Ronan Keating Biography

In a nutshell

He started off travelling round Ireland in a van doing pub gigs and went on to sell over 20 million records? not bad for a former Dublin shoe shop assistant.
Ronan was only 16 when he joined Boyzone (along with fellow band members Stephen Gately, Shane Lynch, Mikey Graham and Keith Duffy) who found fame with their 1994 cover version of The Osmonds song 'Love me for a Reason'. Dubbed ' the Irish Take That' (and having almost as silly a name) Boyzone enjoyed great success under manager and X Factor mogul Louis Walsh. Twinkly-eyed front-man Ronan was arguably the most talented (he would go on to win Ivor Novello and BMI songwriting awards) so it was only a matter of time before he went it alone.
While still officially with Boyzone, Ronan released 'When you Say Nothing at all', on the back of 1999 film Notting Hill. The success of this single propelled him into an almost effortlessly successful solo career (three out of five solo albums reached number one in the UK album charts). He even merits a mention in the Guinness Book of Records for being the only artist ever to have 30 consecutive top 10 singles in the UK chart, beating Elvis, no less.
Boyzone split in 2000 and Louis Walsh continued to manage Ronan's solo career until the two had a bitter fall-out, with Louis publically claiming Ronan was the least talented member of Boyzone (though if you've seen Jedward in action, Louis' propensity for talent spotting is debatable) While Ronan's solo career flourished, the other band members had mixed success in the seven years Boyzone split up. When Take That staged a successful comeback, it was only a matter of time before their Irish counterparts did something similar. They eventually reunited in 2007 for a 29-date UK tour, reprising their best hits and watched the cash roll in.
They were embarking on a new album together when Stephen Gately died while on holiday in Majorca, something that hit Ronan particularly hard. He'd lost his mother in 1998 to cancer (and since raised over a million pounds for cancer research under his charity The Marie Keating Foundation) so wasn't a stranger to tragedy. They named the album 'Brother' (set for release in summer 2010) in tribute to Gately. In true Ronan style though he has simultaneously managed to produce two more solo studio albums, both set for release in summer 2010; 'Songs for my Mother' an album of cover songs his mum listened to during his childhood and 'Winter Songs'.
So what next for the nicest man in pop since Cliff Richard? Well, no more pop seemingly. He recently announced that he and family were heading for Hollywood after screen-testing for movie roles in LA, with a possible role in Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit. Watch this space! Ronan Keating Biography from (http://www.talktalk.co.uk/celebrity/biography/person/ronan-keating/267)

People Biography

Tuesday, September 27, 2011