Stephen Patrick David Gately died he was 33. Gately was an Irish pop singer, songwriter and actor, who, with Ronan Keating, was one of two lead singers of the pop group Boyzone.[1] All of Boyzone's studio albums hit number one in the UK, their third and last being their most successful internationally. With Boyzone Gately had a record-breaking sixteen consecutive singles enter the top five of the UK Singles Chart.[2] He performed for millions of fans globally.[3] He released his only solo album in 2000, after the group's initial breakup, which charted in the UK top ten and yielded three UK hit singles including the top three hit "New Beginning." Gately went on to appear variously in successful stage productions and on television programmes as well as contributing further solo tracks to various compilations and soundtracks. In 2008, he rejoined his colleagues as Boyzone reformed for a series of concerts and recordings.(17 March 1976 – 10 October 2009)
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Gately wed Andrew Cowles, first in a commitment ceremony in Las Vegas in 2003 and more formally in a civil partnership ceremony in London in 2006. In 1999, he became one of the first pop stars to come out as gay.[4][5] He was also the first ever boyband member to do so.[6] Upon Boyzone's reformation, Gately featured as part of the first gay couple in a boyband's music video in what was to be his last music video with the band, for the song "Better".[7] He was discovered dead at an apartment he owned with Cowles in Majorca, Spain on 10 October 2009. Tim Teeman of The Times heralded Gately as a hero of gay rights for his response to being "smoked out of the closet".[8]
Gately grew up in severe poverty in the poor, working-class Sheriff Street area of Dublin.[9] He was the fourth of five children; his father Martin is a decorator and his mother, Margaret (born 1949) a cleaner.[10] His siblings are Michelle, Tony, Alan and Mark.[11] As a teenager he appeared in various musicals and theatre performances at school, such as Juno and the Paycock.[10]
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Gately split from his first boyfriend, Stephen Howard, in 1993. Howard became a heroin addict and in 1995 committed suicide by hanging.[10]
On 16 June 1999, The Sun newspaper covered its front page with what it described as a "World Exclusive" and the headline, "Boyzone Stephen: I'm gay and I'm in love".[4] At the age of 23, Gately sold his story to the newspaper because he feared a former member of Boyzone's security was about to sell the story. The Sun had two further pages on the story as well as an editorial. Gately also revealed that in 1998 he had started a relationship with the then 27 year-old Eloy de Jong, who had been in the Dutch boy band Caught in the Act.[4] They had first met in 1995.
From 2000 to 2002, Gately suffered from depression and addiction to prescription drugs.[10]
Gately and de Jong split up in January 2002; Gately subsequently moved back to Dublin. After remaining single for a while, Gately started dating internet businessman Andrew Cowles, who had been introduced to him by mutual friends Elton John and David Furnish. Gately and Cowles held a commitment ceremony in a wedding chapel whilst on holiday in Las Vegas in 2003. On 19 March 2006, Gately entered into a civil partnership with Cowles in a ceremony in London.[21]
His manager Louis Walsh was unaware of Gately's sexuality when he selected him for Boyzone and has said that, had he known, he would have thought twice before picking him, claiming that "it wasn't cool then to have a gay guy in a band".[7]
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On 6 October 2009, Gately posted on Twitter, saying: "Still busy, lots going on. Focussing on finishing my book next so may be quiet here".[22][23]
Gately's body was discovered on 10 October 2009 in the apartment which he owned with Cowles near Port d'Andratx on the western tip of Majorca in Spain.[24][25][26][27][28] Spanish police were alerted at 1:45 pm.[29] It was reported that he had "gone out for drinks, returned to his accommodation and fallen asleep, but never woke up."[24] He was found squatting in an awkward way on a sofa, dressed in his pyjamas.[23] Police said they had no reason to believe the death was related to abuse of substances such as drugs or alcohol and no suicide note or signs of violence were located on the corpse.[29] The Gately family have enlisted celebrity solicitor Gerald Kean as their official spokesperson; Kean ruled out foul play and suicide, describing it as "just a tragic accident".[6][30][31]
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Fans responded with messages of sympathy on the social networking website Facebook.[22] Boyzone manager Louis Walsh is quoted as saying: "We're all absolutely devastated. I'm in complete shock. I was only with him on Monday at an awards ceremony. We don't know much about what's happened yet. I only heard after The X Factor [UK television talent show on which Walsh is a judge] and we will rally around each other this week. He was a great man."[22][32] Walsh dropped out of the 11 October 2009 live televised results episode of The X Factor as a direct result of Gately's death.[30][33][34] Simon Cowell addressed the issue at the start of the programme.[30]
Irish boyband Westlife said: "We are, like everyone else, in shock today. We met Stephen Gately back in ‘98 when we first started out and since then have had the pleasure of meeting him many times. He and the Boyzone lads paved the way for us as a band. He was a friendly, positive spirit and a passionate performer. Our thoughts are with Andy and the rest of his family, his friends, his legions of fans and of course his bandmates Keith, Mikey, Shane and Ronan who will be devastated at the loss of a truly beautiful person.".[35] Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said: "It's so sad. Boyzone and Stephen, they've all been part of Irish life and far wider than that, the last 15 years, and so successful, so it's a huge, huge tragedy. He was 33 years of age, 15 years at the top, a fine musician, it's just a huge tragedy to Irish entertainment, Irish music and further afield as well".[36] Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen paid tribute: "Stephen Gately was a gifted young man with a talent for singing which brought him tremendous success as a member of Boyzone and also as a West End star. There was a joy about his music making, and his death at such a young age is both a personal and professional loss".[36] Andrew Lloyd Webber said it is "a great loss to the musical world".[23] Elton John said he and his partner David Furnish were "stunned" when they heard the news.[36] Katherine Jenkins twittered of "memories 2 cherish" from a night out in the weeks leading up to his death.[36] Stephen Fry described Gately's demise as "a dreadful shock".[36] "This was not supposed to happen. This was not in the script", said music historian Paul Gambaccini.[37]
Gately's bandmates flew out to Majorca on 11 October 2009.[23][30] Louis Walsh is expected to join them soon. The surviving members of Boyzone, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating and Shane Lynch, issued a joint statement:
An investigation into the circumstances of Gately's death was underway, with police concentrating on a night out he had with Cowles.[23] A post-mortem and toxicology tests took place on 13 October and this examination showed that Gately died of natural causes due to pulmonary oedema.[39] On 16 October, his body will be brought from Majorca to Dublin where his funeral will take place at the Church of St Laurence O'Toole the following day.[40][41We are completely devastated by the loss of our friend and brother, Stephen. We have shared such wonderful times together over the years and were all looking forward to sharing many more. Stephen was a beautiful person in both body and spirit. He lit up our lives and those of the many friends he had all over the world. Our love and sympathy go out to Andrew and Stephen's family. We love you and will miss you forever, 'Steo'.[38]
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