It was exactly 11 years ago on Saturday that Stephen Gately, one of the five Boyzone singers, died while on holiday in Mallorca. In The sun his ex-band members repeat the story from the night before the funeral.
–
Gately’s grieving mother told Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham the night before the funeral that her son never liked sleeping alone. And so they decided to spend the night in the church, in sleeping bags next to the chest with his body in it.
“It was a beautiful and wonderful night,” said Ronan Keating. “We were so happy we did it. It was our last night with him. We cried and laughed. We heard him tell jokes and answer, it seemed real. We haven’t actually slept much, but that’s not the point. We just wanted to spend time with him. He didn’t like to be in the dark and didn’t like to be alone. We had a drink, that was our way of saying goodbye. ”
The next morning at 6 a.m. the four men came out and gave their sleeping bags to the queuing fans.
–
