Ronan Keating

Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter, musician, and philanthropist. He debuted in 1994, alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the lead singer of Irish group Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999 and has spawned nine albums. He gained worldwide attention when his single "When You Say Nothing at All" was featured in the film Notting Hill and peaked at number one in several countries. As a solo artist, he has sold over 20 million records worldwide alongside the 25 million records with Boyzone, and in Australia he is best known as a judge on The X Factor.

Keating is active in charity work and has been a charity campaigner for the Marie Keating Foundation, which raises awareness for breast cancer and is named after his mother, who died from the disease in 1998.

1993–99: Early career, Boyzone and marriage
Ronan Keating was born on 3 March 1977, the youngest of five children. He grew up on the Northside of Dublin and County Meath. His father Gerry Keating was a lorry driver; his mother Marie was a mobile hairdresser. He has one sister: Linda, and three brothers: Ciaran, Gerard and Gary. He was a track and field athlete and represented Ireland in several tournaments, winning the All Ireland under-13 200m title. He also worked as an assistant in a shoe shop just as his siblings emigrated to the United States. Also, Keating auditioned for Stars in Their Eyes.

Keating joined the band Boyzone in 1993. Keating, Keith Duffy, Richard Rock, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately were chosen as Boyzone members. Rock would later leave the group before being replaced by Michael Graham. The group performed in various clubs and pubs before being signed by PolyGram in 1994 and released a cover version of "Working My Way Back to You" by The Four Seasons. The group also released a cover version of "Love Me for a Reason" which would peak on several charts. In 1998, his mother died at the age of 51 from breast cancer, resulting in the establishment of the Marie Keating Foundation. At the age of 21 years, Keating married Yvonne Connolly in April 1998 and together, the couple have three children: Jack (born 15 March 1999), Marie (born 18 February 2001) and Ali (born 7 September 2005). The couple are now divorced after Keating had an affair.

From 1994–1999, Boyzone released 17 singles, 3 studio albums and 1 compilation album before disbanding in 2000 selling 27 million records and 3 million records from 4 singles, 1 compilation and studio album since their reformation.

Ronan and When You Say Nothing at All: 1999–2000
In 1999, while still a member of Boyzone, Keating recorded a version of "When You Say Nothing at All" for the motion picture Notting Hill. The single peaked at number one in the UK charts, leading to a successful solo career. Keating released his debut solo album, titled Ronan, in 2000, which peaked at number one in the UK Albums Chart. The album was given several negative reviews, although it sold over 750,000 copies and became one of the top selling albums of the year in the United Kingdom. It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, and has been certified four-times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for sales of 1.2 million copies. In the singer's native Ireland, the album debuted at number two. The album also became a commercial success in other European countries, where it charted within the top ten of eight countries. In 2001, Ronan was certified two-times platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for shipments of two million copies inside Europe.

The album produced four UK and Irish top-ten singles: "When You Say Nothing at All" (originally recorded for the soundtrack of the 1999 film Notting Hill), "Life Is a Rollercoaster", "The Way You Make Me Feel", and "Lovin' Each Day", the latter of which was featured on the re-release edition of the album, and later on Keating's second album, Destination (2002).Also the song "Lovin each day" is from a movie "Summer catch".

1999–2007: Destination, touring and 10 Years of Hits
After the successful debut album Ronan Keating continued on with his solo career and has since released four more studio albums: Destination (2002), Turn It On (2003), 10 Years of Hits (2004) and Bring You Home (2006), four of which peaked at number one in the UK Albums Chart. Keating collaborated with several major stars, including Elton John, Lulu, LeAnn Rimes and the Bee Gees, for these albums.

Keating and Paul Brady co-wrote the 2001 hit single "The Long Goodbye", one of Keating's most loved hits amongst fans and a huge hit for Brooks & Dunn in the United States. Keating and Brady won the "BMI European song-writing award" for the single. In 2003, Keating was named Rear of the Year – an award given to celebrities with a notable posterior. In October 2007, Keating was listed in the Guinness Book of Records for being the only artist ever to have 30 consecutive top 10 singles in the UK chart, beating the likes of Elvis Presley. Keating also embarked on two world tours, won the Ivor Novello and BMI songwriting awards, released an autobiography, had a role as ambassador for Christian Aid and had sales in excess of 22 million albums worldwide. In 2007 he released two fragrances, the range consists of a female fragrance, 'Hope By Ronan', which is based upon musk and amber scents and a male scent; and 'Believe by Ronan', based on Sicilian lemon, lavender and Clary sage smells. All proceeds go to the Marie Keating foundation.

Keating performed at the 2006 FIFA World Cup opening party at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, in front of an audience of nearly 250,000 people, and posed nude for Cosmopolitan magazine's 10 Years of Naked Centrefolds. On 9 May 2007, Keating became the first international number-one selling foreign artist to perform a concert in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Keating also performed at the Olympic Stadium Indoor Arena. Keating has dueted with Elton John at Madison Garden in New York and has sung for the Pope twice and performed for Prince Charles at the Prince's Trust 30th birthday, which took place at the Tower of London. He performed on stage for the Swedish Royal family at Crown Princess Victoria's birthday celebrations, and at the opening ceremony of the 19th European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg.

2007–10: Boyzone reformation and Stephen Gately's death
On 5 November 2007, Keating confirmed that Boyzone would reunite for a special appearance on the BBC's annual fundraiser, Children in Need, performing a medley of hits, although had not yet commented on the possibility of a new tour or album. Soon, the Boyzone went on a 29-date tour. The tour, taking in cities such as Cardiff, Newcastle, Liverpool, London at the O2 Arena and Wembley, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham, Edinburgh Castle and the RDS in Dublin. A greatest hits collection was released and two new singles in 2008 selling 700,000 copies.

Stephen Gately, close friend and bandmate of Keating, died on 10 October 2009 of a pulmonary edema, or fluid in the lungs. This left Keating devastated.

In 2009 Keating co-wrote the song "Believe Again" sung by Niels Brinck, who won the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix and represented Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow where it qualified for the final from the second semi-final and finished in 13th place with 74 points.[16] Following the success of Ronan Keating's album Songs for My Mother, he has recorded another entitled Winter Songs. Teaming up again with Songs for My Mother producer Steve Lipson, Keating pulled together eleven songs that evoked memories of winter and Christmas for him. Winter Songs is a mix of traditional and modern festive classics, including tracks from artists such as Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell and Sugarland along with perennials "Silent Night" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". The album also includes two brand new songs, "Its Only Christmas" and "Scars".

In March 2010 the new Boyzone album "Brother" was released and went to number one in UK and Ireland selling 500,000 copies with very little promotion to add to the singles which sold 175,000 copies.

On 12 November 2010, Keating released his seventh studio album entitled, Duet in Australia and New Zealand. "Believe Again" was released as the lead single from the album and features guest vocals from Australian singer, Paulini

2011–present: Touring and Fires
He joined Boyzone on their tour of the UK and Ireland during February and March 2011 with a 21 date tour of the Ireland and UK with their arena-based Brother Tour, each of the band members received £1 million from it. Ronan and the rest of the lads said it was a tour dedicated to their brother 'Steo'. Singer/songwriter Guy Sebastian from Australia appeared as the support act. On 21 March 2011, Ronan released an album of covers produced by Burt Bacharach titled When Ronan Met Burt. In April he began shooting scenes for his film debut in Australia; the film, Goddess, was released on 14 March 2013.

He performed at the Westfalenhallen in Dortmund, Germany in front of a crowd of 16,500.

Keating toured Australia and New Zealand in the beginning of 2012 at the state theatre in Sydney, Brisbane convention centre, Melbourne Regent Theatre, Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Canberra Royal Theatre, Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Adelaide festival theatre and at Perth Kings Park in front of 29,000 in all making 1.6 million pounds.

His fifth studio album named Fires was released on 3 September 2012 in the UK and 30 August in Ireland, Germany, Australia and worldwide. It was released through Universal Music and was produced by Greg Wells and co-written by Keating and Gregg Alexander. To promote the record Keating embarked on a short promotional tour on 3 August at the Summarfestivalur in the Faroe Islands in front of 14,000 fans, 5 August at the Þjóðhátíð festival in Iceland and on 17 August at Festas Mar in Portugal as well as appearances in Germany and Australia.

A tour of the UK and Ireland in 2013 saw Ronan perform at Colston Hall in Bristol, The O2 Arena, Cardiff International Arena, Brighton Centre, Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, LG Arena in Birmingham, Bournemouth International Centre, Sheffield City Hall, Blackpool Opera House, Liverpool Echo Arena, Manchester Apollo, Newcastle City Hall, Clyde Auditorium and AECC in Scotland and The O2 in Ireland to an audience of 80,000 fans, which was predicted to make £3,000,000.

On 21 July the single from the album, also named "Fires", was given its first worldwide release on BBC Radio 2. The video premiered on YouTube on 1 August 2012 at 9 am. It was released as a digital download and CD on 24 August worldwide and 27 August in the UK. "Wasted Light", is the second track on the album and premiered on 3 December 2012. The music video part live, part animated.

Keating said: "Now I have a new lease of life and I'm ready to write and record, I'm working on a new studio album, which I hope to release later this year. It will feature brand new songs." "It's not folk. It's a mix! It's a pop album. Gregg Alexander and I are working together again. It's got that 'Life is a Rollercoaster' feel again. I'm having fun with it again, it's been five years since I've done a studio album. I'm a little bit nervous, I just want to make a great record, for me, rather than for anyone else."

In September 2013, Keating teamed up with X Factor judge Dannii Minogue to record a duet of Christmas classic "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" for department store chain Myer's "The Spirit of Christmas 2013" compilation.

Personal life
In April 1998, at the age of 21, Keating married Irish model Yvonne Connolly. Together, they have three children: Jack (born 15 March 1999), Marie (born 18 February 2001), and Ali (born 7 September 2005). The couple separated in 2010 due to Keating's affair with a Boyzone backing dancer, and they later divorced.

Discography

 * Studio albums
 * Ronan (2000)
 * Destination (2002)
 * Turn It On (2003)
 * Bring You Home (2006)
 * Fires (2012)

Compilation and covers albums

 * 10 Years of Hits (2004)
 * Songs for My Mother (2009)
 * Winter Songs (2009)
 * Duet (2010)
 * When Ronan Met Burt (2011)