Interview with Keith Duffy from Boyzlife

Ahead of the tour coming to the north our Music Features Writer spoke to Keith Duffy.

How has the tour been going so far?

The audiences have been great, we have only played the south of England and Wales so far and looking forward to returning to the north. There is nothing as good as a live audience in the north. The reactions that we have had on social media have been very supportive. The show is a very personal one for Brian and myself; along with the fans we will see images on the screens behind us of people who are sadly no longer with us. When I was in Boyzone we only played big arenas so this tour is good because of the smaller venues where the audience feel to be part of the show a lot more.

What can we expect from the show?

Between Brian and myself we have had numerous UK number one songs with our careers in Boyzone and Westlife so we try and do as many of those as we can. Basically, for many it will be a trip down memory lane: we laugh, we cry and we all sing along together. We also do a few tracks off our new album which we released earlier this year - we are so proud of it as an original album, which we wrote and created. You would be surprised how many of the fans at the concerts know the words to the newer stuff.

For myself singing the Westlife songs are a bit of a novelty as some of them are quite uptempo, whilst the Boyzone ones tend to be ballads. We are joined by a great live band on stage and have the same musical director, Richard Taylor who held the same position when Boyzone toured. He has been with me on the road for twenty eight years now making it feel like one big family when we are on tour.

Is it harder for you to get your new music heard?

Definitely. Back in the nineties we still had Top of the Pops and the Saturday morning TV shows which have sadly all disappeared. Radio too tends to play the big hits and the old songs so unless you are a big fan, the casual listener will not get to hear our new material. There is so much new music out there but the channels to hear it are getting narrower all the time.
Do you still get excited by new music?

I do – a band who really excite me are from Dublin called Picture This. I reckon that they could be the next U2, they are already very successful in Ireland and were just getting noticed in the UK when Covid struck so it is all back to the start again for them. Your readers should check them out, remember where you heard the name first!

Were you and Brian always friends?

Westlife supported Boyzone on our tour in 1998; that's how I got to know Brian. We started to play golf together then we lost touch with one another until our paths crossed again in 2015. He was doing an acoustic set in Ireland which I saw, it really was something else. I said I was thinking of doing a show singing the Boyzone songs and he suggested that I re-think the idea and perhaps do a show together and things developed from there.

Have you ever thought about returning back to appear in Coronation Street?

I absolutely loved it, I was in the show on and off for ten years - you never know what might happen in the future. After travelling around the world with Boyzone for seven years with that crazy life of private jets, hotels and travel it felt so good to have a permanent base in Manchester - where the show is recorded - it was just what I needed at the time. It also gave me a routine having to learn my lines though I am glad now to be back on the road after that break.

Does it surprise you how loyal your fans are?

They are very loyal and still come to the shows, some have been with us from the early days now they come with their children and in some cases, their grandchildren. Really though the fans keep us going and give us the opportunity to do what we do. We still enjoy doing it and I hope that anyone who comes along to see any of our concerts will enjoy themselves too.