Stephen Gately’s widower Andrew Cowles announces he has received all-clear from cancer – 17 years after Boyzone star’s tragic death at 33

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It’s such wonderful news! Andrew Cowles, Stephen Gately’s husband, just shared that he’s been given the all-clear from cancer. It’s been 17 years since we lost Stephen, and this is a truly heartwarming moment for everyone who loved them both. I’m so relieved and happy for him.

The pop star passed away in 2009 at the age of 33 from a heart condition that caused fluid to build up in his lungs. He had entered into a civil partnership with Andrew in 2006.

I was really saddened to hear that Andrew, a friend and businessman who’s made his home in Greece, shared in February that he’s been diagnosed with cancer. He’s starting treatment now, and I’m sending him all my best wishes.

He took to X to give his followers an update, saying the treatment had been successful.

He shared some fantastic news: his MRI scan, taken three months after finishing cancer treatment, showed no signs of the disease! He’ll have one more scan, a PET/CT, in July to be absolutely sure, but everything is looking very positive.

When Andrew shared his cancer diagnosis, he wrote that he and his family had returned home to Greece after almost four months in London. He explained he’d been treated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy for cancer in his pelvic area, but the treatment seemed successful, with doctors predicting a high chance – over 80% – of a full recovery. He felt good and said he mostly missed his dog.

Stephen unexpectedly passed away in October 2009 while at his home in Port d’Andratx, Mallorca, where he was visiting with Andrew.

Stephen became well-known as part of the Irish boy band Boyzone, alongside Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, and Shane Lynch.

Boyzone is holding a special concert, ‘One For The Road: Live At Emirates Stadium’ in London on June 6th, as a tribute to Stephen.

The band will play a massive stadium show with room for 44,000 fans – their first concert together since performing at the London Palladium in 2019.

Ronan recently shared on BBC Radio 2 that the reaction to the Sky documentary ‘Boyzone: No Matter What,’ which came out in February 2025, has led to new conversations about what’s next for the band.

He described the public’s reaction as incredible, explaining they’d been discussing their experiences for three decades and felt this moment might mark the conclusion of their story.

You know, I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz lately, and it seems like 2026 could be the year Boyzone considers a comeback – or at least, doing something new! It’s definitely something people are talking about, and I’m keeping my ear to the ground to see what develops.

Adding to the excitement, the band shared a series of photos on Instagram with the message ‘the journey continues,’ and invited fans to subscribe to their email list for updates.

Boyzone initially broke up in 2000 after seven years as a group, with each member wanting to focus on their individual careers. However, they later got back together in 2007.

They toured the world with their Thank You And Goodnight farewell shows between 2018 and 2019. 

Ronan became emotional and cried while talking about the passing of his close friend and bandmate, Stephen, in their documentary on Sky.

The group shared a particularly sad memory: they had all stayed the night in the church, sleeping near Stephen’s coffin before his funeral.

Honestly, we were really worried about leaving him alone in the church all night. Mikey and I both felt that wasn’t a good idea, and Ronan pointed out he really doesn’t do well in the cold, so we just couldn’t risk it.

Mikey described a peaceful and unified feeling when only five of them remained after everyone else had left for the night.

It wasn’t exactly sadness, surprisingly, we actually laughed a lot that night. It reminded me of how we used to joke around back when everything felt new and carefree, but the good times didn’t last – morning arrived quickly.

Ronan was the first to find out about Stephen’s passing. The band’s lawyer informed him, and he immediately called the other band members and Louis to share the news.

‘It just wouldn’t go in,’ Keith said. ‘Not our Stephen.’ 

Mikey added: ‘My world just fell apart.’

The next year, the band embarked on the ‘Brother’ tour as a tribute to Stephen. Mikey shared that it was just good to be together again.

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2026-04-28 20:47