Fans line Dublin streets for Boyzone singer’s funeral

DUBLIN, Oct 18 — Some 3,000 people lined the streets yesterday for the funeral of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, who died on the island of Majorca a week ago.

The four remaining members of the Irish boy band sang and spoke at the service which fans listened to through speakers around St Laurence O'Toole Church where locals had swept pavements and painted fences in preparation on Friday.

Gately's Boyzone bandmates, who spent the night in the church with his body, helped carry the coffin out of the church.

A post-mortem revealed on Tuesday that 33-year-old Gately died of natural causes due to fluid on the lungs at his home on the Spanish island last weekend. — Reuters

Boyzone’s Gately to be buried in Ireland on Saturday

LONDON, Oct 15 — The funeral of late Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, who died on the Spanish island of Majorca over the weekend, will be held in Dublin on Saturday, his band members said on their website yesterday.

The remaining four members of the band said they planned to fly to Majorca to bring back the body themselves.

The 33-year-old’s body has been released by Spanish authorities following an autopsy and will be repatriated to his native Ireland tomorrow, they added.

A post mortem revealed on Tuesday that Gately died of natural causes due to fluid on the lungs.
“Ronan, Keith, Mikey & Shane visited Stephen’s parents in Dublin on Tuesday to pay their respects and confirm the family’s final wishes for Stephen. The Boyz plan to return to Majorca on Friday to bring their brother back home to Dublin,” the statement said.

There are also plans for a memorial service in London, where Gately lived with his partner Andrew Cowles. — Reuters

Boyzone singer Gately dies in Mallorca

LONDON, Oct 11 — Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, 33, who caused a sensation in the pop world 10 years ago by announcing he was gay, died while on holiday in Mallorca, Spain, the Irish pop group’s official website said today.

“Stephen tragically died whilst on holiday in Mallorca yesterday,” the announcement said.
It said Gately was staying on the Spanish holiday resort island with his partner, Andrew Cowles, and that other members of the band would fly there today.
The News of the World newspaper reported on its website that Gately had died after having a few drinks.

“It looks like he went out for a few drinks, then got back, fell asleep and never woke up,” the newspaper quoted an unnamed friend of the singer as saying.

The five-member band, put together by pop impresario Louis Walsh, who also assembled Girls Aloud and Westlife, was most popular in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Britain.
It had six number one hits on the British pop charts between 1994 and 2000, including “Stay” in 2001. The group officially split up in 2000 when Ronan Keating set off on a solo career, but they reunited for various events in 2007-2008.

Gately’s coming out a decade ago as a member of a group whose main audience was young teenage girls caused a sensation in the pop world. He and Cowles were married in a civil union in 2006. — Reuters