Why are Boyzone reuniting?
The band say they were so busy in the 1990s they didn’t have an opportunity to celebrate their success. So now they are getting back together for a farewell concert at the Emirates Stadium in London on June 6th.
The timing feels a bit random – what’s with that?
Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham all sat down last year for the three-part documentary Boyzone: No Matter What. The raw and honest film was warmly received – suggesting people still have a soft spot for the group.
Stephen Gately died in 2009. And didn’t Mikey Graham say on camera that he’d never reunite with his former bandmates?
In No Matter What, Graham said that he had no grudges against the rest of the group but that the pain he felt over being sidelined as a singer and songwriter was too much and that he didn’t want to go back. However, it was confirmed that he will be part of the reunion.
So all is good?
Sort of. It was notable that Graham was absent from the press conference announcing the Emirates date and attended by Keating, Lynch and Duffy. “Mikey apologises for not being here today in person for personal reasons,” said Keating. “We’ll see him soon, and he will be there on the night.”
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What about Louis Walsh – who, after all, created the band and managed them to success?
One of the most shocking takeaways from the film was just how wide a rift exists between Boyzone and Walsh – with both sides feeling hard done by. At the press conference, it was revealed he has nothing to do with the summer show. “Louis hasn’t been involved in Boyzone for a very long time, before the documentary, even well before the documentary,” said Keating. “We stopped talking to him.”
But in terms of music, does anyone want to hear from Boyzone again? It’s not exactly the second coming of Oasis
Well, they won’t be charging people hundreds of euro for the privilege of seeing them – so no, it certainly isn’t Oasis 2.0. More generally, the boy bands of the 1990s are fondly remembered. The greatly maligned (at the time) Five have sold out their Dublin shows in November and Take That are rebooting their Circus tour from 2009 and taking it on the road next year. If they can have one more victory lap, why not four working-class men from Dublin who made it to the top through sheer determination – when people at every step of the way told them they would fail?
