STEPHEN-GATELY.ORG
"I'm glad I've helped to inspire people
and I hope I can carry on doing that.."
NEWS ARCHIVES
July 2020
Ronan's new album 'Twenty Twenty' is out today and you can now listen to the song that was written by Robbie Williams about Stephen, The Big Goodbye.
Ronan was on BBC's The One Show last night and talked briefly about how the song came about. You can watch the video below.
Robbie Williams reached out to me last October, it was Steo's ten year anniversary, and he sent me a track that he had written the week Stephen died, which just blew my mind. I remember standing in the kitchen and listening to this song with tears streaming down my face, and I said, 'We've got to do something with this track'.
ADMIN || July 24, 2020
May 2020
Today is a very special day, as Stephen's debut solo single turns 20! The song was released on 29th May 2000, just a few weeks before his debut album. Stephen was very proud of the song, as well as the album of course, so to celebrate this very special anniversary, here's a video of Stephen talking about New Beginning and what it meant to him.
You can of course check out the music section of this website to listen to it and watch the video.
ADMIN || May 29, 2020
April 2020
For the past several months we have been working on something special to mark the 10th anniversary of Stephen’s passing and what we hoped would be a nice way to celebrate him. Stephen changed our life and touched it in ways we can’t begin to describe, and it was important for us to do something to celebrate that.
As you know, Stephen’s resting place is in Dalkey, a place he used to love and where he was planning to retire eventually. Dalkey is a place I am personally very attached to and where I always find great solace and peace of mind. Stephen’s family also visit it from time to time so we knew it would be the best place for a memorial for Stephen. A special memorial bench.
After countless emails and phone calls to an angel of a woman named Sandra and a visit to the City Council of Dun Laoghaire to meet her last October, it was arranged that the bench would be installed in time for Stephen’s birthday. So, like we do every year, we flew to Dublin last month to celebrate his birthday and oversee the installation of the bench.
The bench is situated in Dillon’s park and overlooks Dalkey island. It’s a very peaceful place and we couldn’t be happier with the way it’s turned out. The bench is the perfect place to remember Stephen while enjoying the serenity of the park and a stunning view at the same time. We spent countless hours on the bench last month enjoying the calm before the storm (little did we know that our time there would be some of the last hours outdoors before a while!)
We’ve been in contact with Stephen’s family as well and they all love the bench and will visit as soon as they are able to.
We were very lucky we managed to have the bench installed before borders closed and are forever grateful to the team at the city council who helped us make the memorial possible.
Think of him as living, in the hearts of those he touched.
For nothing loved is ever lost, and he was loved so much.
We know this love's forever.
ADMIN || April 8, 2020
March 2020
Back on 16th March, Ronan was interviewed by Laura Whitmore for her BBC Sounds show about his upcoming new album and Ronan talked a bit more about the song for Stephen, "The Big Goodbye" and how it came about. He also talked a little about Stephen's coming out and his feelings about it:
You can listen to the full interview here.
ADMIN || March 31, 2020
It has been confirmed that Ronan's upcoming album 'Twenty Twenty' will feature a tribute song for Stephen. Called 'The Big Goodbye', the song was written by no other than Robbie Williams following Stephen's passing. After seeing Boyzone's appearance on Loose Women back in October for the 10th anniversary, Robbie reached out to Ronan:
It was the tenth anniversary of the passing of Stephen [...] and I got an email from Robbie saying: ‘Mate, just saw you on Loose Women with the boys, you’re looking well – but I can’t believe it’s 10 years since Stephen died.’ He sent me the song he had written and the moment I listened to the song I was in tears. Together, Robbie and I changed round the arrangement, adapting the vocals so it worked as a duet. It’s a deeply personal song for both of us.
Ronan's album will be out on 1st May.
Eloy De Jong, Stephen's ex-partner, is currently writing his autobiography and it seems like his and Stephen's joint coming out as well as their relationship will be mentioned in the book. Stephen and Eloy were together from 1998 to the end of 2001 and their relationship became public when they came out on 16th June 1999 through an article written in The Sun.
The book will be called "Egal Was Andere Sagen", the same title as the song he dedicated to Stephen back in 2018.
Eloy first sang 'Egal Was Andere Sagen', a german version of 'No Matter What' and tribute to Stephen on a german TV show called 'Die große Schlager-Überraschung' (The Big Surprise) on what would have been Stephen's 42nd anniversary.
While we wait for the book, here is a stripped down version of the song:
ADMIN || March 6, 2020
January 2020
First of all, happy new near everyone and all the best for 2020!
Back in November, Ronan did a Q&A at the Oxford Union where he talked about his career and Boyzone. Here's a clip of him talking about losing Stephen and how that loss impacted him as a person. He also mentioned meeting up with Keith and remembering Stephen one night.
Keith and I, we caught up recently and had a few drinks together, and the two of us were sitting at the table at 4 o'clock in the morning over a bottle of wine and crying over Stephen. And you find yourself in these kind of situations still, it's still very emotional, very raw.
ADMIN || January 16, 2020
December 2019
Back in October, Stephen's brother Tony and his wife Claire had Stephen's named engraved on The British Heart Foundation's 'Heart Of Steel', a piece of artwork originally created as a memory piece for all the men and women of the steel industry in Sheffield by Sculptor Steve Mehdi. The Heart of Steel artwork was then linked to the British Heart Foundation due to the high level of heart diseases in the area and today the BHF receives donations to have names engraved on it.
You can see the Heart of Steel (and Stephen's name) at Meadowhall shopping center in Sheffield.
ADMIN || December 23, 2019
With the festive season starting, I thought it would be fun to have a very special advent calendar of our own. So every day until Christmas there should be a little Stephen surprise. Enjoy!🎄
ADMIN || December 1, 2019
September & October 2019
Attitude.co.uk published an article online today about Stephen, mostly reporting interview segments from another Boyzone article from the Sun. In the interview, the boys praised Stephen for paving the way for other gay celebrities when he came out in 1999.
Boyzone dubbed the late Stephen Gately as a ‘pioneer’ for modern gay singers.
Gately came out as gay in 1999 but sadly lost his life in 2009 from a congenital heart defect and now his former bandmates have said he ‘paved the way’ for LGBTQ singers including Sam Smith, Olly Alexander and Will Young.
Band member Mikey Graham told the Sun: ''Stephen was a pioneer of breaking that barrier down. Look how much everything has changed in the ten years that we lost him, and even in the years prior to him passing away, when he did come out. Look how much society has changed for the better, with equality across the board.”
Keith Duffy added: “Look at it now. You've got Mark [Feehily] from Westlife having a little baby girl with his husband. Steo always said he'd love to have a kid and I can remember thinking, 'You're gay, that will never happen' because that's what the world was like then. But you see how much the world has come on, to see Mark and his husband having a beautiful baby girl. It's amazing.”
“Stephen would be chuffed. There's so many people - music moguls 20 or 30 years older than us - working in this business and still not open about their sexuality. It's still hidden away, their homosexuality. Why? Because they're afraid.”
The four-piece group marked the tenth anniversary of Gately’s death this year and admitted they feel they would have been ‘even bigger’ if he had not passed away.
Duffy continued: “With Stephen, we were a force to be reckoned with. Had he not lost his life, I believe we would have been a much bigger band.”
Shane Lynch also said: “Steo paid the ultimate price. He lost his life, we lost our buddy. But had he not, I think we could've gone on to things we never achieved before.”
ADMIN || October 21, 2019
The 10th anniversary tributes page has now been added. You can find it by hovering on "Tributes" in the menu. Photos of the flowers from the fan fundraiser and press scans still need to be added, which I will try to do this weekend.
ADMIN || October 16, 2019
There's been a lot happening for the 10th anniversary of Stephen's passing a few days ago, all of which will be added on the website, I promise. Sadly, my laptop has died and until I can buy a new one in December, I am very limited with what I can do around here, and for that I am very sorry.
So many people have tweeted about Stephen, sharing memories and photos on social media and it's been incredible to see. Thank you.
Boyzone appeared on Loose Women to celebrate Stephen and talk about the Final Five before performing No Matter What for Stephen
Fans got together and donated money to buy flowers for the mass at St. Laurence O'Toole on October 10, which Margaret, Stephen's mom, attended. We personally attended too and the flowers were beautiful. Margaret was incredibly touched and thanked all the thoughtful fans who donated and helped to make it possible. Press was also in attendance, writing a piece about the 10th anniversary and I will be sharing scans of the articles as soon as I can, along with photos from the day. The fan tribute page will be added whenever I can get a new laptop. Once again, sorry guys!
ADMIN || October 14, 2019
Shane, Keith, Ronan and Mikey will be on Loose Women this morning to remember Steo on the 10th anniversary of his passing, make sure you catch them on ITV. As it's been relayed in the press, a special mass will be happening at St. Laurence O'Toole in Dublin later. Fans have got together to get flowers delivered to the church for the special occasion. Fans are gathering in London to remember Stephen as well. A special page will be created in the upcoming days for fan tributes, so look out for that.
In the meantime, let's remember to celebrate Stephen's life today and not the day he passed. All of us have so many good memories to share of him and Stephen left behind so much for us to keep enjoying even after he's gone: photos, memories, videos, songs.. Remember to smile thinking about the joy he brought into our life, because this is what he would want. He is missed and loved by everyone whose life he touched and will never be forgotten.
ADMIN || October 10, 2019
Keith was on UTV Life last night and talked about Stephen and how him and the boys keep celebrating Stephen on tour. Thanks to Nichola for the video.
ADMIN || September 27, 2019
ADMIN || September 10, 2019
A fan tribute page will be added in October to gather all the thoughtful things that are happening for the 10th anniversary of Stephen's passing. If you are doing anything special (fan gathering, video, etc) and you would like it to be featured on the website, just send us an email with details and photos and it will be added on the page next month!
Welcome to Stephen-Gately.org! While a good chunk of the website is currently finished and ready for you to enjoy, we are still working on a few sections and resolving glitches that might appear now that the website is online. Sections under constructions will be finished as soon as possible. In the meantime, enjoy looking around!
ADMIN || September 10, 2019