Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, 33, died on Saturday while on holiday in Majorca off the coast of Spain, the Irish band said on its Web site.
“Stephen tragically died yesterday whilst on holiday with his partner,” the site said yesterday.
Boyzone members, including lead singer Ronan Keating, were heading to Majorca following news of the death.
The circumstances surrounding Gately’s death remained unclear but Britain’s News of the World reported he died after a night out.
Boyzone manager Louis Walsh
told the newspaper: “We’re all absolutely devastated.”
He said: “I’m in complete shock. I was only with him [last] Monday at an awards ceremony. We don’t know much about what’s happened yet ... He was a great man.”
Speaking to the newspaper late Saturday, band member Shane Lynch said: “Me and the boys are flying out in the morning.
“We just need to get over to where he’s passed and work out what we need to do.”
Gately, who married his partner Andrew Cowles in a civil union in 2006, sent ripples through the pop music world 10 years ago when he announced that he was gay.
He joined Boyzone in 1993 after answering an advert in Dublin to audition for Ireland’s first boy band.
The band went on to enjoy huge success with six number one singles in Britain, but split up in 2000.
They reunited seven years later, but their recent 19-date Better tour failed to fill stadiums, despite offers of free tickets.
Gately also starred in West
End musicals in London, including
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
He last posted a message on his Twitter page on Tuesday, writing: “Still busy, lots going on. Focusing on finishing my book next so may be quiet here.”
British actor and comedian Stephen Fry said on Twitter that he was shocked at the news.
“Just heard the very sad news about dear Stephen Gately. What a dreadful shock. He was lovable and sweet natured and will be hugely missed.”
Music producer Shelby Singleton, whose biggest hit was Harper Valley PTA in a career that spanned country and rhythm and blues, has died of brain cancer, friend Jerry Kennedy said on Thursday. Singleton, who passed away in a Nashville hospital on Wednesday at age 77, released the crossover hit written by Tom T. Hall and sung by Jeannie C. Riley in 1968 on his own small independent record label, Plantation Records. It sold millions of copies.
Indian movie mogul Yash Chopra was honored on Friday as filmmaker of the year by one of Asia’s top
film festivals.
Pusan International Film Festival director Kim Dong-ho presented the award to the 77-year-old veteran director and producer at a banquet in the South Korean beach resort city.
Chopra, who founded one of India’s foremost studios, Yash Raj Films, said awards are a great motivator because they force you to justify your laurels.
“You have to prove that you’re good once again. You’re only as good as your last film,” he said in a brief acceptance speech.
Asian cinema’s elite were on hand to pay tribute to the Indian filmmaker, including the Korean-American star of the US hit TV series Lost, Kim Yun-jin, 1989 Venice Film Festival winner Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) of Taiwan, Hong Kong director Johnnie To (杜琪峰) and South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki.
Chopra made his debut with the 1959 film Blossom of Dust and in 1970 set up Yash Raj Films, which became one of the industry’s top production houses and distributes Indian movies abroad. Last year, Yash Raj Films teamed up with The Walt Disney Co to release the animated film Roadside Romeo. A pioneer in shooting Indian films abroad, Chopra and his company have worked with the industry’s biggest stars, including Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan.
Past winners of the Asian filmmaker of the year prize include Hou, the late Taiwanese director Edward Yang (楊德昌) and veteran Hong Kong actor-singer Andy Lau (劉德華).
The Pusan festival is also screening four films directed by Chopra or made by Yash Raj Films — Lamhe, Dhoom 2, New York and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, a romantic comedy starring Khan and directed by Chopra’s son, Aditya.
Aug. 4 to Aug. 10 When Coca-Cola finally pushed its way into Taiwan’s market in 1968, it allegedly vowed to wipe out its major domestic rival Hey Song within five years. But Hey Song, which began as a manual operation in a family cow shed in 1925, had proven its resilience, surviving numerous setbacks — including the loss of autonomy and nearly all its assets due to the Japanese colonial government’s wartime economic policy. By the 1960s, Hey Song had risen to the top of Taiwan’s beverage industry. This success was driven not only by president Chang Wen-chi’s
Last week, on the heels of the recall election that turned out so badly for Taiwan, came the news that US President Donald Trump had blocked the transit of President William Lai (賴清德) through the US on his way to Latin America. A few days later the international media reported that in June a scheduled visit by Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) for high level meetings was canceled by the US after China’s President Xi Jinping (習近平) asked Trump to curb US engagement with Taiwan during a June phone call. The cancellation of Lai’s transit was a gaudy
From Godzilla’s fiery atomic breath to post-apocalyptic anime and harrowing depictions of radiation sickness, the influence of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki runs deep in Japanese popular culture. In the 80 years since the World War II attacks, stories of destruction and mutation have been fused with fears around natural disasters and, more recently, the Fukushima crisis. Classic manga and anime series Astro Boy is called “Mighty Atom” in Japanese, while city-leveling explosions loom large in other titles such as Akira, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Attack on Titan. “Living through tremendous pain” and overcoming trauma is a recurrent theme in Japan’s
As last month dawned, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was in a good position. The recall campaigns had strong momentum, polling showed many Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers at risk of recall and even the KMT was bracing for losing seats while facing a tsunami of voter fraud investigations. Polling pointed to some of the recalls being a lock for victory. Though in most districts the majority was against recalling their lawmaker, among voters “definitely” planning to vote, there were double-digit margins in favor of recall in at least five districts, with three districts near or above 20 percent in
RSS