STEVE'S BIOGRAPHY

Steve was born to parents Margaret and Martin Gately on 17th March 1976 at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin. He was named Stephen Patrick David Gately. He is the second youngest in his family. His oldest brother, Mark, is 28 and married to Sue. They have a son called Brandon. His sister, Michelle, is 28 and married to Alan Carr. They have a 3 year old son called Jordan- Stephen's godson. His other brothers, Alan and Tony, are 24 and 17 respectively. Alan is an artist and writer and Tony is the spitting image of Stephen!! His mother works in the local school and his father was a painter and decorator.

Stephen was brought up, like the rest of Boyzone, in the Northside of Dublin. However, he grew up in Seville Place- one of the roughest and toughest area's of Dublin. Stephen and his family lived in a tiny flat on a run-down housing estate. Seville Place was somewhat neglected and social problems were encountered there. It was notorious for its crime rate and increasing drugs problem. In fact, a friend of Stephen's died from heroin in 1995 and so Stephen is very much anti-drugs and has promised himself that he wll never become involved with drugs the way that some of his friends have been.

Although quiet as a child, Stephen was determined to be famous, even practising signing his autograph. In the Winter, he used to sit in the room he shared with his 3 brothers, looking out the window at the snow. Snuggled up in his duvet, he'd dream about fame and fortune.

At 13, he joined the Gaiety Theatre Group where his talent for acting became apparent. Although he was shy, once he got on stage to act in front of hundreds of people, his self-confidence shone through. A young man called Mikey Graham also performed there. Although they never actually met, they would become good friends a few years later. Also around this age Stephen became more independent, working in Makulla's Clothes Store in Dublin. Ronan Keating also worked in the town centre in Korky's Shoe Shop. After meeting through a mutual friend, Stephen and Ronan became good friends.

Stephen soon put his acting skills to good use by teaching drama to under-privileged children. Him and his mother also became film stars, appearing as extra's in Irish Comedy drama, "The Commitments". Stephen and his mother can be seen for a split second at the beginning of the film, haggling for stuff in a market. Stephen was also asked to be an extra in another Irish film called "In The Name Of The Father", starring Daniel Day Lewis. Fortunately for Stephen, the scene where he was throwing bricks from a roof top was cut. Stephen also joined a dance troupe called "Black Magic" and it was through dancing that he met his future band mate Shane Lynch.

At 14, he was spotted by an international modelling agency. Despite being incredibly good looking, he couldn't become a 'proper' model because he was too small. It was at this age when he began to realise that he was a bit different to his friends.

By the age of 15, Stephen had discovered his real sexuality- he knew he was gay.

At 16, Stephen auditioned for Boyzone with 300 other hopefuls. They all had to sing George Michael's "Careless Whisper" and dance to Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy". Stephen also chose to sing Lionel Ritchie's "Hello". Although their manager's Louis Walsh and John Reynolds saw Stephen's talent and good looks, it took Stephen 4 auditions before he was finally accepted- more than any other in the band. So, Boyzone was founded. The band consisted of Ronan Keating, Stephen Gately, Shane Lynch, Keith Duffy, Ritchie Rock and Mark Walton. After a disastrous first Irish TV appearance on The Late Late Show where they danced to "Burn Baby Burn" by Clubhouse, Ritchie Rock and Mark Walton were replaced by Mikey Graham. The final line-up of the band was complete. On November 18th 1993, Boyzone was born, destined to take the pop world by storm. They soon released "Working My Way Back To You" in Ireland and it reached No3. Soon after, a record deal with Polydor was signed and they seemed to be ready to launch their assault on Britain. It was around this time that the strain of keeping his sexuality a secret was beginning to take its toll on Stephen. He decided to confide in his sister Michelle, who was completely understanding and simply said, "I always thought you were". A couple of months later, he told the rest of the band and their management who were totally understanding too. In the meantime, their new single "Love Me For A Reason" went straight to the top of the Irish Chart and to No2 in the UK.

A year after joining the band, he told the rest of his family the truth about his sexuality. His dad said, "Don't worry so. We still love you."

"Love Me For A Reason" sold 600,000 copies in the UK alone and ensured Boyzone's place within the boyband hall of fame. A No1 album followed with "Said And Done". It was now felt that they were ready to take on Europe. It was during promotion within Europe that Stephen first met the Dutch boyband Caught In The Act. Consisting of 4 members- Lee Baxter, Benjamin Boyce, Eloy de Jong and Bastiaan Ragas- Stephen became good friends with Eloy. Unbeknown to Stephen, Eloy would change his life dramatically in a few years to come.

Meanwhile, Boyzone gained their first No1 in the UK in 1996 with "Words", followed by "A Different Beat" 8 weeks later. The album of the same name also went to No1.

In autumn 1997, Stephen began to branch out from Boyzone by doing his own solo projects. A new Disney film "Hercules" was being released and Steve had been asked to sing the theme tune "Shooting Star". The song was released as a Boyzone double A-side with "Baby Can I Hold You" and reached No2 in the UK chart. He also worked with Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber by recording the song "No Matter What" for Webber's new musical "Whistle Down The Wind". Stephen then re-recorded the song with the rest of the band, sharing lead vocals with Ronan. By popular demand it was released in the summer of 1998, going to No1 for 3 weeks. It became their biggest-seller ever, selling 1.2 million copies. Their third album "Where We Belong" also went to No1, selling over 1 million copies.

Of course, 1998 brought many shocks for the fans. Shane married long-term girlfriend Easther Bennet (from Eternal) and Keith married his long-term girlfriend Lisa Smith, mother of their son Jordan. Followng the death of his mother from breast cancer, Ronan married his girlfriend of just 2 months Yvonne Connolly. They had a baby in March 1999 called Jack. Stephen was dubbed as being the "Boyzone Bachelor" because of his single status. Despite his fame and fortune, Stephen was desperately unhappy. The strain of keeping his sexuality was killing him. Now all the lads had settled down, the lack of having a girlfriend was becoming harder to explain.

October 31st 1998 is a date that Stephen will remember for the rest of his life. Performing with Boyzone in Cologne, Germany at the Popcorn Live roadshow, Stephen met Eloy de Jong again. Caught In The Act had split up 2 months earlier and Eloy had now turned to presenting. He actually introduced Boyzone on stage during the show. During this evening, Stephen became aware of his strong feelings for Eloy. He was falling in love with him. Luckily, Eloy felt the same and they started a relationship. Although Stephen was happy with Eloy, their relationship had to be kept a secret. They weren't allowed to be seen to travel together or arrive at a restaurant or hotel at the same time. They wanted to be together all the time but always had to travel separately.

Meanwhile, Stephen turned TV presenter and presented the Disney Awards (where Boyzone picked up 1 award), the Smash Hits Awards '98 (where Boyzone picked up 6 awards) and the Dublin Childline Concert '99, as well as co-presenting Electric Circus with Gail Porter in April '99. By then, Stephen and Eloy had swapped gold commitment rings and even moved in together just outside Amsterdam in The Netherlands.

By May however, Stephen had heard that a former friend was trying to sell his secret to the newspapers. Stephen decided to do an interview with The Sun newspaper. On June 16th 1999, Stephen was on the front page of 4 newspapers with The Sun saying, "Boyzone Stephen: I'm gay and I'm in love". (read the full interview here) Despite being worried about the fans reactions, they were both overwhelmed by the positive response and have received millions of letters and presents from all walks of life. 3 weeks later at the Party In The Park, Boyzone performed in front of 110,000 pop lovers, where Stephen got the biggest cheer of the day. Boyzone's new album "By Request"- their Greatest Hits compilation- stayed at No1 for 9 weeks, selling 1.6 million copes in the UK alone and even outsold the rest of the top 20 albums put together in its first week of release.

As Stephen and Eloy began to enjoy their new-found freedom together, Stephen turned actor by making a guest 'appearance' in the animated remake of Watership Down. He played the rabbit Blackavar in 3 episodes and also sings the theme tune "Bright Eyes" which will be released as a single sometime this year. Stephen also worked on the Abbamania TV show and album, recording a cover of the Abba song "Chiquitita". In 1999, the album reached No1 in the UK compilation charts. He also performed solo for the first time at the Disney Awards '99 (where Boyzone picked up 1 award) and also sang "Bright Eyes" at the Radio 2 Christmas Gospel Show.

Stephen and Eloy bought a Shih-Tzu dog called Joey (named after the character in "Friends") and also had each others names tattooed on their right arms as a sign of their commitment to each other. 1999 culiminated in Stephen's confession that he and Eloy wish to adopt a child (read an article here) and the highlight came when Stephen was voted Hero of 1999 at the Smash Hits Awards '99.

2000 started off brightly for Stephen, with Boyzone's sell-out 9 night Irish tour at Dublin's Point Depot. For the fans, however, things seemed a lot less bright as the future of Boyzone wasn't clear. That is until Ronan declared in front of the final sell-out concert that Boyzone would be back.

In the meantime, Stephen concentrated on recording his debut solo album, dividing his time between recording studios in New York, London and Sweden and his Holland home.

By March, Stephen's album was complete and he'd decided upon releasing New Beginning as his first single in May, with Bright Eyes as a b-side. In between preparing for his promotion, he celebrated his 24th birthday, with Eloy also celebrating his 27th birthday. On 17th March 2000, a new addition to the Gately de Jong household was introduced in the shape of American Cocker Spaniel Woody, a birthday present from Eloy to Stephen.

In June, rumours were abound that Stephen and Eloy had decided to get married- a fact quickly denied by Stephen.

This month, Stephen was also offered a role in a new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, The Beautiful Game. He declined the offer though to concentrate fully on his solo career in the pop charts, although he and Eloy did attend the musical's premiere in September.

Also in June, Stephen celebrated the success of New Beginning entering the charts at number 3, and his album, also called New Beginning, reaching number 9. His happiness was short-lived though as the press started ganging up on him, saying that his solo career had flopped, despite having top 10 success.

A 3 week trip to Asia, where Stephen is the most popular Boyzone member, soon followed, before it was back to the UK to start work on his follow-up single I Believe, which is taken from the movie Billy Elliot.

In between promotion for the single- and attending the movie's premiere with Eloy- Stephen was never out of the papers. In September and October alone, he was rumoured to be planning a duet with Baby Spice Emma Bunton, leaving Ireland permanently to live in Holland, up for a role in the Harry Potter movie, fighting it out with Ronan for the lead in a new musical called Billy Liar, ready to adopt a child with Eloy any day now, and- following on from I Believe only reaching number 11- was going to be dropped from Polydor. And as for the truth? He was indeed planning a duet with Emma at some point when they're both not so busy; he had sold his house in Ireland back in July, but planned to buy another house there soon; he did want a Harry Potter role but was refused; he was offered the lead in the musical (deciding not to take it), although Ronan wasn't; he does plan to adopt, but in a couple of years; and he isn't being dropped by Polydor. *Phew*!

The end of 2000 marked a very quiet time for Stephen as he managed to keep out of the public eye, mainly staying at home in Holland with Eloy. However, there was some good news as Stephen's sister Michelle gave birth to a baby girl named Leah on November 17th. Eloy became her godfather when the baby was christened early in 2001.

Stephen released his 3rd solo single Stay in April 2001. Although it was at number 10 in the crucial midweek chart, it slipped down to number 13 when the main chart was announced, and went out of the chart completely 3 weeks later.

In between releasing Stay, Stephen started writing some new material for a second solo album, and also found time to record a song for a new kate Winslet movie, and spend a lot of time at home with Eloy, the dogs and a new addition to the Gately de Jong family- Casper the kitten, which was a gift from Stephen to Eloy.

AND, in between all of this, Stephen still found time to receive a rather unusual present from Eloy- a sealed envelope in a gold box. He isn't allowed to open this envelope until October, but he admitted that he had been desperately trying to steam it open, but it wouldn't work. As you may know, October will mark their 3rd anniversary. Hmmm, a marriage proposal perhaps? I guess Stephen- like the rest of us- is just going to have to be patient!

Things seemed to be going well for Stephen in his personal life, but the same cannot be said of his professional life. On 4th June 2001 came the confirmation we had all been dreading- Stephen Gately had split from his long-time record company Polydor. It is yet unknown what Stephen will be doing this year, but a lead role in a musical, presenting a prime-time TV show, and a film are all said to be in the pipeline. Watch this space. . . Stephen Gately WILL be back!