Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden paid a touching tribute to Stephen Gately during their BoyzLife London concert on Tuesday (12.12.17).
Keith explained that during every gig he tries to take a moment to remember his friend and Boyzone bandmate "Steo", who passed away suddenly from a pulmonary oedema in 2009 and he opened up about Stephen’s quirky sense of humour.
He told the crowd at London’s Clapham Grand: "Steve was the only gay guy in Boyzone and the rest of us were all alpha males so you would think he’d be super butch but that wasn’t the case. He made us all camp as Christmas.
"He had nicknames for us all, I was Kitty, Shane was Shanice, Mikey was Mikeala and Ronan was Rosaleen.
"We remember his talent, his humour and we keep his memory alive. He’s looking down on us right now."
Former Westlife member Brian added some levity to the moment when he quipped: "And he’s probably wondering what us two f**king idiots are doing to his songs on stage."
The pair then sang ‘Queen Of My Heart’ as a tribute to Stephen.
Keith also revealed that Boyzone have finished their new album to celebrate their 25th anniversary and they are planning a huge tour, with a very special guest.
He said: "We’ve just finished the studio album to celebrate 25 years, it’s f**king brilliant. We are going to tour next year and we’re taking Brian with us."
Brian and Keith sang a number of Westlife and Boyzone’s greatest hits during the gig and poked fun at each other throughout.
Speaking about Westlife following in Boyzone’s footsteps, Keith joked: "If it wasn’t for Boyzone, Brian wouldn’t have a f***ing career. When he was a teenager, he was at home dreaming of being Keith Duffy."
Brian fired back: "If it wasn’t for Boyzlife, Keith wouldn’t have a career now."
Highlights of the set included performances of ‘Love Me For A Reason’, Words’, ‘Flying Without Wings’, ‘Swear It Again’ and an encore of both groups’ Comic Relief Singles, ‘When The Going Gets Tough’ and ‘Uptown Girl’.
The BoyzLife Xmas tour continues tonight (13.12.17) in Exeter and has upcoming dates in Norwich, Leamington and Glasgow before finishing in Nottingham on December 19th.
BoyzLife remember Stephen Gately at concert
