Contents
Title Page
1 Death in Majorca
2 A Dublin Childhood
3 Take What?
4 Life in the Limelight
5 Boyzone – Or Menzone?
6 Coming Out
7 Going It Alone
8 A Change of Plan
9 Separate Ways
10 Taking Stock
11 Making Amends
12 The Show Goes On
13 A Reunion – Or Not?
14 The Boyz Are Back In Town
15 Farewell to Stephen
Copyright
At first glance, the news was just unbelievable: Stephen Gately of the hugely successful Irish boy band Boyzone was dead. Reports were flooding out of Majorca, where Stephen and his civil partner Andrew Cowles owned a holiday home, that the singer had simply keeled over in the night: staggeringly, the news turned out to be true. He was found dead at 1.45pm on Saturday, 10 October 2009, on the sofa in his luxury apartment in Port Andratx, aged just 33. What could possibly have happened?
It was a shock for many other reasons, too. Not only was Stephen far too young to have passed away, but he was also one of the most popular stars Ireland has ever produced and had just enjoyed a new lease of professional life with the reunion of Boyzone in 2008. It seemed just the blink of an eye since Stephen originally hit the big time with Boyzone’s cover version of The Osmonds’ hit single ‘Love Me For A Reason’ – how could this have come to pass?
On top of that, just a decade earlier, he’d made show-business history when he became the first ever member of a boy band to openly admit to being gay. He might have been forced into the declaration through concerns that he was about to be blackmailed, but the wave of public support that followed – and endured – was a revelation as to quite how far times had changed from just a few years previously, when such an admission might well have destroyed his career.
In the first hours and days after Stephen’s body was found, intensive and lurid speculation began to emerge as to what had been behind it all, although the Spanish police were adamant from the very start that there were no suspicious circumstances and no hint of criminality. ‘There was no suicide note or evidence of any drug use or excessive drinking, and the dead man’s friends were at a loss to explain what had happened,’ said a source close to the Spanish police. ‘All we know so far is that they had gone out the night before till late and had quite a few drinks and raised the alert when they found Stephen dead.’
Solicitor and friend of the Gately family Gerald Kean also spoke out. ‘There’s no drugs involved and it’s not suicide,’ he remarked. ‘There is nothing untoward; it’s not drugs, we don’t believe, it’s not suicide, it’s not murder, it’s not a fight. That’s what we’ve been told.’
Meanwhile, as the news began to spread, people were shocked to the core. ‘David and I are stunned by this tragedy,’ said the pop legend Elton John, who with his partner David Furnish had introduced Stephen and Andrew. ‘Stephen was the gentlest, kindest soul. We send our love and condolences to his partner, Andy, and to all his friends everywhere.’
Louis Walsh, the X-Factor judge who discovered Stephen and had been Boyzone’s manager, described himself as ‘absolutely devastated’ and in ‘complete shock’. Indeed, he was so upset by the news that he was forced to cancel an appearance on The X Factor, which was due to be filmed that night.
Producer Simon Cowell added to the general sorrow. ‘I want to say on behalf of the show, this is really, really tragic news and I want to send our condolences to the family,’ he said. ‘Our thoughts are with Louis, who is obviously not here tonight. They were incredibly close. But, as they say, the show goes on.’
Even Bertie Ahern, the former Irish prime minister, was moved to speak. ‘The Gatelys are in my own constituency,’ he said. ‘I know the family, I knew Stephen. He was 33 years of age, 15 at the top, a fine musician – it’s just a huge tragedy to Irish entertainment, Irish music and further afield as well.’
The four remaining members of Boyzone – Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch – were beside themselves. They released a statement paying tribute to Stephen, who they called ‘Our friend and brother.’
‘We have shared such wonderful times together over the years and were all looking forward to sharing many more. Stephen was a beautiful person, both in body and spirit. Our love and sympathy go out to Andrew and Stephen’s family. We will love you and miss you forever, Steo.’
With that, they flew out to Majorca to give Andrew their support. ‘We just need to get over to where he’s passed and work out what we need to do,’ said Shane.
Take That, the English boy band with whom Boyzone had enjoyed an amicable rivalry in the mid-1990s, were also shocked and spoke of Stephen’s tragic passing. ‘Our thoughts and prayers go out to Andrew and Stephen’s family, friends and band mates,’ they wrote on their website.
Indeed, everyone wanted their say. ‘He was loveable and sweet-natured and will be hugely missed,’ Stephen Fry wrote on Twitter.
‘This wasn’t supposed to happen,’ said Paul Gambaccini. ‘This was not in the script.’
But what had really happened? Slowly, details began to emerge. Another man had been at the apartment that night, a Bulgarian called Georgi Dochev, 25. Indeed, it was Georgi who found Stephen’s body: he had met Stephen and Andrew in the Black Cat nightclub in Palma the night before.
‘Stephen was there with Andrew when I arrived at 3am and they were still there when I left at around 5.45am,’ recalled a fellow reveller. ‘They weren’t off their faces, but they were drinking. They weren’t being rowdy – they were just two lads on a night out. Andrew was dancing and Stephen was jigging around. People went up and chatted to them, but it was all very low key.’
Georgi had come back to spend the night with the couple, which gave rise to more lurid speculation about what had gone on. Initially there was speculation that Stephen might have choked on his own vomit, but that turned out to be incorrect, although the trio certainly had been drinking heavily earlier that night.
Gerald Kean, who had become the family’s de facto spokesman, was keen to set the record straight before the official inquest began. He rejected suggestions that Stephen had been on an eight-hour drinking binge: ‘I think all the information that we have would indicate natural causes,’ he said on ITV1’s This Morning. ‘We would certainly hope to get answers following the post mortem.’
Others were also keen to refute suggestions that Stephen and Andrew regularly overdid it. ‘Stephen and Andy were regulars here over the summer,’ said a waitress at the nearby The Gran Follies Beach Club. ‘They were very polite. We knew Stephen was a singer, but he was very modest. They would often come here for a beer or two, but I wouldn’t say they were heavy drinkers.’
Certainly, it seemed very odd. ‘He was in a strange position,’ recalled a police investigator, describing the scene. ‘He was found squatting down on the sofa almost in a praying position. His partner was beside himself with grief and was being comforted in the couple’s bedroom by a neighbour who he’d called on to help.’
The apartment remained shuttered, while Andrew could not bring himself to appear