‘Music and Songwriting Has Allowed Me to Grieve:’ Ronan Keating Reflects on Loss, New Music and Superstar Collaborations
Categoria: Musica
The Irish pop veteran is working on a new album, which will feature a song recorded with Ed Sheeran, and is looking to "tick that box" with a one-off concert starring Jose Carreras.
Por Billboard | 16/07/2026
Life is a rollercoaster, Ronan Keating once told us. You’ve just gotta ride it. More than a quarter century has passed since the Irishman handed out those lifehacks, none of it a lie. Keating has whizzed to the very peak of that thrill ride, bagging three U.K. solo No. 1 singles — including that perfect pop nugget from 2000, “Life Is A Rollercoaster” — and four No. 1 albums. And as a member of Boyzone , he boasts another six U.K. No. 1 singles, and five No. 1 albums. That’s nine No. 1 singles, nine No. 1 albums. Another hit might not be too far away, perhaps tipping Keating’s career chart crowns into double-digits. “I’m just in the process of making a record right now,” he tells Billboard over a Zoom from his home in Dubai, “and the first single is with a young singer-songwriter by the name of Ed Sheeran . I’m ready to release this album.” Rollercoasters, they come down too. After the misery of the pandemic, Keating lost his brother, Ciaran Keating, in a car accident in 2023. That tragedy rocked the veteran artist, now aged 49, as did the loss of his former Boyzone bandmate, Stephen Gately, in 2009 . Art, as it so often does, finds its way in the darker times. “I do find clarity, calm, in those moments when I’m on stage,” he explains. “I tried to write a song about Ciaran, but I struggled a lot with writing in the last couple of years.” Earlier this year on a trip to Australia, where he has a long history as a reality TV judge, that creative block became dislodged when Keating and his wife Storm stumbled upon a melody, a tune that became something more. “The two of us spent the afternoon just sitting and writing. I had the guitar and we wrote this song. It was the first song I’d written since my brother died. That was the catalyst that has allowed me to get this album moving and going,” he tells Billboard . “I think it was my wife’s angle of what she saw me going through, and us going through as a family, and we ended up just pouring our hearts out into this song. It was beautiful. I think music and songwriting has allowed me to grieve.” After the tough, low points, the rollercoaster is on the climb. “Storm and I, we spend a bit of time in the studio writing. I’m in a really good place musically, and I’m ready to drop this next album, and I’m really excited about it, the way it feels, and it sounds.” There’s no title just yet, but Keating is happy with the progress made. “We’re about halfway through the album. And I can definitely say that the first single will be with Ed and (Wheatus frontman) Brendan Brown. The three of us wrote the song earlier in the year, and it was just one of those moments. I knew this is going to be a big moment. So, yeah, I can confidently say it’s the first single on the album.” Keating is excited, too, about his 26 th anniversary tour of “Life Is A Rollercoaster,” which continues Saturday, July 18 at Newbury Racecours