Anniversaries come and go, and Irish 90s boyband Boyzone love to celebrate them. They released an album on their 20th anniversary and next year, on their 25th anniversary, they will do another album and tour. The album will mainly contain ballads. The rest of their plans are still unknown.
In the middle of the 90s, Boyzone shot to fame with the covers "Love Me For A Reason" and "Father and Son". I actually was a correspondent for their official website, during the era of their second album, where I reported on Dutch media coverage and the times I met the band. I've always enjoyed the work and they had great fans to work with. The guys have all matured since, and unfortunately, we lost a member along the way. Stephen Gately passed away, a few years ago.
For most people Boyzone disappeared at some point, so many people speak of a reunion when they speak of their 25th anniversary plans next year, but this is actually not really the case. The remaining members made a return in 2007 and remained active as Boyzone. They also started sharing more than the music. Shane Lynch participated in a documentary about his life with dyslexia. Keith Duffy, just recently, shared details about his life with his autistic daughter.
Yep, everybody has grown up, grown a little wiser and have explored various avenues within music, whether that means chasing a solo career as an artist or developing songwriting and management skills behind the scenes. There were even plans of some members forming a supergroup with members of Keating’s spin-off boyband, Westlife. They only did one tour together, but the idea was nice.
It’s funny how I actually have more respect for the guys knowing about these stories about them. It gives them depth. The type of depth they couldn’t have as boyband members in the 90s.
Even though these little personal things ended up catching my attention, I haven’t been keeping up with their music releases pretty much from the moment I stopped working for their website, which must have been just before their first hiatus. Secretly, they were sort of my second choice boyband, after Take That, but ssshhh don’t tell them. But I think this has something to do with that. I also grew up, had a busy life as a business owner and therefore grew out of groups like these. We all have our stories.
