‘Miss you brother’: Ronan Keating pays tribute to late Boyzone bandmate Stephen Gately with a throwback snap to mark the 11th anniversary of his death
Ronan Keating has marked the 11th anniversary of his late Boyzone bandmate’s death with a touching social media post.
Stephen Gately passed away aged 33 at his holiday home in Port D’Andratx, Majorca, on October 10 2009.
Taking to Instagram on Saturday, Ronan lead the tributes from the band by sharing a throwback snap and writing ‘miss you brother’.
‘Love you brother’: Ronan Keating marked the 11th anniversary of his late Boyzone bandmate’s death with a touching tribute post on Saturday
Ronan penned: ‘This was us as I remember and always want to. 11 years has zipped by and it’s still as hard as ever to not have you in all our lives. Miss you brother.
‘Miss your laugh miss your sense of humour. Miss your strops miss your high kicks miss the bones of ya. I know you are still smiling straw balls. God Bless #BelieveinME’
The other Boyzone bandmates also shared their memories with the late star, with them all opting to post throwback pictures from their time performing together.
Keith Duffy captioned his Instagram offering: ’11 years an Angel ! Love ya miss ya #steo’
Boyband: Boyzone were formed in 1993 by Louis Walsh and had hits including Every Day I Love You and No Matter What during their time (pictured together in 2004)
While Mickey Graham captioned his snap: ‘never stop missing ya kid. X’ and Shane Lynch simply wrote ‘BROTHER’ next to an image of himself with Stephen.
Stephen tragically passed away after a night out with his husband Andrew Cowles while on vacation in Majorca – never waking up after going to bed.
Boyzone members – Ronan, Keith, Shane and Mikey – all slept in St Laurence O’Toole church in Dublin in sleeping bags next to Stephen’s coffin the night before his funeral.
Tribute: Keith Duffy also marked the sad anniversary with a picture from their time performing together
Close: Shane Lynch simply wrote ‘BROTHER’ next to an image of himself with Stephen
Talking to Sky News in 2009, Ronan said of the night: ‘ We cried and we laughed and we could hear him telling us jokes and we could hear him answering back.
‘It was a beautiful, amazing experience to be there with Ste that night, and also outside, we went out at about 6am and the fans had spent the night outside also and it was unbelievable…
‘People came from all over, people from Asia, from South Africa, from South America, from North America and Europe, incredible.
Always remembered: Bandmate Mickey Graham shared a black and white snap of the four surviving members of Boyzone holding their hands up to the light
‘I felt very proud, I felt very proud that he was our mate and he classed us as his brother…’
Stephen’s funeral, held at St Laurence O’Toole Church in Dublin in October 2009, was attended by Boyzone manager Louis Walsh, fellow Irish band Westlife and Elton John’s husband David Furnish.
The group achieved international fame as well as six UK No.1s – including Words, No Matter What, All That Matters To Me and You Needed Me.
Support: The band carried Stephen’s coffin at his funeral in Dublin in October 2009