Keith Duffy has told how Boyzone now celebrate the life of bandmate Stephen Gately as Thursday marks a decade since his death.
A memorial mass will be held for the singer at St Laurence O’Toole Church on Sheriff Street in Dublin where he was laid to rest 10 years ago.
Keith told the Irish Mirror: “Time is a great healer, we tend to celebrate his life now instead of getting upset about him.
“It’s a joyous experience, it’s not a sad experience anymore.”
The Key To My Life singer died of natural causes on October 10 2009, aged 33, at his holiday home in Majorca.
A postmortem revealed he had passed away after suffering sudden cardiac arrest in his sleep.
His cause of death was later revealed to be an undiagnosed heart condition or sudden adult death syndrome. During their Farewell Tour in January, the group paid tribute to Stephen with a song called Dream. It featured Stephen’s vocals from a demo he had recorded before his untimely death.
Keith, 44, said: “We dedicated a part of the show to Stephen, I can’t believe he’s 10 years dead, it feels like yesterday.” Stephen’s former bandmates and close friends have been open about the devastating loss of their colleague and friend.
Shane Lynch said previously: “Stephen is always very alive in Boyzone for us and it’s one of the things that bring us back together.” Keith revealed how the lads spend time talking about the good old days when they think of him. He
said: “When the four of us are together we feel Stephen is very much with us, he was a colourful character and has left us with plenty of stories we reminisce about.”
Last year, on the anniversary of the singer’s death, Ronan Keating shared a picture of his tattoo in tribute to Gately on Instagram.
The sketch features the numbers 76 and 09, representing when Gately was born and when he died.
Shane posted a picture, with the words: “When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.”
Stephen joined Boyzone in 1993, with six No1 singles and four No1 albums and sales of more than 10 million copies.
The famous five became the biggest boyband in Ireland and the UK before they parted ways in 2000.
