Boyzone star Ronan Keating has spoken about the genuine dangers he and his bandmates faced in the early days of their career, as he was often left ‘frightened for his life’.
The singer was reminiscing about the band’s first few years as they played the club circuit around Ireland before they became global superstars.
He remembered how men in the clubs would often become very aggressive and jealous of the female attention the band received.
Keating said: “We were having s**t thrown at us, lads wanting to beat the s**t out of us and girls wanting to jump up to kiss and hug us on stage.
“One night, Duster (Keith) had to grab Stephen and me and drag us through the dancefloor because the lads were trying to punch the heads off us.
“It was crazy. You’d be frightened for your life.”
Boyzone became one of the biggest boybands of their generation and have a catalogue of number one songs and albums that are fondly remembered by their fans.
Keating’s bandmate Keith Duffy also spoke about the glory days of the group.
He said: “The perception of rock stars is that they’re all about sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, and a boyband is all pretty boys, who are squeaky clean. That was completely f***ing wrong. We were more honest.
“If you look at a rock band, they’ve got long hair that’s permed — how are they cooler than us?
“We had shaved heads and were in the bar until six o’clock in the morning.”
Keating concluded by expressing the band’s gratitude to all their fans throughout the years. He said: “We’ve never worked a day in our lives in Boyzone. It’s been the absolute dream.
“We’ve travelled the world, we’ve met amazing people, we’ve entertained. It’s been phenomenal.
“Apart from anything else, these last shows are a massive thank you to everybody that supported Boyzone for 26 years.”
