stephen patrick david gately (17 March 1976-10 October 2009)
October 14, 2009
Stephen Patrick David Gately (17 March 1976 – 10 October 2009) was an Irish pop singer, songwriter and actor, who, with Ronan Keating, was one of two lead singers of the pop group Boyzone.
Gately’s body was discovered on 10 October 2009 in the apartment which he owned with Cowles near Port d’Andratx on the western tip of Majorca in Spain. Spanish police were alerted at 1:45 pm. It was reported that he had “gone out for drinks, returned to his accommodation and fallen asleep, but never woke up. He was found squatting in an awkward way on a sofa, dressed in his pyjamas.
Police said they had no reason to believe the death was related to abuse of substances such as drugs or alcohol and no suicide note or signs of violence were located on the corpse.
Gately’s bandmates flew out to Majorca on 11 October 2009.[23][30] Louis Walsh is expected to join them soon. The surviving members of Boyzone, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating and Shane Lynch, issued a joint statement:
We are completely devastated by the loss of our friend and brother, Stephen. We have shared such wonderful times together over the years and were all looking forward to sharing many more. Stephen was a beautiful person in both body and spirit. He lit up our lives and those of the many friends he had all over the world. Our love and sympathy go out to Andrew and Stephen’s family. We love you and will miss you forever, ‘Steo’.
An investigation into the circumstances of Gately’s death was underway, with police concentrating on a night out he had with Cowles.A post-mortem and toxicology tests took place on 13 October and this examination showed that Gately died of natural causes due to pulmonary oedema. On 16 October, his body will be brought from Majorca to Dublin where his funeral will take place at the Church of St Laurence O’Toole the following day.
rest in peace Stephen!
news source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Gately
