Michael Graham | |
|---|---|
 Graham (right) with Ronan Keating (left) | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael Christopher Charles Graham |
| Born | 15 August 1972 Raheny, Dublin, Ireland |
| Genres | Pop, soft rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter, actor, music producer |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Labels | Polydor UK |
Michael Christopher Charles "Mikey" Graham [1] (born 15 August 1972) is an Irish singer-songwriter, actor and record producer, best known as a member of boy band Boyzone.
The youngest of seven children, Graham was born to housewife Sheila and carpenter William, and raised on the Northside of Dublin with five older sisters and one older brother. [1] [2] He attended Billie Barry Stage School in Dublin [3] and started his life in the public eye at an early age, appearing in television adverts for Mikado biscuits and the Irish Electricity Board, T-Mobile. Like his bandmate Shane Lynch, Graham had worked as a mechanic before finding fame as a singer; [4] Lynch has stated in an interview that during the early days of Boyzone, he and Graham had a heated argument over exhaust pipes and hardly spoke to each other for fifteen years. [5]
In 1993, Graham – who had previously been a member of the band Ivory [6] – auditioned for a new boy band which would later be known as Boyzone, singing Meat Loaf's "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad". [4] Although he was not chosen as part of the final line-up, manager Louis Walsh changed his mind after firing two members for their lack of commitment. [7]
Graham gained a reputation as 'the quiet one' in the band, but despite their success he felt Boyzone's pop-styles did not give him a chance to expand his own musical horizons which included rock and folk. In an interview, he stated "Creatively and musically, what I wanted to do personally wasn't what was required for the band's product, so that suppression of what I wanted led to low self-esteem." [8] Following Boyzone's split in 2000, he sank into depression, but gradually recovered. [1] During his break from Boyzone, he trained as an actor in America, and studied Music Technology and Sound Production after his solo career as a singer ended. [9]
In 2007, the reunited Boyzone completed a 29-date reunion tour and released their comeback single on 29 September 2008, Love You Anyway, which was followed by a Greatest Hits album entitled Back Again... No Matter What released on 13 October 2008. He toured again with the band in 2009, and a brand new studio album with two singles - "Gave It All Away" and "Love Is a Hurricane" - were released the following year. In 2011, Graham joined his bandmates on tour, and again in 2013 with a new album.
In 1998, Graham broke into acting when he played Mikey Oprano the leader of a drugs gang in the full length Irish martial arts film Fatal Deviation , a low-budget cult film produced and set in Trim, Meath. Comedy website Cracked.com nominated Fatal Deviation as the worst movie ever made saying; "you could replace film school with this movie alone--just screening it once for students and asking them to list all the things it did wrong. Anyone who doesn't write "everything" instantly fails". [10]
Graham appeared in the 2008 low budget Irish feature film Situations Vacant written by Steve Murray and directed by Lisa Mulcahy who is best known for directing Irish Television drama The Clinic, [11] and was also among the ten Irish actors who appeared on the RTÉ reality show Hollywood Trials [12]
On the BBC television programme Something for the Weekend , Graham's bandmate Ronan Keating let slip that Graham would be taking part in the fifth series of Dancing on Ice , starting in January 2010. On the show he was paired with professional skater Melanie Lambert, but were voted off on 7 March in a skate-off with Danniella Westbrook and her partner Matt Gonzalez. [13] On participating, Graham has described his training as therapy which has helped him come to terms with the death of his bandmate Stephen Gately, who had participated in the show two years earlier. [14]
In February 2010 it was announced that Graham would be participating in Eurosong 2010, Ireland's final to select their Eurovision Song Contest entry. He performed the self-penned song "Baby, Nothing's Wrong" on 4 March on RTÉ One, attempting to achieve an eighth victory for Ireland in the competition, but placed second, losing out to Eurovision 1993 winner Niamh Kavanagh. [15] [16]
In 2013 he appeared in Celebrity Apprentice Ireland on TV3. [17]
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Meet Me Halfway |
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| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [18] | IRE [19] | |||
| 2000 | "You're My Angel" | 13 | 15 | Meet Me Halfway |
| "If You'd Only... (Make Up Your Mind)" | — | 29 | ||
| 2001 | "You Could Be My Everything" | 62 | — | |
Ronan Patrick John Keating is an Irish singer, songwriter, television and radio presenter. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999 and he has recorded eleven albums. He gained worldwide attention when his single "When You Say Nothing At All" was featured in the film Notting Hill and reached number one in several countries. Keating currently hosts a breakfast show on Magic Radio.
Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's The Late Late Show. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Stephen Gately, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating, and Shane Lynch. As of 2018, Boyzone have released seven studio albums and nine compilation albums.
Keith Peter Thomas Francis Julian John Duffy is an Irish singer, actor, radio and television presenter and drummer who began his professional music career as part of Irish boy band Boyzone alongside Ronan Keating, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately in 1993. The band decided to focus on solo projects in 2000 since which Duffy has taken acting roles in soap operas such as Coronation Street and Fair City. He has also presented The Box and You're a Star.
Stephen Patrick David Gately was an Irish singer, who, with Ronan Keating, was co-lead singer of the pop group Boyzone; all of Boyzone's studio albums during Gately's lifetime hit number one in the United Kingdom, their third being their most successful internationally. With Boyzone, Gately had a record-breaking sixteen consecutive singles enter the top five of the UK Singles Chart. He performed for millions of fans globally. He released a solo album in 2000, after the group's initial break-up, which charted in the UK top ten and yielded three UK hit singles, including the top three hit "New Beginning". Gately went on to appear variously in stage productions and on television programmes as well as contributing songs to various projects. In 2008, he rejoined his colleagues as Boyzone reformed for a series of concerts and recordings.
Shane Eamon Mark Stephen Lynch is an Irish singer, but best known as a member of Boyzone. He has also taken part in auto racing, participated in reality shows such as Celebrity Big Brother in 2018 and appeared as a judge on The All Ireland Talent Show.
Nicholas Bernard James Adam Byrne Jr. is an Irish pop singer, songwriter and radio and television presenter. He is best known for being a member of the pop group Westlife; Westlife has since released twelve albums, embarked on thirteen world tours, and won some awards, becoming one of the most successful Irish boys groups of all time.
"Working My Way Back to You" is a song made popular by the Four Seasons in 1966 and the Spinners in 1980.
Dustin the Turkey, a character performed by John Morrison is a former star of RTÉ television's The Den between 1989 and 2010 and from 2020. He has been described as "the most subversive comedy force on Irish television".
Leanne Moore is the winner of the 2008 series of You're a Star on Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ).
"Love You Anyway", or "I Love You Anyway", is a song by Irish boy band Boyzone, released as the lead single from their second compilation album, Back Again... No Matter What. It was their first single in over eight years, and their last hit single to be co-written by any members of the group.
Darren Holden is an Irish singer-songwriter who has performed on Broadway as part of Riverdance and Movin' Out and in the national tours for both shows. His debut solo album was released in Ireland in 1998. He later joined the Irish folk group, the High Kings, along with Finbarr Clancy and Brian Dunphy.
Where We Belong is the third studio album by Irish boy band Boyzone. The album was released on 25 May 1998 by Polydor Records. Five singles were released from the album, including a cover version of "I Love the Way You Love Me". The album became a top 10 album in eleven countries. It was the group's first and only album to be released in the United States, where it charted at number 167 on the Billboard 200. Where We Belong is also the third and final studio album Boyzone released before the death of Stephen Gately, 11 years later.
"Gave It All Away" is a song performed by Irish boyband Boyzone, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Brother, on 1 March 2010. It was their first single released following the death of member Stephen Gately, whose vocals appear in the song. It has sold 150,000 copies worldwide.
Brother is the fourth studio album by Irish boy band Boyzone, released on 5 March 2010 in Ireland. It is the band's first studio album in 12 years since Where We Belong (1998). The album is named in memory of member Stephen Gately, who died five months before its release. Gately's vocals appear on the tracks "Gave It All Away" and "Stronger".
Niall McCrudden was a music manager, promoter, celebrity optician and socialite. He was co-founder of Insight, one of Ireland's foremost optician chains. He became known as the "optician to the stars" after selling a pair of sunglasses to Jim Corr.
"Love is a Hurricane" is a song performed by Irish boyband Boyzone, released as the second single from their fourth studio album, Brother, on 17 May 2010.
Ryan O'Shaughnessy is an Irish singer and former actor from Loughshinny, Skerries, Dublin. He portrayed Mark Halpin in the popular TV series Fair City for nine years (2001–2010). In January 2012, he appeared in the inaugurative season of The Voice of Ireland and in May 2012, he took part in sixth series of Britain's Got Talent making it to the final and finishing in fifth place. He represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Together" finishing 16th.
BZ20 is the fifth studio album by Irish boy band Boyzone, released on 22 November 2013 by Rhino Records. It was mainly produced by Brian Rawling, Paul Meehan, and Matt Furmidge. As of October 2014, the album had sold 250,000 copies worldwide.
Dublin to Detroit is the sixth studio album by Irish boy band Boyzone. It was released on 21 November 2014 by East West Records. It is the group's first concept album and features renditions of classic Motown hits. Dublin to Detroit became the group's lowest-charting studio album of their career, charting outside the top 10 of the charts in both Ireland and the United Kingdom. The album has been certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 60,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
Thank You & Goodnight is the seventh and final studio album by Irish boy band Boyzone, which was released on 16 November 2018. The album sold 100,000 copies in the UK.
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