Ronan Keating's heartbreaking tribute to late Boyzone bandmate Stephen Gately

10 October 2023 , 11:41

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Ronan Keating's heartbreaking tribute to late Boyzone bandmate Stephen Gately

Boyzone star Ronan Keating has paid an emotional tribute to his late bandmate Stephen Gately to mark the 14th anniversary of his tragic death.

Back in 2009, Stephen suffered an acute pulmonary oedema, othewrwise known as fluid on the lungs, which was caused by an undiagnosed heart condition. Aged only 33 at the time of his sudden death, the pop star was found dead at his home in Majorca.

Still clearly mourning the loss of his close pal, Ronan shared a series of pictures of the boyband in their hey day, along with snaps of his friend. He captioned the heartbreaking tribute saying: "Ah Brother how I miss you. 14 years passed and it’s like you’re still here because of the music. "

Ronan Keating pays tribute to late pal Stephen Gately (rokeating/Instagram)

Stephen was 33 when he died (PA)

He added: "I just imagine you are still in north london loving life. Hanging with Phil the butcher and pat the baker. I do wonder what you would make of it all today. You had such a definite idea of what we are, who we are and when someone was a total waffler. Love ya Pal miss ya every day." Ronan also has an inking on his body as a permanent reminder of the late star, which consists of the numbers 76 and 09, which is Stephen's birth year and the year he sadly passed away.

At the time of his death, the pathology report confirmed that his passing was not the result of drink or drugs and days leading up to his death, he had been in good spirits. His widower, internet tycoon Andrew Cowles, told The Mirror: "I do get some comfort from knowing how happy he was that day. The night he died, we’d had such a good time, a lovely evening in our favourite restaurant. He was the most happy and confident he’d been in his life."

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Stephen and Ronan were part of the Irish pop group that also included Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Shayne Lynch. The five-piece boyband rose to fame in the ninties, selling millions of albums and touring the world. And after Stephen passed away, the group decided to bid farewell to fans and released a final album named Thank You & Goodnight, in 2018. And it also featured a tribute song that was a demo Stephen had recorded in 2002, featuring his distinctive vocals.

Boyzone's Ronan Keating marked the 14th anniversary of Stephen's death with emotional post (rokeating/Instagram)

Keith, who went on to star in ITV soap Coronation Street, also joined forces with Westlife to become a supergroup, which was aptly called Boyzlife. But it looks as though things were far from a smooth ride as Keith revealed that he and Brian McFadden had huge arguments during last year's Old School tour.

In an interview with The Sun, Keith explained: "We’ll have a proper argument and a row – we’d never be aggressive with each other, we’re not children – but we’ll certainly let it be known that we’re unhappy and we’re having a little fall out." But the pair were quick to reconcile as Keith added: "People will see us after a row having a pint in the pub next door, and they’ll go 'how are those still talking?'"

Lucretia Munro