Stephen Gately
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| Stephen Gately | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Stephen Patrick David Gately |
| Born | 17 March 1976 Dublin, Ireland |
| Genre(s) | Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actor, songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Singing |
| Years active | 1993 to present |
| Associated acts | Boyzone |
| Website | http://www.stephengately.co.uk |
Stephen Patrick David Gately (born 17 March 1976) is an Irish pop singer, who was in the boy band Boyzone until 2000, and subsequently pursued a solo career and acting roles.
After success with Boyzone, the band decided in 2000 to move on to solo projects. Gately was the first with his debut solo single titled New Beginning and later a debut solo album of the same name.
The album New Beginning included 12 brand new tracks including a version of the classic Bright Eyes which he recorded for the soundtrack to the new TV version of Watership Down. He also became the voice of one of the characters ('Blackavar') which was created to look like him.
On 29 May 2000, the single "New Beginning" was released and reached number #3 in the UK charts. Two weeks later the album was released and also entered the charts.
The second single taken from the album was I Believe. Released on 2 October 2001 this song also featured on the soundtrack to the film Billy Elliot and just missed the UK top ten peaking at #11. Gately inspired to record this track after he had seen the film. He attended the premieres of the film both at the Edinburgh Film Festival and at the Empire Theatre in Leicester Square, along with the actors from the film including Julie Walters and Jamie Bell. In April 2001, Stephen's third single, "Stay", was released and reached #13 in the UK chart. In May 2001, after the single flopped, his record company, Polydor, dropped him from their label.
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[edit] Personal life
On 16 June 1999 The Sun newspaper covered its front page with what it described as a "World Exclusive" and the headline, "Boyzone Stephen: I'm gay and I'm in love". At the age of 23, Stephen Gately had given the story to the newspaper because he feared that a former member of Boyzone's security was about to sell the story. The Sun had two further pages on the story as well as an editorial.
Gately also revealed that in 1998 he had started a relationship with the then 27 years-old Eloy de Jong, who had been in the Dutch boy band Caught in the Act. They had first met in 1995.
Gately and de Jong split up in 2001, however. After remaining single for a while, Gately then started dating internet businessman Andrew Cowles, who had been introduced to him by Elton John and David Furnish, who are friends with both Gately and Cowles.
Having only been dating each other for a matter of months, Gately and Colwes held a commitment ceremony in a wedding chapel whilst on holiday in Las Vegas in 2003.
On 19 March 2006 Gately entered into a civil partnership with Cowles in a ceremony in London.
[edit] Career
In December 2002 Gately took the lead role in Bill Kenwright's new production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which previewed in Oxford in December 2002 before moving to Liverpool over Christmas 2002 and finally to London's West End and the New London Theatre in Drury Lane in February 2003.
In September 2004 Gately took on a different role: the evil Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, at the London Palladium until March 2005.
Gately made his pantomime debut at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley in December 2005 starring as Dandini in Cinderella. In April 2006 he took on the role of "The Scarecrow" in The Wizard of Oz at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury.
In January 2007, Gately was heard in Horror of Glam Rock, a Doctor Who audio drama produced by Big Finish Productions for BBC7. For this audio play, Gately recorded an original song, "Children of Tomorrow", with music by Tim Sutton and lyrics by Barnaby Edwards; this is his first solo track since 2001's "Stay".[1]
He also took part in Channel Five's All Star Talent Show in October 2006, performing the slice and dice magic trick which he only had a week to learn, coming second to Toby Anstis. He was also in the second series of ITV's Dancing on Ice with his dancing partner Kristina Lenko. They went out in eighth place on after they fell consistently10 February 2007.
In September 2007, he began touring the country in an 11-week run of Stephen Schwartz's rock musical Godspell, but withdrew from the production after just three weeks for contractual reasons.[2]
An appearance at Ireland's Meteor Music Awards in February 2008 launched the return of Boyzone, with touring throughout 2008.[3]
[edit] Philanthropy
Gately has recently become a vice patron of the charity Missing People (formerly National Missing Persons Helpline), supporting their Runaway Helpline service for young people.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- 2000: New Beginning [UK#9]
[edit] Singles
- 2000: "New Beginning"/"Bright Eyes" [UK#3]
- 2000: "I Believe" (theme from Billy Elliot)" [UK#11]
- 2001: "Stay" [UK#13]
[edit] Other songs
- 1999: "Chiquitita" - from the ABBAMania compilation album
[edit] References
- ^ BBC (2006-10-20). "Boyzone singer makes Doctor Who debut on BBC 7 and records first solo song for five years". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-10-20.
- ^ seatwave (2007-10-03). "Godspell Annoucement". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
- ^ "Meteor Music Awards Press Release", 28 January 2008. Retrieved on 2008-04-01.
[edit] External links
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