Mikey Graham refused to reunite with his former Boyzone bandmates in the heartbreaking final scene of their Sky docuseries.
Boyzone: No Matter What features never-before-seen footage of manager Louis Walsh and members, Mikey, Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and the late Stephen Gately, as well as interviews with those closest to the group.
During the show, the group spoke publicly about the infighting that plagued the group, which came to a head during their farewell tour in 2019.
While Ronan, Keith and Shane were able to put their differences aside and come together for a drink in the closing scenes, it all proved too much for Mikey, who struggled with his mental health during the band’s heyday.
As the camera cut to Mikey – famously referred to as ‘The Quiet One’ during his time with Boyzone – sitting alone, he explained: ‘I wish them all the best, no grudges, no animosity, nothing.
‘However, I don’t want to go back to how I felt for many years. To see them, if it were for too long, would remind me of that.’
Mikey Graham refused to reunite with his former Boyzone bandmates in the heartbreaking final scene of their Sky docuseries, instead being filmed reflecting on time in the band solo
During the show, the group spoke publicly about the infighting that plagued the group, but Shane Lynch, Keith Duffy and Ronan Keating were able to put their differences aside
(L-R) Mikey, Ronan, Keith, Stephen Gately and Shane soared to fame in the Noughties, with Boyzone: No Matter What features never-before-seen footage of the band (pictured in 1998)
He concluded: ‘My future is far too important for me to waste it looking back at my past but I wish everybody well.’
During the band’s final tour tensions again began to flare up within the group, with Ronan and Mikey irritated by the party lifestyle of Shane and Keith, who they didn’t believe were taking the shows seriously.
Ronan revealed: ‘They had been out all day, drinking all day and it was messy’, as Keith confessed: ‘We’d certainly partied a little harder than we usually did – it was the end of the road.’
The group found themselves embroiled in several arguments, the worst of which took place between Keith and Mikey in their dressing room.
Keith refused to touch on the details, simply saying: ‘There were things that had happened that were cruel and I’m not going to express any more than that.’
Mikey added: ‘I just wanted to get out and get away from that toxic environment’.
While the group finished the tour – for the first time in separate dressing rooms, things haven’t been the same since.
Keith later confessed: ‘One of my biggest regrets is how much I clashed with Mikey.’
Mikey agreed, saying: ‘It didn’t have to be that way if we all had better skills at understanding each other better.
‘I am so grateful for all I have endured good and bad because it’s brought me to be the man I am today.’
As the camera cut to Mikey – referred to as ‘The Quiet One’ – sitting alone, he explained: ‘ I don’t want to go back to how I felt for many years. To see them would remind me of that’
He added: ‘My future is far too important for me to waste it looking back at my past but I wish everybody well’
Mikey also didn’t attend the screening for the show earlier this week
Earlier in the show, the group spoke about Mikey joining the band, having been brought in as a late addition.
‘Mikey was a little bit lost in a boyband,’ Ronan shared, with Shane musing: ‘He’s quite the recluse… I’ve not spoken to Mik for four years, I think there’s an element of this industry that damaged him.’
Now 52 years old, Graham lives a nomadic existence in his rural Ireland, a life far removed from the glitz, glamour and relentless globetrotting of his youth.
‘I just wanted out,’ he admitted. ‘And to get away from that toxic environment… my experience is very very different from the other guys.’
Elsewhere in the docuseries, talk turned to the toxic infighting that plagued Boyzone.
In 1999, while still a member of the band, Ronan recorded a version of When You Say Nothing at All for the movie Notting Hill which peaked at number one in the UK charts and sparked his decision to pursue a solo career, meaning the band went on hiatus.
During this time, Ronan decided to keep Louis on as his manager but was left frustrated at the direction he was keeping his career on – with Ronan wanting to change the style of his music and write his own songs.
Elsewhere in the series, Ronan lashed out at ‘vicious’ Louis Walsh and detailed Boyzone’s ‘toxic’ infighting as he reflected on the band’s bitter final days before splitting
Louis managed Ronan when he started a solo career but was fired. He said: ‘There was a divorce, I called him talentless and things and there in the press…’
Lashing out at the music mogul, Ronan said: ‘He just got it wrong. He made the wrong choices. He didn’t know where the f**k I was!’
Hinting that Louis was more concerned with appearing on shows such as Pop Idol and The X Factor than managing him, he continued ‘Louis became a TV personality – he was given that chance because he was the manager of Boyzone.
‘Things started falling into place and you realise, Louis is not a great manager. I gave him multiple opportunities to fix things.
‘I have one shot at my career and he didn’t give a f**k, it fell on deaf ears.’
Hitting back, Louis insisted: ‘Ronan was a big middle of the road artist, he appealed to older women, that was his market, that was his line.
‘He said he didn’t want to be a karaoke artist and wanted to record and write his own songs and be a proper artist – that shocked me.’
Discussing the moment Ronan fired him as manager, Louis shared: ‘I always told him the truth, you’re a lucky f***er.
‘There was a divorce, I called him talentless and things and there in the press… do I regret it? Yeah, a little bit.’
Fuming, Ronan continued: ‘He knew how to hurt me, vicious, f***ing bitchy horrible things. He tried to ruin me and my career.’
Louis insisted: ‘Ronan was a big middle of the road artist, he appealed to older women, that was his market, that was his line’
As well as his feud with Louis, Ronan was also in the midst of a fallout with the other Boyzone members, who wanted the group to reform, while he wanted to continue his solo career.
Tensions had already been rising between the bandmates before they went on hiatus, with the group struggling to cope with their demanding workload and also feeling resentment at Louis appearing to favour Ronan.
Louis explained: ‘As it got bigger it became harder to keep them happy because they wanted more and they wanted more time off.’
Shane explained: ‘At its peak was a gruelling time, there was no mercy whatsoever… we were tired, we were broken.’
Mikey added: ‘We were all physically and mentally and emotionally exhausted’, as Ronan revealed the group hadn’t had more than three weeks off in six years.
‘We had spent too much time together and with that comes relationship difficulties between us,’ Ronan explained. ‘Maybe that was the start of cracks.’
Offering his take on the tension, Louis said: ‘They all had egos and they all wanted to be more famous than they were.
‘Ronan was the one I could depend on, if I needed something done, or if there was a gig somewhere they didn’t want to do, I knew he’d talk them into doing it.
‘He was managing the group with me, he was making a lot of decisions, I was talking to him almost daily about everything.’
As well as his feud with Louis, Ronan was also in the midst of a fallout with the other Boyzone members, who wanted the group to reform, while he wanted to continue his solo career
At this time Louis also formed Westlife and brought Ronan in to be a joint manager of the group while Boyzone were still together.
‘People were asking me to do things and some of the others weren’t getting asked and it definitely fueled a bit of animosity,’ Ronan explained.
After releasing When You Say Nothing at All, Ronan then told the group they should take a break, but while his solo career flourished, the other members struggled to make their mark on the charts.
‘It was a case of once the band was over, so were you,’ Mikey explained. ‘I stopped socialising, hid myself away.’
Shane added: ‘We went from going to three countries in one day to going nowhere. I was a free man but felt more jailed than ever’, while Keith confessed: ‘I felt like I was left in the desert to die of thirst.’
For Stephen, the lack of direction impacted his personal life, with his ex Eloy de Jong appearing on the docuseries to discuss their relationship.
‘He thought his childhood dream was over,’ Eloy mused. ‘It was difficult for Stephen and you saw his mood change.
‘The angel wasn’t happy anymore and it was just too difficult to be together. I was heartbroken, he was heartbroken as well.
‘It wasn’t that there was no love anymore, I still love him now, but sometimes it’s just not possible to be together anymore.’
While Ronan had a successful solo career the other members struggled. ‘It was a case of once the band was over, so were you,’ Mikey explained. ‘I stopped socialising, hid myself away’
Shane added: ‘We went from going to three countries in one day to going nowhere. I was a free man but felt more jailed than ever’
Keith confessed ‘I felt like I was left in the desert to die of thirst’ when the group went on hiatus
Yet despite the pleas of his bandmates, Ronan kept going with his solo career.
‘I had more coming through Louis, the band want to come back together and me being sheepish and childish about it and scared, I just back away,’ Ronan confessed.
‘Back away from the lads and the commitment in the band and I’m chicken s**t, I ignore the guys.’
Yet despite initially finding success as a solo artist, work started to dry up and after a public smear campaign from both Louis and the remaining Boyzone members he decided to come back to the group.
They tentatively agreed to meet to discuss a reunion, yet no one was sure if the group would be able to cooperate.
Ronan recalled: ‘I was worried about the boys’ reaction, I hadn’t seen them for years. There was resentment, bitterness, I was s****ing myself.’
Shane confessed: ‘I was angry at Ro[nan] for years and I found myself in this dark world, it didn’t take a lot to upset me and it would come out.
‘The rage I had for Ronan, in my mind I was going to destroy him. I was fuming but when I saw his face I could do nothing but hug the fella!’
Yet while the group were able to reunite amicably and went on to tour, tragedy came the following year with the heartbreaking death of Stephen.
Boyzone continued to tour as a four-piece until things came to a head on their final tour in 2019 and tensions again began to flare up within the group
Boyzone continued to tour as a four-piece until things came to a head on their final tour in 2019.
Tensions again began to flare up within the group, with Ronan and Mikey irritated by the party lifestyle of Shane and Keith, who they didn’t believe were taking the shows seriously.
Ronan revealed: ‘They had been out all day, drinking all day and it was messy’, as Keith confessed: ‘We’d certainly partied a little harder than we usually did – it was the end of the road.’
The group found themselves embroiled in several arguments, the worst of which took place between Keith and Mikey in their dressing room.
Keith refused to touch on the details, simply saying: ‘There were things that had happened that were cruel and I’m not going to express any more than that.’
Mikey added: ‘I just wanted to get out and get away from that toxic environment’.
While the group finished the tour – for the first time in separate dressing rooms, things haven’t been the same since.
‘I haven’t seen anybody since that night [last show]’, Mikey revealed. ‘I wish them all the best, no grudges, no animosity, nothing, however I don’t want to go back to how I felt for many years.
‘To see them, if it were for too long, would remind me of that and my future is far too important for me to waste it looking back at my past.’
Boyzone: No Matter What is available to watch on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW.
