Stephen Gately

Stephen Gately
Gately performing with Boyzone in June 2009
Born
Stephen Patrick David Gately

(1976-03-17)17 March 1976
Sheriff Street, Dublin, Ireland
Died10 October 2009(2009-10-10) (aged 33)
Port d'Andratx, Mallorca, Spain
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Years active1993–2009
Spouse
Andrew Cowles
​
(m. 2006)​
Musical career
GenresPop
InstrumentVocals
Formerly ofBoyzone
Websitestephengately.co.uk

Stephen Patrick David Gately (17 March 1976 – 10 October 2009) was an Irish singer, who, with Ronan Keating, was co-lead singer of the pop group Boyzone;[1] all of Boyzone's studio albums during Gately's lifetime hit number one in the United Kingdom, their third 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 a solo album in 2000, after the group's initial break-up, 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 in stage productions and on television programmes as well as contributing songs to various projects. In 2008, he rejoined his colleagues as Boyzone reformed for a series of concerts and recordings.

Gately made his sexuality known in 1999 and came out to publicity.[4][5] He married Andrew Cowles, first in a commitment ceremony in Las Vegas in 2003 and more formally in a civil partnership ceremony in London in 2006. Upon Boyzone's reformation, Gately featured as part of the first gay couple in a boyband music video for "Better", in what was to be his last with the band.[6] Gately died of a congenital heart defect in a flat that he and Cowles owned in Mallorca, Spain, in 2009. Brian Boyd in The Irish Times stated: "Stephen Gately's death represents the first time that the boyband genre has had to deal with such a tragic situation".[7] Tim Teeman of The Times (UK) heralded Gately as a hero of gay rights for his response to being "smoked out of the closet".[8]

  1. ^ "Boyzone singer Stephen Gately dies: a life on stage" Archived 14 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine The Daily Telegraph.
  2. ^ "Boyzone's Stephen Gately dies in Spain". CNN. 11 October 2009. Archived from the original on 15 October 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2009.
  3. ^ "Stephen Gately webchat!". Evening Standard. 24 September 2004. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2009.
  4. ^ "Fans back Boyzone's Stephen". BBC News. 16 June 1999. Archived from the original on 31 December 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  5. ^ "Boyzone star dies suddenly". Eyewitness News. 11 October 2009. Archived from the original on 15 October 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2009.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Louis 'mightn't have picked' gay Gately was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reaction to Stephen Gately's death will test music industry was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "No marching or shouting but Stephen Gately was a gay rights hero". The Times. London. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2009.[dead link]