Lord of the Dance
Stephen Gately features on new Boyzone song nine years after his death
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Stephen Gately features on new Boyzone song nine years after his death

BOYZONE's farewell album features the vocals of Stephen Gately, nine years after the beloved singer and bandmate passed away.

Gately died from a congenital heart defect in 2009 at the age of just 33 while on holiday with his partner in Majorca.

However, Boyzone's four surviving members Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch, and Ronan Keating have revealed vocals recorded by Gately between 2002 and 2003 feature on their final album.

The song I Can Dream actually started life as a solo track recorded by Gately several years prior to his death.

Though the recording never ended up being released, one of the producers behind the track contacted the band to see if they wanted to use it.

It proved to be an emotional experience for the group, who grew up and experienced pop stardom alongside Gately.

They could think of no better way to honour his memory than by including his voice in their seventh and final album, Thank You & Goodnight.

 

 

"It was an unusual experience, kind of bittersweet, the song was presented to us and it was about 20 years old or so, so the production style was kind of dated on it," Graham said.

"So we took it into the studio, stripped it down, built a whole new song about it, changing the sentiment from a love song to a nostalgia song, more about our journey through the last 25 years."

Reflecting on the experience, for Keating the most poignant moment of the entire process came when listening to the finished track.

"It was very emotional when we first heard it, especially having all of our voices next to Stephen's after all this time," he said.

Boyzone will be supporting Thank you & Goodnight with a farewell tour scheduled to take place across the UK and Ireland next year.

The album features material written by Gary Barlow, Ed Sheeran, and Sam Smith.