Stephen Gately and Boyzone: Blood Brothers

Stephen Gately was a singer, songwriter and actor, who, alongside Ronan Keating, was one of two lead singers in one of the biggest pop bands in the world, Boyzone. With all of their albums reaching number one in the UK chart and a record-breaking sixteen consecutive singles in the top 5 UK Singles chart they were a huge pop phenomenon. After the initial break up of Boyzone in 2000 Stephen released a successful solo album which charted in the UK top ten and yielded three UK hit singles. He then went on to star in various successful television and stage productions including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. In 2008 Stephen rejoined his friends as Boyzone reformed for a series of concerts and recordings. The first ever openly gay boy band member, Stephen married Andrew Cowles, first in a Las Vegas ceremony in 2003 and then in a civil partnership ceremony London in 2006. The discovery of Stephen's body, by Cowles, in their Spanish apartment on 10th October shocked the international music scene and left millions of fans devastated. From a childhood in the working-class Sheriff Street area of Dublin to the dizzy heights of international stardom this book charts the journey of a band and a boy whose tragic loss will be felt by millions.