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The birth of Boyzone at the end of 1993 saw the Irish music well and truly broken. Following the huge success of U2 and the Cranberries, critics gave the five boys from Dublin little hope of ever leaving the Emerald Isle - let alone make it across the water.
However, when their debut single "Love Me For A Reason" crashed into the charts at no.2 in '94 it ensured that Ronan Keating, Stephen Gately, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham became the most promising and exciting Irish export since….well …Guinness!
They won the Smash Hits Award for Best New Act shortly afterwards but a betting man still would have given you even odds on them going the distance. It's a jungle out there, after all.
But, boyzone's assault on the charts continued healthily with singles "Key To My Life" and "So Good", both of which went to number 3. Their acclaimed cover of Cat Stevens classic "Father and Son" proved even more popular, hitting the number two spot and showing no immediate inclination to move down. The pin finally dropped when boyzone scored their first number 1 hit in December 1996 with "Words".
Since then boyzone have become the first act in Chart history to reach the top 3 with their first 14 singles. Remember the good old days when records stayed in the charts for more than the blink of an eye? Stephen Gately does: "We just kept working, and working really hard back then. There will always be people trying to knock you down but you just have to rise above that. boyzone are boyzone and we enjoy what we do".
We all know the story from here onwards. While the press have been poring over the band's marriages, babies and the colour of their socks, boyzone have been busy recording three number one albums.
Their last long player "Where We Belong", saw the boys increasing their share of the creative pie. Much of the album was written by the band and showcases their work with the likes of Ray Hedges, Stirkin, Rogers (most noted for their stirling work with Annie Lennox) and Johnny Douglas who has worked with All Saints and George Michael. The album has now gone five times platinum, topping the charts on two separate occasions.
Despite the huge increase in musical respect now afforded to the band, it wasn't until they walked home with the ultra-prestigious Ivor Novello Award for "Picture Of You", (the lead song from the Mr Bean movie) that they were notably evolving and were taken seriously by their peers and steadily maturing, but loyal fans.
The very same fans also ensured that boyzone ran home with the Record of the Year award for "No Matter What" at the end of '98. From school to cool in a moment. Who says awards don't mean anything?
Shane goes on to say "Boy bands usually flop after the first album, but boyzone are still going strong after three. We never forget where we started from, here's to the fourth". So it is all change in the boyzone camp. If you actually listen to the music, it's not too hard to hear why popular opinion has changed so massively.
For 5 years now, boyzone have been dominating the radio play list, the TV, and most importantly the charts. They have been the face and voice of Pepsi. They have 4 Irish Music Awards under their belts.
Ronan has presented The MTV awards, Miss World, the Eurovision Song Contest as well as the recent BBC1 talent show "Get Your Act Together". Shane races rally cars for Ford, beating British rally car champion Alistair McRae in his first ever race! Stephen presented the 1998 Smash Hits Poll Winners Party, Child-Line show and is currently working on the sound-track for the film Watership Down.
Keith is turning down modelling offers from the likes of John Rocha and caused a stir at the '99 Brits by playing drinking games with buddy Robbie Williams, and Mikey has been seen Kick-Boxing on an underground Irish film.
Collectively, boyzone have earned themselves fans including the all important Mr. Bean and Israel's Miss World - not to mention George Michael, Brian Kennedy, Bono, who asked the band to appear in U2's "Sweetest Thing" video, the Bee Gee's, Pavarotti and David Bowie, who recently did a web-chat with Ronan.
Pretty good for a band who have never taken their success for granted, aren't constantly surrounded by a fog of controversy and according to Mikey "Still go to the supermarket, sweep the floors and do the washing up!".
As if that lot isn't enough to make the whole planet realise the boyzone are in for the duration, they are also the first group form Ireland to have 6 number ones. Leaving Shane's sisters' band B*witched in second place with 4 and U2 with 3.
There are plans to commit the boyzone story (so far) to film this year and a new deal with Mercury Records should ensure the bands attempts to crack America are well supported. Boyzone are also embarking on a their Greatest Hits Tour this summer, which kicks off in Brighton on May 4th. The tour travels all around Britain including Wembley on May 17th, 18th and 19th before moving on to Europe and featuring a spectacular open air-gig at the RDS in Dublin to celebrate the album launch on the 30th May.
'By Request' certainly proves how far boyzone have come and the album seems to be the perfect way to kick-start the second chapter of this bands' shining career.
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Albums
| Year | Label | Title | |
| 1995 | Polydor | Said and Done |
| 1996 | Mercury | A Different Beat |
| 1998 | Polydor | Where We Belong |
| 1999 | Mercury-IDJMG | By Request | |
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