Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, 33, died on Saturday while on holiday in Majorca off the coast of Spain, the Irish band said on its Web site.
“Stephen tragically died yesterday whilst on holiday with his partner,” the site said yesterday.
Boyzone members, including lead singer Ronan Keating, were heading to Majorca following news of the death.
The circumstances surrounding Gately’s death remained unclear but Britain’s News of the World reported he died after a night out.
Boyzone manager Louis Walsh
told the newspaper: “We’re all absolutely devastated.”
He said: “I’m in complete shock. I was only with him [last] Monday at an awards ceremony. We don’t know much about what’s happened yet ... He was a great man.”
Speaking to the newspaper late Saturday, band member Shane Lynch said: “Me and the boys are flying out in the morning.
“We just need to get over to where he’s passed and work out what we need to do.”
Gately, who married his partner Andrew Cowles in a civil union in 2006, sent ripples through the pop music world 10 years ago when he announced that he was gay.
He joined Boyzone in 1993 after answering an advert in Dublin to audition for Ireland’s first boy band.
The band went on to enjoy huge success with six number one singles in Britain, but split up in 2000.
They reunited seven years later, but their recent 19-date Better tour failed to fill stadiums, despite offers of free tickets.
Gately also starred in West
End musicals in London, including
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
He last posted a message on his Twitter page on Tuesday, writing: “Still busy, lots going on. Focusing on finishing my book next so may be quiet here.”
British actor and comedian Stephen Fry said on Twitter that he was shocked at the news.
“Just heard the very sad news about dear Stephen Gately. What a dreadful shock. He was lovable and sweet natured and will be hugely missed.”
Music producer Shelby Singleton, whose biggest hit was Harper Valley PTA in a career that spanned country and rhythm and blues, has died of brain cancer, friend Jerry Kennedy said on Thursday. Singleton, who passed away in a Nashville hospital on Wednesday at age 77, released the crossover hit written by Tom T. Hall and sung by Jeannie C. Riley in 1968 on his own small independent record label, Plantation Records. It sold millions of copies.
Indian movie mogul Yash Chopra was honored on Friday as filmmaker of the year by one of Asia’s top
film festivals.
Pusan International Film Festival director Kim Dong-ho presented the award to the 77-year-old veteran director and producer at a banquet in the South Korean beach resort city.
Chopra, who founded one of India’s foremost studios, Yash Raj Films, said awards are a great motivator because they force you to justify your laurels.
“You have to prove that you’re good once again. You’re only as good as your last film,” he said in a brief acceptance speech.
Asian cinema’s elite were on hand to pay tribute to the Indian filmmaker, including the Korean-American star of the US hit TV series Lost, Kim Yun-jin, 1989 Venice Film Festival winner Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) of Taiwan, Hong Kong director Johnnie To (杜琪峰) and South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki.
Chopra made his debut with the 1959 film Blossom of Dust and in 1970 set up Yash Raj Films, which became one of the industry’s top production houses and distributes Indian movies abroad. Last year, Yash Raj Films teamed up with The Walt Disney Co to release the animated film Roadside Romeo. A pioneer in shooting Indian films abroad, Chopra and his company have worked with the industry’s biggest stars, including Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan.
Past winners of the Asian filmmaker of the year prize include Hou, the late Taiwanese director Edward Yang (楊德昌) and veteran Hong Kong actor-singer Andy Lau (劉德華).
The Pusan festival is also screening four films directed by Chopra or made by Yash Raj Films — Lamhe, Dhoom 2, New York and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, a romantic comedy starring Khan and directed by Chopra’s son, Aditya.
A vaccine to fight dementia? It turns out there may already be one — shots that prevent painful shingles also appear to protect aging brains. A new study found shingles vaccination cut older adults’ risk of developing dementia over the next seven years by 20 percent. The research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, is part of growing understanding about how many factors influence brain health as we age — and what we can do about it. “It’s a very robust finding,” said lead researcher Pascal Geldsetzer of Stanford University. And “women seem to benefit more,” important as they’re at higher risk of
Last week the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that the budget cuts voted for by the China-aligned parties in the legislature, are intended to force the DPP to hike electricity rates. The public would then blame it for the rate hike. It’s fairly clear that the first part of that is correct. Slashing the budget of state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) is a move intended to cause discontent with the DPP when electricity rates go up. Taipower’s debt, NT$422.9 billion (US$12.78 billion), is one of the numerous permanent crises created by the nation’s construction-industrial state and the developmentalist mentality it
Experts say that the devastating earthquake in Myanmar on Friday was likely the strongest to hit the country in decades, with disaster modeling suggesting thousands could be dead. Automatic assessments from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the shallow 7.7-magnitude quake northwest of the central Myanmar city of Sagaing triggered a red alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” it said, locating the epicentre near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, home to more than a million people. Myanmar’s ruling junta said on Saturday morning that the number killed had
Mother Nature gives and Mother Nature takes away. When it comes to scenic beauty, Hualien was dealt a winning hand. But one year ago today, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake wrecked the county’s number-one tourist attraction, Taroko Gorge in Taroko National Park. Then, in the second half of last year, two typhoons inflicted further damage and disruption. Not surprisingly, for Hualien’s tourist-focused businesses, the twelve months since the earthquake have been more than dismal. Among those who experienced a precipitous drop in customer count are Sofia Chiu (邱心怡) and Monica Lin (林宸伶), co-founders of Karenko Kitchen, which they describe as a space where they
RSS