October 11, 200916 yr Boyzone's Stephen Gately dies at the age of 33 By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 9:17 AM on 11th October 2009 Comments (81) Add to My Stories Boyzone star Stephen Gately has been found dead at the age of 33. The singer, who at the height of his fame was a pin-up for thousands of teenage girls, fell asleep after a night out while on holiday in Majorca yesterday and never woke up. A statement on Boyzone's official website confirmed the Irish performer's death. It said: 'Stephen tragically died yesterday whilst on holiday with his partner Andrew in Majorca. The rest of the boys will be flying out today.' Stephen Gately and Ronan Keating at the Pride Of Britain Awards on Monday - the last photo taken of Stephen while he was alive Gateley's last message on Twitter, posted Oct 6, said: 'still busy - lots going on. Focusing on finishing my book next so may be quiet here' Gately, who announced he was gay ten years ago - causing a sensation in the pop music world - wed Andrew Cowles in 2003. They had a commitment ceremony in Las Vegas and a more formal civil partnership ceremony in London in March 2006. Gately attended ITV1's Pride Of Britain Awards with former band member Ronan Keating on Monday - it was the last time he was photographed alive. The News of the World's showbusiness editor Dan Wootton told Sky News Gately had gone out for drinks, returned to his accommodation and gone to sleep, but never woke up. X Factor judge Louis Walsh who used to manage Boyzone said: '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. He was a great man.' All four remaining members of Boyzone - Keating, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham - will be flying to Palma, the capital of the Spanish island, today. 'Devastated': Former Boyzone member Ronan Keating was said to be like a brother to Stephen Gately, who died after falling asleep last night Ronan Keating, who is in Chicago, is said to be 'completely devastated'. Shane Lynch told the News of the World: 'Me and the boys are flying out in the morning. We just need to get over to where he's passed and work out what we need to do.' Born in Dublin, Gately joined Boyzone in 1993 after answering an advert in Dublin to audition for Ireland's first boyband. The group achieved international fame as well as six UK No.1s - including Words, No Matter What, All That Matters To Me and You Needed Me. They made a comeback tour in 2007, inspired by the success of Take That. However, their 19-date Better gigs failed to fill stadiums, despite offers of free tickets. When the band split up in 2000, Gately, who was involved in singing and acting as a child, was the first to launch a solo career. Stephen with his Boyzone bandmates: Keith Duffy, Ronan Keating, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch Stephen 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 However, he was dropped by Polydor in 2001 after three Top 20 singles - New Beginning, I Believe and Stay. He also had success as a performer in the West End in productions of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. And he appeared on ITV's reality series Dancing On Ice. Gately was voted Hero of 1999 at the Smash Hits Poll Winners' Party. A spokesman for Boyzone confirmed the death but details are yet to emerge. His last message on the social networking site Twitter, posted on October 6, said: "Still busy - lots going on. Focusing on finishing my book next so may be quiet here.' Stephen Gately starred in ITV's Dancing On Ice Television presenter Emma Forbes, who interviewed Gately on numerous occasions at the height of the band's fame in the 1990s, described him as a 'great talent' and 'divine person'. She told BBC Radio 5 Live today: 'A sweeter man I've never met. He was just the loveliest guy and I am truly saddened. 'Such a young age, such a great talent, a divine person.' Back Again: Boyzone members Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating, Stephen Gately and Shane Lynch performing at the O2 in London last year The Irish boyband, managed by Louis Walsh, formed in 1993 She added: 'He had a beautiful voice and a really lovely personality. Whenever I met him it was a total joy to interview him.' Scores of devastated fans posted tributes on the singer's Facebook page, expressing sadness and disbelief at the news of his death. Lynda Gammon wrote: 'Heaven has gained an angel. RIP Stephen, we are so shocked, our thoughts are with your family, friends and other band members.' A post by Mike Gardiner read: 'This is a total shock OMG', while Joanne Bloomer wrote: 'RIP Stephen. Very sad. U were a true talent!' Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1219583/Boyzones-Stephen-Gately-dies-age-33.html#ixzz0Tc7AnaB9
October 11, 200916 yr This was very unexpected and tragic as well. I don't care one iota for the man's musical output, but this really is upsetting. :(
October 11, 200916 yr I've never been into boybands at all but it's still a shock to hear of Stephen's sudden unexpected death. He came across as a nice, pleasant guy.
October 11, 200916 yr Author I've never been into boybands at all but it's still a shock to hear of Stephen's sudden unexpected death. He came across as a nice, pleasant guy. I would have to agree.;)
October 12, 200916 yr apparently, if this site is to be believed, it was a case of death by vomit...what a way to go. :inquisitive: http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/10/12/stephen-gately-choked-to-death-on-his-vomit-115875-21740316/
October 12, 200916 yr Author 'I've lost my very, very best friend,' says Louis Walsh as he mourns Stephen Gately By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 10:12 AM on 14th October 2009 Comments (65) Add to My Stories Louis Walsh paid an emotional tribute to Stephen Gately last night, saying he and the Boyzone band members had lost their 'very, very best friend'. The X Factor judge and former Boyzone manager revealed he met with the 33-year-old star just last week and said he 'looked healthier than ever'. 'I never saw him in better health or better form,' he said. Scroll down to watch a video report... Close friends Stephen Gately Louis Walsh pictured in 1996. Walsh last night revealed his shock at Gately's sudden death But just days later the star was found dead at his apartment in the upmarket Majorcan resort of Port Andratx. 'The boys are devastated. It's like they have lost their very, very best friend, and me too,' Walsh said. Stephen Gately, seen here in London last Monday, died of natural causes according to a preliminary post mortem Autopsy reports yesterday confirmed that Gately suffered an acute pulmonary oedema - or sudden build up of fluid in the lungs - thought to have been caused by a heart attack. Full tests for drink and drugs have yet to be completed, however. His family last night said they felt 'vindicated' by the finding, and announced his funeral would take place on Saturday at St Laurence O'Toole's Church in Dublin. Walsh said he was still in shock over Gately's sudden death, and remembered him as a great professional. 'Nobody can believe it - the guys, me, nobody. We are in shock,' he said. Walsh met Gately and his bandmates last week to discuss the remaining tracks for the boy band's comeback album. He recalled Gately's tough upbringing in inner city Dublin, describing him as a 'very working class kid.' 'His best friend was his sister Michelle - I don't know how she is coping," Walsh said. 'The boys are like his family now. The four boys where like four daddies for him. 'All he wanted to do was sing and go to the West End and he loved Disney, that was Stephen. 'Of all the people I've worked with I don't think anybody thanked me as much as Stephen. He used to always say to me 'if I wasn't in Boyzone I don't know where I'd be today, thank you'.' 'A great, great, great professional kid.' Walsh recalled how Gately phoned him almost every Saturday night when the band first made it big more than a decade ago, worried newspapers would out him for being gay. More... 'I came out of the bedroom and found Stephen Gately dead': Bulgarian clubber describes horrific discovery after night's partyingThe pain shows as Elton John grieves for his tragic friend Stephen Gately 'He lived in fear. He lived in absolute fear of the media and the media outed him in the end but then it was a fantastic reaction. There was no negativity,' Walsh told RTE. 'He loved to go out and party and a have a good time but he was very, very good living. He was a one off.' Ashen-faced: Gately's husband Andrew Cowles leaves court in Palma, Majorca after hearing the results of the autopsy Walsh, who pulled out of Sunday night's episode of X Factor after learning of Stephen's death, is expected to gather in Ireland with Boyzone members Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham for Gately's funeral on Saturday. Walsh, who put the band together in the 1990s, said Gately took the break-up of the group particularly hard. 'All Stephen lived for was to be singing music,' Walsh said. 'He was down because the band was his life and they where his best friends and it was finished but he picked himself up and got on to the West End. 'I think he was the glue in the band because he kept everybody happy.' The Boyzone star's family - including his distraught civil partner Andrew Cowles - are now making plans for his body to be flown home. Witness statement: Georgi Dochev, pictured in Majorca today, found Gately's body Lawyer Gerald Kean, a spokesman for Gately's family in Ireland, said: 'The family are pleased that the post mortem has been completed. They are pleased that the results of the post mortem vindicate exactly what they said all along, that Stephen died as a result of natural causes. 'They would like to thank the authorities in Spain and Ireland for doing everything in their power to complete formalities as quickly as possible to get Stephen's body home.' Mr Kean said the family was planning the funeral to take place at noon on Saturday. It is thought Gately's body could be flown home on Friday for a private wake at his family home. It will be several weeks before it is known whether alcohol or drugs were in his bloodstream when he died. Happy times: Andrew Cowles and Stephen Gately after their civil partnership ceremony at the Goring Hotel in London in 2006 Mystery had surrounded his final hours after it was claimed in the island newspaper Ultima Hora that had spent the night on the sofa while Mr Cowles and Mr Dochev had slept in the apartment’s only bedroom. He was discovered curled up on the sofa in what has been described as a prayer-like position. In the hours before he died, he had been in the company of Mr Cowles and a Bulgarian man Georgi Dochev, who they met in the gay nightclub, the Black Cat. The trio then returned to Gately’s luxury apartment around 4am. Mr Dochev, 25, said on Monday: 'I am devastated. I came out of the bedroom and found Stephen dead. I found the body, it was very cold. 'I woke the husband. It is awful - I am in shock and I'm ill with it. 'I haven't had a wink of sleep since. I don't think I will ever get over this. 'You'll have to ask the husband what has happened, it has been very traumatic. I don't want to say anything more. I'm still nervous and really upset.' Police had already stated there was nothing to suggest suspicious circumstances surrounding his death. Earlier in the day Mr Cowles, 32, spent half an hour with a company in Palma that arranges the repatriation of bodies. He left looking tearful and strained with an unidentified blonde woman saying he did not wish to comment. He then made the short journey by car to the Court of Instruction where Judge Carmen Abrines quizzed him for an hour on the events of the evening. Mr Dochev, 25, will be interviewed in the coming days. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1220099/Stephen-Gately-died-natural-causes-post-mortem-reveals-family-prepare-fly-body-home.html#ixzz0TujhK6IF
October 12, 200916 yr Author If that's true, it just goes to show how dangerous "binge-drinking" can be.;)
October 12, 200916 yr Boybands are really not my thing and never were but I was a teenager in the 1990s and grew knowing Stephen existed (No Matter What as n radio ALL the time) so it's kinda sad and very unexpected :confused: It's so sad for his partner and his bandmates.
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