Mikey Graham
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Michael Christopher Charles "Mikey" Graham
/ref> (born 15 August 1972) is an Irish singer-songwriter, actor and record producer. He debuted in 1993 alongside
Keith Duffy Keith Peter Thomas Francis Julian John Duffy (born 1 October 1974) 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, Mik ...
,
Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and presenter. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop g ...
, Shane Lynch, and
Stephen Gately Stephen Patrick David Gately (17 March 197610 October 2009) 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, ...
as part of Irish pop group
Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band created in 1993 by the talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's ''The Late Late Show (Ireland), The Late Late Show''. Its most successful line-up was co ...
.


Early life

The youngest of seven children, Graham was born to housewife Sheila and
carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...
William. He was raised on the Northside of
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
with five older sisters and one older brother. He attended Billie Barry Stage School in Dublin and started his life in the public eye at an early age, appearing in television adverts for Mikado biscuits, the
Electricity Supply Board The Electricity Supply Board (ESB; ) is a state owned (95%; the rest are owned by employees) electricity company based in Ireland with operations worldwide. While historically a monopoly, the ESB now operates as a commercial semi-state concer ...
(the ESB) and
T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand of telecommunications by Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telec ...
. Like his bandmate Shane Lynch, Graham had worked as a mechanic before finding fame as a singer; Lynch has stated in an interview that during the early days of Boyzone, he and Graham had a heated argument over
exhaust pipe An exhaust system is used to guide reaction exhaust gases away from a controlled combustion inside an engine or stove. The entire system conveys burnt gases from the engine and includes one or more exhaust pipes. Depending on the overall syste ...
s and barely spoke to each other for fifteen years.


Career

In 1993, Graham – who had previously been a member of the band Ivory – auditioned for a new boy band which would later be known as Boyzone, singing
Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally by his stage name Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. ...
's "
Two Out of Three Ain't Bad "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" is a power ballad performed by the American musician Meat Loaf. It is a track off his 1977 album '' Bat Out of Hell'', written by Jim Steinman. It spent 23 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at No. 11, and ea ...
". Although he was not chosen as part of the final line-up, manager
Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan (singer), Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s an ...
changed his mind after firing two members for their lack of commitment. 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 Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
and
folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...
. 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." Following Boyzone's split in 2000, he sank into depression, but gradually recovered. 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. 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, County Meath Trim () is a town in County Meath, Ireland. It is situated on the River Boyne and, as of the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, had a population of 9,563. The town is in a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of the same name. The town ...
. 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". 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. 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, and was also among the ten Irish actors who appeared on the
RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...
reality show '' Hollywood Trials'' On the BBC television programme '' Something for the Weekend'', Graham's bandmate
Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and presenter. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop g ...
let slip that Graham would be taking part in the fifth series of ''
Dancing on Ice ''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series broadcast from 2006 to 2014 and then from 2018 to 2025. It was presented by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern. Other previous hosts include Phillip Schofield and Christine Lampard. The series ...
'', 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. On participating, Graham has described his training as therapy which has helped him come to terms with the death of his bandmate
Stephen Gately Stephen Patrick David Gately (17 March 197610 October 2009) 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, ...
, who had participated in the show two years earlier. In February 2010 it was announced that Graham would be participating in ''Eurosong 2010'', Ireland's final to select their ''
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
'' 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 Niamh Kavanagh ( ; born 13 February 1968) is an Irish singer who sang the winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. The 1993 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Millstreet, County Cork, Ireland. She sang "In Your Eyes" to clinch t ...
. In 2013 he appeared in Celebrity Apprentice Ireland on
TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...
. Graham retired from the public eye following Boyzones final split in 2019. Graham appeared in the 2025 documentary “Boyzone: No Matter What” discussing why he had retired from public life and revealed he had not spoken to his former bandmates in 5 years. He decided not to join the rest of his bandmates in promoting the series.


Discography


Albums


Singles


Filmography


Film


Television


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Michael 1972 births People from Raheny Musicians from County Dublin Boyzone members Irish male singers Irish pop singers Living people