October 12, 2009 | Celeb Watch

Former British boybander dead at 33

Stephen Gately, one of the first boybanders to publicly come out as gay, has died. The 33-year-old Boyzone member was in Spain on holiday with his partner Andrew Cowles (who he married in 2006); Spanish police declared he died of natural causes after a night out.  A post mortem is still to be completed.

The couple had been partying and after returning home Cowles left Gately to sleep on the sofa in their apartment. When he returned several hours later, he found Gately dead. Police do not believe drugs were involved in the incident.

Gately had traveled to Spain for some rest, but was also completing a children's novel, ‘The Tree of Seasons', which he hoped to release in time for Christmas.

Band members Keith Duffy, Ronan Keating, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch released a statement yesterday in which they said they were “devastated by the loss of our friend and brother."

“We have shared such wonderful times together over the years and were looking forward to sharing so many more. Stephen was a beautiful person in both body and spirit.”

Stephen Gately: Pop world stunned by death of Boyzone star [The Belfast Telegraph]