaries, it promises to give fans a look at the ‘conflict and rivalry, betrayal and tragedy’ of the band – and that ’30 years on, all four remaining members – Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Michael ‘Mikey’ Graham, as well as their estranged manager, Louis Walsh – [will] reveal the truth of what really happened … and the huge costs that being in a boyband had on each of them.’
I’m told that the documentary has ‘dark’ moments. The trailer shows the group admitting they went through some ‘cruel’ times under the leadership of Louis.
Indeed, the trailer shows Louis making the scathing comment: ‘I prefer ordinary people, because they work harder. And they do whatever you want at the start.’
Meanwhile, Ronan is shown reflecting on their early days, remarking: ‘We were a bunch of kids put together. We weren’t perfect, we weren’t polished.’
A shot from the upcoming Sky documentary about the band
Another preview from Sky shows a tribute to Stephen
Louis Walsh takes part in the documentary but is still not on good terms with most of the band’s former members
Yet this youthful naivety had well and truly worn off by the time the band split. Sources who worked with them at the time say Stephen especially felt he was on the end of Ronan’s temper, as he too was trying to carve himself out as a solo star.
Stephen seemed to be making a good fist of it: adored by their fans, who loved his modesty and cheeky nature, he had won an army of support after coming out as gay in 1999.
Those close to Stephen say that Ronan saw him as a rival and did little to support his fledgling solo career.
‘Stephen thought that Ronan would be a bit more behind him,’ says a friend. ‘But he couldn’t bring himself to, or at least Stephen didn’t think he did.
‘Stephen was confused. He was a kind soul who was nowhere near as ambitious as Ronan. It hurt him, he had to do some soul searching and he learned Ronan wasn’t the person he thought.
‘Once he accepted that, he was able to move on, but it devastated him.
‘Stephen’s friends were furious. To this day they haven’t forgiven Ronan.
‘Things became very, very vicious between some of the band. For the early years they were so close, their families were close – and then Ronan cut himself off.
The band in 2008 at the Dylan Hotel in Dublin, the year before their reunion tour and Stephen’s death
They have a bit of fun while filming for the Sky documentary
Keith, Ronan and Shane at a charity gig last year in aid of the Marie Keating foundation and Cancer Research UK
‘It was devastating for them. Keith was furious to the point that it took years and years for him to move on from it all, though it’s unclear if he ever actually forgave [Ronan] for the fall out.’
Stephen was later found dead at his home in Port d’Andratx, Majorca, something later determined to have been caused by a pulmonary oedema resulting from an undiagnosed heart condition.
He had spent the evening with his partner Andrew Cowles at the Black Cat club in Majorca’s capital, Palma, before returning home with a man that they had met that night, Bulgarian Georgi Dochev. (Dochev stayed in the spare bedroom.)
His death was profoundly upsetting for the four surviving members of Boyzone, so much so that the makers of the documentary, Curious Films, were unsure whether they would get Mikey to take part. ‘He’s a deep person,’ said a band insider. ‘He wasn’t sure about doing it. He was angry and really didn’t like Ronan for a time.’
Indeed, while things were particularly vicious between Keith and Shane and Ronan, it seems to be Mikey who disliked Ronan the most at the time they split.
‘Mikey was extremely down and Stephen would get very upset about it all. There were stand-up rows, then you’d have Louis telling everyone about it, and stirring it all up. He enjoyed the headlines, he thought they translated into record sales [for Ronan] in that old school way.’
Despite this bitterness and anger, at the end of the programme viewers will see a recently recorded scene with Ronan, Keith, Shane and Mikey embrace over a pint in an apparent move to show unity.
One person who remains very much absent from this new reunion, though, is Louis.
In fact, only Stephen remained friendly with him. The other four still, I’m told, despise him.
Initially, he and Ronan were close, and Louis saw managing him after the band’s split as his next big opportunity. ‘Ronan was his ticket and he got him the When You Say Nothing At All hit, which went global after it was used on the movie Notting Hill.’
But shortly afterwards, in 2003, Ronan sacked Louis and went on to open his world tour in Australia without telling him.
Predictably, this prompted Louis to bitch about their fall out to anyone who would listen. The two men, I understand, have barely spoken since.
‘Louis went on the war path against Ronan. Things went nuclear,’ said a band source. ‘He rang his journalist friends and threw him right under the bus. At the time there was a view amongst the rest of the band that [Ronan and Louis] were as bad as one another.
‘Louis’s worst bitchy side came out. He would call Ronan a manufactured popstar who was obsessed with fame and believed his own hype. He would say he was little more than a karaoke artist. Louis went on the attack and Ronan was fuming.’
In the programme, Louis is forced to face devastating claims that he betrayed Mikey, Keith and Shane after the band had split.
‘Louis is shell shocked by it all. He gets pummelled by the band. Louis was ruthless back then, and to a degree he still is, so it’s a case of the gloves coming off,’ I’m told by a source.
Before Stephen died, there had been a brief making up between Ronan and his former bandmates and in 2009 – a few months before his passing – they came together for a reunion tour – with the proviso that Louis was allowed nowhere near it.
In fact, since their schism, the only time Louis and Ronan have been in the same room since was at Stephen’s funeral.
For the forthcoming documentary the band and their former manager did not come face to face – something that band sources say would have caused ‘an almighty row’.
‘But after the show things are likely to get a lot worse,’ says the source. ‘Louis is going to be absolutely fuming when he sees the final programme.’