RONAN KEATING

Ronan has finally admitted that his role as a manager of Westlife was all a PR stunt to give instant visibility to Westlife. He said: "I didn’t manage the band. I just used my name to get them a record deal and then set up the first album." - 28th February 2001

BIOGRAPHY
In November 1994 Ronan Keating hit the top three for the first time with Boyzone’s hit Love Me For A Reason. Since then he’s not looked back. In five years as part of one the biggest pop bands ever, he enjoyed success with an incredible 16 top five singles, six of which were number ones. In August 1999 he had his first ever solo number one with When You Say Nothing At All.

ARTICLES
Some career highlights include duetting with Elton John at Madison Square Garden. Interviewing David Bowie on the web. Singing with Pavarotti. Hosting everything from Miss World and the Eurovision Song Contest to the MTV Awards twice. Writing an autobiography. Travelling the world. Guiding Westlife to stardom. Too many hits, gigs and awards to keep count. He has sold in excess of 17 million albums across the globe… and all this by the age of 27

BBC News - 16th August 1999 BBC News 12th December 1999 Sunday World 7th May 2000 (Louis) Heat Magazine - 10th February 2004 BBC News 30th July 2000  (Solo Album review) BBC Online 1st August 1999(Solo Single)

QUOTES 
"I'd like Westlife to be the biggest band in the world! It's taken a lot of hard work and hopefully they'll keep their feet on the ground, but I think  there's a lot of potential there " -Ronan

RONAN GIVES WESTLIFE QUITTING ADVICE!!! 11/5/02
Ronan Keating says that pop music just isn't as good as it was, and thinks that Westlife are currently the ones flying the flag for the much-criticised genre. "Pop isn't as good as it used to be." he told us recently. "Back in the 90's, Take That were a fantastic pop band. And when you look at the 80's pop movement like Duran Duran, they had great pop songs. I think the whole Pop Idol stuff has diluted what we do. A lot of people say my stuff is not great but I think they're good pop songs."

While Ronan's not been shy about what he thinks about groups like Hear'Say, he only has nice things to say about Westlife, the band he managed in name only. "I like Westlife. I like what they're doing, I think they make great pop records. They're talented. Bryan's a great songwriter. Bop Bop Baby's a great pop song." With three years of massive success behind them, it doesn't look like the 'Life are nearing the end of their career just yet. But Ronan, who broke up Boyzone while they were still scoring No. 1s, has some advice for Shane, Bryan, Nicky, Kian and Mark: "The best thing for any band is to end on top, it's sad to see any band fade away, but it's up to them. As long as they keep bringing out good records, there'll always be people to buy those records." Ronan's album Destination is released on May 20th

Is Ronan as serious as he's made out to be? Bryan: No he 's actually a very fun guy. He comes across serious but he's a nice guy - a good laugh.
Come on boys, dish some dirt on Ronan! Kian: There ain't no dirt. That's the problem.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? Kian: Ronan told me to treat people as you want to be treated yourself. Shane: He also told us to keep our feet on the ground.

ARTICLES
Westlife isn't exactly as clean cut as their image makers have portrayed them. The five Irish lads admit to drink binges and trashing hotel rooms. And the band - whose manager Louis Walsh was forced to deny split rumours this week - say they dumped their previous manager, Boyzone front man Ronan Keating, because he was doing nothing for his share of their money. Kian, Shane, Mark, Nicky, and Bryan became millionaires 18 months after forming the band. They have sold 10 million albums and had eight UK #1s. Much of their success is down to their clean-living image, but they have now revealed it is far from the truth. Kian said: "I could drink 10 vodka and Red Bulls, which leaves me wired to the moon. Too often, they make me go mad so I've stopped drinking them now. I drink vodka and cranberry juice."

Bryan also remembers when he tried to throw a TV out of a hotel window after three days without sleep and a mini-bar binge as the group tried to crack America. The boys are fiercely anti-drugs, though. Kian said: "I've seen people really messed up on cocaine. Whoever brings coke into this band will be gone the next day." The group also admitted that Ronan is no longer involved with them. Kian said: "For the first three singles he was always there, came on the tour bus when we toured Europe and so on. But after a while that faded away. "It wasn't fair. We hadn't seen him for over two and a half months and we were still paying him 10 per cent management commission. "So he doesn't get anything any more." - 19th May 2001

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