Stephen Gately - Boyzone

Penyanyi Boyzone,Stephen Gately Meninggal Di Mallorca  
London  -  Penyanyi Boyzone, Stephen Gately (33), yang mengakibatkan sensasi di dunia musik pop 10 tahun lalu dengan mengumumkan ia adalah gay, meninggal sewaktu berlibur di Mallorca, Spanyol, demikian pernyataan di laman resmi kelompok musik pop Irlandia tersebut, Ahad.

"Stephen meninggal secara tragis sewaktu berlibur di Mallorca kemarin," katanya.

Stephen, katanya, menetap di pulau pelancongan liburan Spanyol itu bersama pasangannya, Andrew Cowles, dan anggota lain grup band tersebut dijadwalkan terbang Ahad.

Harian News of the World melaporkan di lamannya bahwa Stephen telah meninggal setelah minum-minum.

"Kelihatannya ia keluar untuk minum-minum, lalu kembali, tertidur dan tak pernah bangun lagi," kata surat kabar itu --yang mengutip keterangan seorang teman penyanyi tersebut yang tak disebutkan jatidirinya.

Band lima anggota itu, yang dipersatukan oleh impresario pop Louis Walsh, yang juga membentuk Girls Aloud dan Westlife, paling terkenal di Irlandia, Australia, Selandia Baru, Asia dan Inggris.

Grup musik tersebut memiiki enam hit di pop chart Inggris antara 1994 dan 2000, termasuk "Stay" pada 2001. Kelompok itu secara resmi bubar pada 2000, ketika Ronan Keating keluar dan bersolo karir, tapi mereka bersatu kembali untuk beberapa acara pada 2007-2008.

Kemunculan Stephen satu dasawarsa lalu sebagai anggota satu kelompok yang pemirsa utamanya adalah gadis remaja mengakibatkan sensasi di dunia musik pop. Ia dan Cowles "menikah" di catatan sipil pada 2006.(ant/sys)

Sumber :
http://erabaru.net

Boyzone singer Stephen Gately dies on holiday

Tributes from the world of pop music and beyond have poured in for the Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, who died in Majorca yesterday.

Gately, who was 33, died at his holiday home in Port Andratx, where he was staying with his civil partner, Andrew Cowles. Spanish police said there were "no signs of suspicious circumstances".

Gately joined Boyzone in 1993 after answering an advert in Dublin to audition for Ireland's first boyband. The band were hugely successful, enjoying six number-one singles before they split up in 2000.

Gately, who shared lead vocals with Ronan Keating, came out as gay 10 years ago, shocking the band's legion of adoring female fans but retaining their support.

The Boyzone tour website said that members of the band were flying out to Spain following the news. The band – Keating, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch – said in a statement: "We are completely devastated by the loss of our friend and brother, Stephen.

"We have shared such wonderful times together over the years and were all looking forward to sharing many more.

"Stephen was a beautiful person in both body and spirit. He lit up our lives and those of the many friends he had all over the world.

"Our love and sympathy go out to Andrew and Stephen's family. We love you and will miss you forever, 'Steo'."

The band's manager, Louis Walsh, cancelled his scheduled appearance as a judge on the live X Factor show tonight . Walsh, who had been with Gately at an awards ceremony last Monday, said he was "in complete shock". "We will rally around each other this week," he told the News of the World. "He was a great man."

Sir Elton John was among the pop music legends who expressed sadness at the death of Gately. "Stephen was the kindest, gentlest soul," he said. "We send our love and condolences to his partner, Andy, and to all his friends everywhere."

The veteran broadcaster and music historian Paul Gambaccini said: "This wasn't supposed to happen. This was not in the script."

Gately was born in Dublin. Before joining Boyzone he had worked as a barman and shopping assistant and landed a small part in the cult film The Commitments. By the time he came out in 1999, the band had already enjoyed 13 consecutive top five singles. He made the announcement to fans after discovering that someone was planning to sell a story revealing his sexuality to a newspaper.

Despite the band's pin-up status, he received an overwhelmingly positive response from fans who flooded the band's website with messages of support. In 2006, Gately married Cowles in a civil union.

After Boyzone split, Gately embarked on a solo career. He had three top 20 singles but was dropped by his label, Polydor, in 2001.

He went on to have success on the theatre circuit, including taking the lead role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and playing the child catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Lloyd Webber described Gately as "enormously talented" today.

In 2007, Gately appeared on the ITV1 show Dancing on Ice. Boyzone reunited the same year but a recent 19-date tour failed to fill stadiums, despite offers of free tickets.

The former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, whose daughter Georgina is married to Nicky Byrne of the boyband Westlife, was also among those who paid tribute to Gately. He said he knew the pop star, whose family were in his constituency.

"Boyzone and Stephen, they've all been part of Irish life and far wider than that, the last 15 years, and so successful, so it's a huge, huge tragedy. It's so sad," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show.

"He was 33 years of age, 15 years at the top, a fine musician, it's just a huge tragedy to Irish entertainment, Irish music and further afield as well."

The members of Westlife said Gately helped pave the way for them in the music industry and was a "friendly, positive spirit and a passionate performer".

On Twitter, Stephen Fry wrote: "He was loveable and sweet-natured and will be hugely missed."

From :

http://www.guardian.co.uk