Boyzone's Back (Alright)

17 June 2010

by Danni Mahoney

You’d be mistaken to consider boy (and girl) bands a thing of the past. We all heard the collective public sigh as bands like Spice Girls, Take That and Backstreet Boys jumped back on the horse, but there’s no denying the fact that this ‘comeback’ idea is a lucrative business.

Another boy band to emerge from the history books in recent years is Boyzone. Reforming in 2007, they decided to skip the quick moneymaking comeback tour by taking things more seriously and turning it into a long-term affair. Since then Boyzone have achieved great success on the UK charts with their latest album Brother – dedicated to previous member Stephen Gately, who passed away late last year. This isn’t just fleeting success for the band; managing to keep Lady Gaga and Gorillaz off the top of the charts is a feat worth celebrating. Keith Duffy seems to be making the most of his success over in Ireland as I speak to him early Monday morning, Sydney time:

“It’s five past eleven and I’m halfway through a bottle of Vodka…”

So your night's going well then! Brother is your first studio album in twelve years. Did you have a hard time deciding whether to continue with the release of the album after Stephen’s death?

“Through the recording of this album we lost a very dear member of the band... to be honest we didn’t know what to do at the time, and as a group we decided that maybe the best thing to do, and what Stephen probably would have wanted to do, would be to finish the album.”

Choosing to release this album without Stephen has become a healing process for not only the band, but the fans as well. The recent ITV1 (UK) tribute to Stephen acted as a turning point for the grief-stricken band members.

“It was difficult because it was our first time to perform together without Stephen, and it was very apparent on the day of rehearsals that he wasn’t there. So it was a difficult day. It was another kind of curve I suppose in our life and we got through it. We looked after each other.”

So how do you think the album came out, considering the circumstances?

“It’s probably the first Boyzone album that I’ve stuck on in the car when I’m driving - I really enjoy it.”

During the recording of the album, the band had trouble getting their hands on a track that Stephen was particularly attached to, originally written by Mika. Gave It All Away was being blocked for use on the album due to publishing problems. Due to the delicate situation, it was important for Boyzone to reclaim the rights to the song, so Ronan Keating and Duffy travelled to LA to meet up with Mika and try to resolve the issue. None of the artists had no idea why Boyzone was not allowed to release the song.

“It was something that goes on behind the artists’ back if you like, and when we got back to London the following Thursday we got a phone call from Lucian Grainge, the head of Universal Records Worldwide - who is the rock star to rock stars. He rang Ronan and basically said ‘I don’t know what you did in LA, but you have that song if you ever want to use it'".

Just when you thought that the boy band phenomenon had lost all their power back in the ‘90s, it looks like Boyzone still have some sway after all.