b. Ronan Patrick John Keating, 3 March 1977, Dublin, Eire. Keating's rise to fame as lead vocalist of Irish pop quintet Boyzone, gave little indication of the shrewd business brain lurking underneath his bland, choreographed exterior. Within five years of Boyzone's debut Irish hit, a cover version of the Detroit Spinners' "Working My Way Back To You", Keating had established himself as a successful television presenter, entrepreneur and solo artist. He broke into television presenting The Eurovision Song Contest and Miss World, before landing a prime-time slot in 1999 as host of the UK talent show Get Your Act Together. At the same time, Keating was preparing to establish himself as a solo artist, debuting in August with a cover version of Keith Whitley's country hit "When You Say Nothing At All". Taken from the soundtrack of the hit movie Notting Hill, the song raced to the top of the UK singles chart. Further solo success followed a year later with the chart-topping "Life Is A Rollercoaster", written by ex-New Radicals singer/producer Gregg Alexander. Both hits were included on his 2000 debut Ronan, which also featured contributions from Bryan Adams and Barry Gibb. The 2002 follow-up Destination included the UK chart-topper "If Tomorrow Never Comes" and the equally catchy "Lovin' Each Day". Keating's next two albums, Turn It On (2003) and Bring You Home (2006), saw him settling into a comfortable groove as a purveyor of slick MOR, designed to appeal to an older market than the pre-teens who had followed Boyzone.
Keating's most prominent success is as co-manager of Irish boy band, Westlife, who in a remarkably short space of time enjoyed a phenomenal chart run which easily surpassed Boyzone. He published his autobiography in 2000, a remarkable feat considering he had only just turned 23 when it was shooting to the top of the bestsellers list.
DISCOGRAPHY: Ronan (Polydor 2000)***, Destination (Polydor 2002)***, Turn It On (Polydor 2003)**, Bring You Home (Polydor 2006)**.
COMPILATIONS: 10 Years Of Hits (Polydor 2004)***.
VIDEOGRAPHY: Ronan Live From The Royal Albert Hall (Vision Video 2000), Ronan Live: Destination Wembley '02 (Vision Video 2002).
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Ronan Keating, Courtney Myers. Ronan Keating: Life Is A Rollercoaster, Ronan Keating and Eddie Rowley.

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
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