Stephen – Our Brother Whilst probably best known for being part of boyzone, Stephen was a man of many talents. Stephen was the first of the boyz to strike out with his debut solo single, New Beginning and then his debut solo album of the same name. Two further singles from this album followed, I Believe, which was part of the soundtrack for the movie, Billy Elliot, and Stay. Stephen was very proud of his solo album but after parting company with his record label he took some time out from the music business. After this break Stephen came back refreshed and played the lead role in Bill Kenwright’s production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat which previewed in Oxford before moving to Liverpool and finally to London’s West End. Stephen received fantastic reviews for Joseph and played to enthusiastic audiences for many months in London. Stephen continued to take on a range of different stage roles where he could combine his love of singing and acting. He became quite unrecognisable after being transformed into the evil Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium. He made his debut in pantomime starring as Dandini in Cinderella in Bromley and showcased another of his talents by writing a song called A Brighter Day especially for the show. He also played the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury and had a short period in a touring production of Godspell which showed his versatility as an actor and dancer together with his ability to sing songs whatever the genre. Stephen paired up with Canadian champion skater Kristina Lenko to take part in ITV’s Dancing On Ice and in between rehearsals for this Stephen also went into the recording studio with G4 to record No Matter What for their last album Act Three, present and sing with G4 at the annual Childline Concert in Dublin and tape a radio episode of Dr Who for BBC7 as Tommy Tomorrow recording a new song, Children Of Tomorrow, for this as well to great acclaim from the producers. Stephen was also very pleased to be an ambassador for the charity Caudwell Children and always supported their work as much as possible. Stephen combined his passion for films and love of all things Disney to work with Film 24 where he interviewed a number of Hollywood stars ranging from Daniel Craig to Jamie Bell and Miss Piggy along with attending launches for the DVD’s of Enchanted and Ratatouille for the channel as well before Boyzone reformed in November 2007. One of his greatest joys was being back with his ‘brothers’, Shane, Mikey, Keith and Ronan and making music and touring with the band in 2008 and 2009. Sadly, however, Stephen passed away suddenly but peacefully at just 33 years old at his second home in Mallorca from an undiagnosed heart condition on 10th October 2009 leaving his husband, family, friends and fans mourning the loss of this hugely popular, talented, warm, funny, kind and generous man. Through his love, his friendship, the joy he brought to people through his music and performances and his courage he has touched the lives of many people across the world. Stephen was very close to completing his fantasy novel, The Tree Of Seasons, and he left sufficient notes about the ending to allow Andrew to ensure the last few pages were completed as he would have wished and his dream of seeing this book in print and becoming a published author will be released on 13th May 2010 when the book is released. Whilst his passing leaves great sadness for many people Stephen would want to be remembered for the joy and the fun he brought to everyone who had the good fortune to have had him touch their lives. For more information on Stephen’s career history please visit the official website at stephengately.co.uk To donate to Caudwell Children in memory of Stephen please visit justgiving/StephenGately/
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 01:17:57 +0000