The boys are back in the zone

Andy Welch talks to Ronan, Shane, Stephen, Keith and Mikey about getting back together and what the future holds.

Back Again... No Matter What is the title of Boyzone’s greatest hits album, which was released on Monday.

But what does it mean?

Back Again, that’s self-explanatory - it’s their first release since they reformed after an eight-year hiatus.

It’s the No Matter What part that’s troubling.

Of course it’s the title of one of their biggest-selling singles, but it almost suggests the Irish five-piece are going to return whether we want them to or not.

As hundreds of thousands of loyal fans proved when they turned up to the band’s reformation tour earlier this year, there’s still a huge demand for the vocal talents of Ronan, Stephen, Mikey, Shane and Keith.

The band shot to fame in 1994 after releasing a cover of The Osmonds’ 1974 hit Love Me For A Reason. During the following seven years they became one of the biggest boybands in the world, selling around 15 million records in the process.

Toward the end of that period however, things turned sour. Relationships in the band broke down and they called it a day in 2000.

But following in the footsteps of Take That, the biggest of all the 1990s boybands, who reformed in 2005, Boyzone got back together last year.

Initially it was just going to be for a tour, maybe more depending on how things went.

“We just focused on the tour to start with, didn’t think any further ahead than that,” explains Mikey [Graham].

“It all went well, so we decided it was best to go forward a few steps and see what we could do. The single [Love You Anyway] and the greatest hits were planned, and now we already have a tour on sale for next year.

It’s all been so positive.”

“It’s exceeded all of our expectations,” adds Ronan [Keating].

“Before we did the tour, I didn’t know what the lads were thinking, and I didn’t know how big it was going to be.

“I was very proud when we walked on stage the first night in Belfast. I really felt I was part of a working unit, a team of lads that were working hard to put on the best show possible.

“And you never know what it’s going to be like until that moment,” he continues. “I think we pulled off the best show we’ve ever done, it was pretty amazing.”

When the band split, stories of their less than amicable break-up were rife. The majority of the ill-feeling was pointed towards Ronan, who, just a day after Boyzone broke up in January 2000, was on his way to Los Angeles to start work on his debut solo album.

Surprisingly, even for the band themselves, getting back together wasn’t a hard thing to do. They claim all acrimonious feelings disappeared once the wheels of the reunion were in motion.

“There wasn’t as much stuff to work through as you might think,” says Keith [Duffy].

“That is probably surprising to some people, and it was to us, but there was a meeting in a hotel room in Dublin.

“Shane tells a great story about the way he felt towards Ronan before the meeting, but when they actually met all they wanted to do was have a hug and talk. I think that speaks volumes.”

“Once we got back together for the first time, after all those years, when we saw each other’s faces, whatever politics existed went out the window pretty quickly,” interrupts Mikey, to Keith’s amusement.

“We realised we’d forged a friendship far deeper than any of that.”

In the years Boyzone were out of action, each member found success on their own.

Ronan went straight into a solo career, as did Stephen briefly, before moving into musical theatre.

Keith turned to acting, with a lengthy and well-received stint in Coronation Street, among other things. Mikey concentrated on songwriting and Shane, dubbed the bad boy of the group and daubed in lots of tattoos, followed his dream of becoming a racing driver.

“We all learned a lot from our time out,” says Keith.

“Now, if we’re late for a gig, Shane drives us there, and if things ever get boring, Stephen sings instead of talks. And if there’s any lying that needs doing, I can do that,” he adds, laughing.

After a lengthy discussion about expensive TV and hi-fi equipment, the five laugh off the suggestion they’re only getting back together to fund the next home cinema they’re each hoping to have installed.

When asked how long they’re going to be around this time, Stephen, who has been quiet up until this point, insists he and his bandmates are in it for the long haul.

“Hopefully, we’ll get back into the studio and record a new album,” he says.

“Depending on how this album goes, and the single. We’re always very nervous around release dates, so hopefully soon we’ll have news we’ve got a hit on our hands, which will totally lift us.”

That news is likely to come from Ronan, who, during the time before our interview, was glued to his laptop looking at various download charts to see how Love You Anyway was performing.

At the time of writing, Love You Anyway, one of three new songs featured on Back Again, is at No 10 in the download chart.

“It took a while for us to find a song that was right. We had a lot of songs coming in from the record company, plus songs we’d written ourselves,” says Stephen.

“When we heard Love You Anyway, we knew it was exactly what we’d been looking for. It’s like an extended version of [1997 single] Picture Of You, in a way.”

At the moment, things are all well in Boyzone world.

They have the hit single on their hands that they wanted, tickets for next year’s tour selling out already, and perhaps more importantly, the five of them are getting on just fine. But would they be in this position had Take That not got back together first?

“I don’t think we could have got back together with such ease without Take That doing it first, credit where it’s due,” says Shane.

“I think they opened those doors and showed us it was possible, and we realised it was.”

“We were talking while they were getting back together, so it was happening in parallel,” says Ronan.

“We’ll always be compared to them, though. We were compared to them 15 years ago, and it’s still happening now.

“It’s not a bad comparison is it? I just hope we can live up to it.”

• The band reveal their favourite Boyzone hits

• Ronan: “For me, You Needed Me is the best song we ever recorded.”

• Mikey: “We have a lovely song called And I, which was never released as a single, but it’s a personal favourite.”

• Shane: “Isn’t It A Wonder. A lot of great memories to do with video shoots. It was in Australia, my first time abroad, so just amazing memories.”

• Stephen: “No Matter What. It’s our biggest hit, and Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman produced it - it’s a great song.”

• Keith: “Isn’t It A Wonder. It was a great time in Boyzone, a time when everything was starting to happen. I remember wondering how you knew when you were successful; Was it if you were on the cover of a magazine? Or had a No 1 single? Or £2m in the bank? We made the video in Australia, and I thought ‘Maybe we’re making it here, maybe we’re doing OK.’ It was a really good time, we were having a laugh, and it was just great.”

Back Again... No Matter What is out now.