Stephen Gately's Death

Stephen Gately's Death. On 10 October 2009 Gately's body was discovered in apartment which he owned with Cowles near Port d' Andratx on the western tip of Majorca in Spain. Spanish police were alerted at 1:45 pm. The cause of death has yet to be determined, although it was reported that he had "gone out for drinks, returned to his accommodation and fallen asleep, but never woke up." He was found squatting in an awkward way on a sofa, dressed in his pyjamas.

Police said they had no reason to believe the death was related to abuse of substances such as drugs or alcohol and no suicide note or signs of violence were located on the corpse. The Gately family have enlisted celebrity solicitor Gerald Kean as their official spokesperson; Kean ruled out foul play and suicide, describing it as "just a tragic accident".

Fans responded with messages of sympathy on the social networking website Facebook. Boyzone manager Louis Walsh is quoted as saying: "We're all absolutely devastated. I'm in complete shock. I was only with him on Monday at an awards ceremony. We don't know much about what's happened yet. I only heard after The X Factor [UK television talent show on which Walsh is a judge] and we will rally around each other this week. He was a great man." Walsh dropped out of the 11 October 2009 live televised results episode of The X Factor as a direct result of Gately's death. Simon Cowell addressed the issue at the start of the programme.

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said: "It's so sad. Boyzone and Stephen, they've all been part of Irish life and far wider than that, the last 15 years, and so successful, so it's a huge, huge tragedy. He was 33 years of age, 15 years at the top, a fine musician, it's just a huge tragedy to Irish entertainment, Irish music and further afield as well".

Minester for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen paid tribute: "Stephen Gately was a gifted young man with a talent for singing which brought him tremendous success as a member of Boyzone and also as a West End star. There was a joy about his music making, and his death at such a young age is both a personal and professional loss".

Andrew Lloyd Webber said it is "a great loss to the musical world". Elton John said he and his partner David Furnish were "stunned" when they heard the news. Katherine Jenkins twittered of "memories 2 cherish" from a night out in the weeks leading up to his death. Stephen Fry described Gately's demise as "a dreadful shock". "This was not supposed to happen. This was not in the script", said music historian Paul Gambaccine.

Gately's bandmates flew out to Majorca on 11 October 2009. Louis Walsh is expected to join them soon. The surviving members of Boyzone, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating and Shane Lynch issued a joint statement:

We are completely devastated by the loss of our friend and brother, Stephen. We have shared such wonderful times together over the years and were all looking forward to sharing many more. Stephen was a beautiful person in both body and spirit. He lit up our lives and those of the many friends he had all over the world. Our love and sympathy go out to Andrew and Stephen's family. We love you and will miss you forever, 'Steo'.

An investigation into the circumstances of Gately's death is underway, with police concentrating on a night out he had with Cowles and searching for a missing Bulgarian man.

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