Stephen Gately

Most of the things I remember when I was growing up are from the 90's. I was born in 1985, and in the 90's I went from a child to an annoying teenager. In pop music this a period also known for the syrupy singing groups known as boybands and girlbands, such as Wilson Phillipps, New Kids On The Block, in the late 80's and early 90's, and then Backstreet Boys, 98 degrees, LFO and ‘N Sync. But my favorites from this kind of groups come from the other side of the ocean. They're from Britain or Ireland. They were Take That, Spice Girls, and specially Westlife and Boyzone. I always thought they were less about (that ridiculous stereotyped) image than the others, and more about melody and music. They had better songs.

Most of these groups vanished and then came back together recently. So did Boyzone. They were 5 Irish singers, but only two of them used to actually sing the songs: Ronan Keating, who also has a very successful solo career overseas, and Stephen Gately. The other 3 were more like backing vocals. After getting back together and toured during the Summer, Stephen went on vacation and passed away. The cause is yet a mystery.

I didn’t know much about them because the media back then, at least in my country, wasn’t as intrusive as today and I got acquainted to internet only in 2000, when they split. His death is something extremely sad. These circumstances always make me think how ephemeral life is. This year so many mainstream celebrities left us, like Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett (who died in my birthday) and Patrick Swayze. Stephen was very young, only 33. But still he had a successful life and there will always be people who will remember him. I will. I have 3 of their albums at home. Every now and then I used to listen to their music and I'll probably keep on doing it.

Rest in peace.