No.1 for Interviews - Ronan Keating
Ronan Keating

The Boyzone frontman chats to Emma Hayley Dixon about the cancer charity that’s close to his heart, what it’s like to be touring again and why he’s learned to appreciate success

Ronan Keating’s name has become synonymous with boyband stardom. Starting out in Boyzone, he went on to release number one solo singles including the unforgettable When You Say Nothing At All, the soundtrack to Notting Hill. So with 14 top ten singles under his belt – it’s safe to say Ronan is one successful popstar. We were very excited at the prospect of interviewing the man himself at a golfing event in East Lothian, which was for a very good cause – raising funds for cancer. When we met Ronan, he was very handsome (pictures don’t do him justice) and charming, but also down to earth. His face lit up when he spoke of his wife and family and his Irish lilt had all the ladies nearby captivated. So, successful musician, a dedicated charity fundraiser, proud father and husband… could this man be any more perfect?

So Ronan, tell us about this event today…
I work with Cancer Research UK and The Marie Keating Foundation. We have mobile walk on units which are about education, our goal is to help people understand cancer, because early detection is the best chance of survival. So these units mean that people can walk on, speak to a nurse, find out more about cancer and how to check themselves. We have three of them in Ireland and four here in the UK and we’re about to launch them in Germany as well. The service has worked – we’ve had 85,000 people in the unit in Ireland alone. So the idea today is that we raise money for the Marie Keating Foundation and Sir Ian Botham’s Leukemia charity as well.

Is it important to you to try to make a difference in the world?
The thing with cancer is one in three people will be affected by it and that is messed up! But luckily most cancers now, if detected early enough, can be treated. That’s what people have to get in their heads – to check themselves regularly. There’s a serious stigma for men, especially with testicular cancer they think, ‘Oh I’m too big and butch to check my testicles’ but you have to. My mum died of cancer. She was an old fashioned woman and found it hard to go to the doctor to have her breasts checked, but we’re at the place now where the stigma for women getting themselves checked has gone. Men now have to do the same thing – go and get themselves checked.

You’ve been successful for years now, what would you say is the secret to longevity in the entertainment industry?
I enjoy what I do. How you approach people pays off – the taste you leave in people’s mouths. I’ve never been one to throw my toys out of the pram or be rude to people – there’s a lot of people who piss people off in the industry constantly but I try never to do that. I think people appreciate that, and then they want you back on their show – it’s a snowball effect. I’ve been in the industry for 15 years now – half my life, I was 15 when I started. I was only a baby! I loved every minute of it though. From the get go I just kept my eyes open and my ear to the ground to learn as much as I could. I’ve always been an old soul, even when I was a young fella people always thought I was older. I loved what I did, I said some stupid things but you do that when you’re a kid.

Is it funny looking back at how Boyzone were as a group then and how you are now?
It is! With the reunion tour we had to put together old footage and looking at the clothes and the hair we were like, ‘What were we thinking?’

Do you feel like you appreciate it more now when you’re touring?
Yeah, the five of us more than ever get it now. We were so busy the first time that we didn’t really have time to appreciate it. Sometimes we thought ‘Well, we deserve this.’ But you don’t, only age and time will help you to understand that and how lucky you are. But we’re having a great time now – we just laugh all the time and take the piss out of each other. We have kids now and wives outside of the band which are more important in our lives than the band itself and that’s really important.

How have you managed to keep your private life private?
Well, if you tell the photographers that you don’t want the family photographed, they generally leave you alone. But if you’re like these Jade Goody people who court the press and piss them off, the press then take the piss. I’ve never been one to fall out of nightclubs or be caught sneaking out of girl’s apartments.

You have three young kids, what’s that like with your career taking off again?
Oh, they’re brilliant! I love them! My daughter Ali was three last weekend and we went to Disneyland. The look on her face when she saw the princesses and she wore this yellow princess ballgown that she bought the whole time over her clothes. I loved it! The innocence of a child like that is just brilliant.

What would you think if your children wanted to get into the entertainment industry?
The problem with society today is that people want to be famous but they don’t want to be good at anything. So if they just wanted to be famous I’d tell them to go back to school, but if they wanted to be great at something in their heart and soul then I’d help them. When I started out I wanted to be a great singer and learn all I could, it wasn’t just for fame. Fifteen years
ago we didn’t have Big Brother or X Factor, it was all about being a singer or great musician but society
now has just flipped on its head and people would rather be famous than be good at anything. My son Jack is getting to an age now where he wants to know about that kind of thing. The kids watch shows like Hannah Montana and they’re ‘getting’ this whole celebrity thing, so it’ll be interesting to see what they think of it all.

Do you still get to spend time with your family?
Yeah, I’m with them at home in Ireland more than I am on the road. I still try and drop them at school. I’ve got a studio at the house so even when I’m working I’m close – they can come and bang on the window and that’s so nice!

QUICKFIRE

The last text you received was…
My wife said ‘Going for a couple of hours sleep, phone me at 12.’ She’d just come off a flight from Toronto

The programme I’m hooked on is…
Lost, 24, Prison Break and Grey’s Anatomy

My favourite city is…
New York, I was there last week – it’s the best city in the world! When I get there I just walk and walk

My perfect Sunday is spent…
On a Sunday we go to mass and then for lunch and I love that. We’ll just get home and watch silly programmes and cheap family films and it’s perfect

I want to be remembered as…
A good dad, a great dad!

 

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