Post by Helen on Oct 20, 2004 16:38:11 GMT
RONAN Keating opens his heart to the Irish People this morning.
In a bid to answer the critics who claim his career is on a downward spiral, the father-of-two has spoken out about his plans for the future.
In one of his most revealing interviews yet the ex-Boyzone star reveals many aspects of his life he has chosen not to speak about - until now.
The millionaire singer says he will continue to do his own thing and leave the begrudgers to themselves.
But as he prepares to take America by storm the blond hearthrob admits that he has been hurt.
Deep down in his heart, he says, what hurts him the most is not being taken seriously by many at home in Ireland.
The Dubliner also reveals how:
he feels ex-manager Louis Walsh still tries to wreck his career
he thinks his debut movie could be a flop but he doesn't care
he worries about his family constantly when he's away
he wants to work with both U2 and Tom Cruise
he hates how people accused him of using his mother's death as a publicity stunt
he'll never leave Ireland .
But Ronan says it is the false stories told about him that annoy him most.
And he feels that it's Mr Showbiz himself, Louis Walsh, who is partly to blame.
He said: "I know there has been a bit of a campaign against me especially here in Ireland and to be honest it's all hype.
"It's a couple of guys who don't like me who are friends with Louis Walsh and he spends a lot of time spinning with them.
"One thing about me is that I would never lower myself to that level, there's no point, I've never been that way.
"Anyone that I've ever dealt with I've never had a bad word to say about and that's just me. It's how I am.
"It's child's stuff, silly stuff. I'm not interested in it.
"To be honest the negative comments don't really bother me because I know it's not the fans," he fumed.
No matter how many people insist on jumping onto his hate brigade band wagon, Ronan says that as far as he's concerned as long as he continues to make the music he and the fans enjoy that's all that matters to him.
And despite the various botched attempts to brand him a failure and accuse him of only recording country and western covers, he's extremely modest about his success outside of the UK and Ireland.
He revealed: "When I was growing up my mum and dad would always be listening to country music, the Irish country scene as well as the American stuff and I've always been a fan myself.
"I would have gone to see Garth Brooks when he came into town when I was still in Boyzone.
"I've always loved the ballads and been a fan of Nashville so there's definitely a part of me that holds it close. That's why I enjoy singing the music.
"Being able to hook up with people like Leann Rimes was something I really
enjoyed.
"I've written songs that have been hits for other people in America too.
"One song went to number one with Brooks and Dunn and I just got the award in the door this week to say their greatest hits had sold 13 million albums and my song was on there. It's such a great feeling you know.
"That was a really big deal for me and, yes, it wasn't really acknowledged over here but I'm just not going to blow my own trumpet about it everytime I'm in interviews.
"If people pick up on it then great but you can't go on about things like that yourself otherwise people would get sick of you.
"I just wasn't raised that way, to go on about how great I am or anything.
"My mum and dad really taught me how to keep my feet on the ground and to always treat people with the same respect you want to be treated with - and it works for me.
"Despite his behind-the-scenes success Ronan has signed a lucrative deal with Curve Records in the US to release his debut American album next year.
He said: "After we finish promoting this greatest hits album and the tour I will be touring America and promoting my first solo album out there. The single with Leann Rimes went to number 15 this week over there.
"It's really taking off but I've been burned before in America so I won't get my hopes up.
"I would never consider moving out there, though, just for my career.
"My kids are here, they're settled in school and I wouldn't take them away from that.
"I would go out there for a summer holiday or something but I wouldn't uproot."
Ronan may be a self-confessed workaholic but he says that his family will always come first.
"Myself and Yvonne are very happy people blessed with two beautiful healthy children, Jack and Marie who make it all feel very real and we feel very lucky" he said.
"It's very normal when I come home, it's not like The Osbournes or anything, it's all very relaxed.
"My wife, children and family are my biggest inspiration but we live in a very volatile time when war is all around us, and you can see it and feel it in the air.
Of course I worry about things like 'will I get home to my kids?' when I'm travelling.
"Although I do believe that Ireland is a peaceful country, we do live in a scary time and of course I want to do everything I can to protect my children from that. I worry about them constantly.
"It just happens as soon as you become a parent," he says.
Anyone would think that having been part of a huge boyband, being a highly successful solo artist and having a perfect family is enough for anyone, but Ronan remains hugely ambitious.
In November he begins shooting his first movie Guns, Money and Homecooking with Vinnie Jones and is looking forward to the challenge.
That's just another string to his bow which he hopes will finally shut the begrudgers up once and for all.
He said: "My real passion and my real goal is to have longevity in this industry, I know I have been here for 10 years but I want to still be here in another 10 or 20. That's really my passion - to be able to get up on stage and sing. I just feel really blessed.
"I do have other interests, though, and the movie with Vinnie is going ahead in November, I don't know if I'll be any good though. I could be utter crap but it will be fun to try it out.
"There has definitely been a little acting experience in the music videos I have made but there wasn't any dialogue.
"Acting on screen with speech, interacting with another person and being able to be in the right place at the right time and knowing all your lines are all things I haven't got a clue about.
"I've already learned all my lines now and I know them all, Yvonne reads it with me and helps me out.
"So we'll see how it goes." he said.
He told how he dreams of starring alongside Tom Cruise and U2.
He said: "My ideal role if Hollywood was ever to offer it to me would be starring alongside Tom Cruise in something like Mission Impossible.
"I grew up watching the programmes and I loved the films.
"I also really like Tom Cruise, he's made a great crossover from being one of Hollywood's sex symbols to one of their greatest actors. It would be a great honour to star alongside him.
"I do a little bit of writing, some screenplays and stuff myself but it's just ideas that I come up with. A lot of them haven't worked.
"There is one I would really like to see make it and I've been working on it a while now. I think it could work but I don't want to talk too much about it because usually they don't work and then I end up making a fool of myself," he said.
Despite his movie ambitions Ronan has put the wheels in motion to achieve a musical dream this Christmas when he will release a duet with 70s superstar Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam.
He said: "Growing up, I listened to people like George Michael, U2, and would love to collaborate with them if the opportunity ever came up.
"I would also listen to my brothers' and sisters' stuff, so a lot of Cat Stevens, Queen, Squeeze and then a lot of country stuff because of what my Mum and Dad listened to.
"It was a lifetime's ambition to work with Yusuf. I brought Father and Son to Boyzone and he's always been a hero of mine.
"Yusuf came down with his son to see us performing the song eight or nine years ago on Top Of The Pops and that was incredible.
"We stayed in touch over the years and it was only recently when we thought of the 10 Years Of Hits concept that I realised the perfect duet to do would be Father and Son.
"This song makes sense for me to do. In the studio he was a very peaceful,quiet man, decent and honest.
"He came in and he didn't really want to do the father thing and me do the son, but before I knew it there he was singing the father bit and I'm going'This is brilliant'. It was a magic moment."
Ronan finishes his inteview with a special mention for the charity that is closest to his heart - the Marie Keating Foundation.
And he blasts the horrific notion that he would try to cash in on his mother's illness.
"People at the time even tried to suggest that it was a publicity stunt for me and all I could think of was that there are a hell of a lot easier things I could have done, that's just the way the world works.
"For every 100 people who are nice there's always one cynic. But I don't let them get me down because it's such a small part of what I do - you'd fall at the first hurdle if that was the only thing you worried about it your life.
"My next big dream for the Marie Keating Foundation is to set up special waiting rooms in all the hospitals throughout Ireland to give women somewhere comfortable and relaxing to wait for treatment and their appointments.
"We want to give them back a big of dignity instead of them having to wait for hours in a crowded waiting room with out-of-date magazines. It's a huge task but we'll do it eventually."
In a bid to answer the critics who claim his career is on a downward spiral, the father-of-two has spoken out about his plans for the future.
In one of his most revealing interviews yet the ex-Boyzone star reveals many aspects of his life he has chosen not to speak about - until now.
The millionaire singer says he will continue to do his own thing and leave the begrudgers to themselves.
But as he prepares to take America by storm the blond hearthrob admits that he has been hurt.
Deep down in his heart, he says, what hurts him the most is not being taken seriously by many at home in Ireland.
The Dubliner also reveals how:
he feels ex-manager Louis Walsh still tries to wreck his career
he thinks his debut movie could be a flop but he doesn't care
he worries about his family constantly when he's away
he wants to work with both U2 and Tom Cruise
he hates how people accused him of using his mother's death as a publicity stunt
he'll never leave Ireland .
But Ronan says it is the false stories told about him that annoy him most.
And he feels that it's Mr Showbiz himself, Louis Walsh, who is partly to blame.
He said: "I know there has been a bit of a campaign against me especially here in Ireland and to be honest it's all hype.
"It's a couple of guys who don't like me who are friends with Louis Walsh and he spends a lot of time spinning with them.
"One thing about me is that I would never lower myself to that level, there's no point, I've never been that way.
"Anyone that I've ever dealt with I've never had a bad word to say about and that's just me. It's how I am.
"It's child's stuff, silly stuff. I'm not interested in it.
"To be honest the negative comments don't really bother me because I know it's not the fans," he fumed.
No matter how many people insist on jumping onto his hate brigade band wagon, Ronan says that as far as he's concerned as long as he continues to make the music he and the fans enjoy that's all that matters to him.
And despite the various botched attempts to brand him a failure and accuse him of only recording country and western covers, he's extremely modest about his success outside of the UK and Ireland.
He revealed: "When I was growing up my mum and dad would always be listening to country music, the Irish country scene as well as the American stuff and I've always been a fan myself.
"I would have gone to see Garth Brooks when he came into town when I was still in Boyzone.
"I've always loved the ballads and been a fan of Nashville so there's definitely a part of me that holds it close. That's why I enjoy singing the music.
"Being able to hook up with people like Leann Rimes was something I really
enjoyed.
"I've written songs that have been hits for other people in America too.
"One song went to number one with Brooks and Dunn and I just got the award in the door this week to say their greatest hits had sold 13 million albums and my song was on there. It's such a great feeling you know.
"That was a really big deal for me and, yes, it wasn't really acknowledged over here but I'm just not going to blow my own trumpet about it everytime I'm in interviews.
"If people pick up on it then great but you can't go on about things like that yourself otherwise people would get sick of you.
"I just wasn't raised that way, to go on about how great I am or anything.
"My mum and dad really taught me how to keep my feet on the ground and to always treat people with the same respect you want to be treated with - and it works for me.
"Despite his behind-the-scenes success Ronan has signed a lucrative deal with Curve Records in the US to release his debut American album next year.
He said: "After we finish promoting this greatest hits album and the tour I will be touring America and promoting my first solo album out there. The single with Leann Rimes went to number 15 this week over there.
"It's really taking off but I've been burned before in America so I won't get my hopes up.
"I would never consider moving out there, though, just for my career.
"My kids are here, they're settled in school and I wouldn't take them away from that.
"I would go out there for a summer holiday or something but I wouldn't uproot."
Ronan may be a self-confessed workaholic but he says that his family will always come first.
"Myself and Yvonne are very happy people blessed with two beautiful healthy children, Jack and Marie who make it all feel very real and we feel very lucky" he said.
"It's very normal when I come home, it's not like The Osbournes or anything, it's all very relaxed.
"My wife, children and family are my biggest inspiration but we live in a very volatile time when war is all around us, and you can see it and feel it in the air.
Of course I worry about things like 'will I get home to my kids?' when I'm travelling.
"Although I do believe that Ireland is a peaceful country, we do live in a scary time and of course I want to do everything I can to protect my children from that. I worry about them constantly.
"It just happens as soon as you become a parent," he says.
Anyone would think that having been part of a huge boyband, being a highly successful solo artist and having a perfect family is enough for anyone, but Ronan remains hugely ambitious.
In November he begins shooting his first movie Guns, Money and Homecooking with Vinnie Jones and is looking forward to the challenge.
That's just another string to his bow which he hopes will finally shut the begrudgers up once and for all.
He said: "My real passion and my real goal is to have longevity in this industry, I know I have been here for 10 years but I want to still be here in another 10 or 20. That's really my passion - to be able to get up on stage and sing. I just feel really blessed.
"I do have other interests, though, and the movie with Vinnie is going ahead in November, I don't know if I'll be any good though. I could be utter crap but it will be fun to try it out.
"There has definitely been a little acting experience in the music videos I have made but there wasn't any dialogue.
"Acting on screen with speech, interacting with another person and being able to be in the right place at the right time and knowing all your lines are all things I haven't got a clue about.
"I've already learned all my lines now and I know them all, Yvonne reads it with me and helps me out.
"So we'll see how it goes." he said.
He told how he dreams of starring alongside Tom Cruise and U2.
He said: "My ideal role if Hollywood was ever to offer it to me would be starring alongside Tom Cruise in something like Mission Impossible.
"I grew up watching the programmes and I loved the films.
"I also really like Tom Cruise, he's made a great crossover from being one of Hollywood's sex symbols to one of their greatest actors. It would be a great honour to star alongside him.
"I do a little bit of writing, some screenplays and stuff myself but it's just ideas that I come up with. A lot of them haven't worked.
"There is one I would really like to see make it and I've been working on it a while now. I think it could work but I don't want to talk too much about it because usually they don't work and then I end up making a fool of myself," he said.
Despite his movie ambitions Ronan has put the wheels in motion to achieve a musical dream this Christmas when he will release a duet with 70s superstar Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam.
He said: "Growing up, I listened to people like George Michael, U2, and would love to collaborate with them if the opportunity ever came up.
"I would also listen to my brothers' and sisters' stuff, so a lot of Cat Stevens, Queen, Squeeze and then a lot of country stuff because of what my Mum and Dad listened to.
"It was a lifetime's ambition to work with Yusuf. I brought Father and Son to Boyzone and he's always been a hero of mine.
"Yusuf came down with his son to see us performing the song eight or nine years ago on Top Of The Pops and that was incredible.
"We stayed in touch over the years and it was only recently when we thought of the 10 Years Of Hits concept that I realised the perfect duet to do would be Father and Son.
"This song makes sense for me to do. In the studio he was a very peaceful,quiet man, decent and honest.
"He came in and he didn't really want to do the father thing and me do the son, but before I knew it there he was singing the father bit and I'm going'This is brilliant'. It was a magic moment."
Ronan finishes his inteview with a special mention for the charity that is closest to his heart - the Marie Keating Foundation.
And he blasts the horrific notion that he would try to cash in on his mother's illness.
"People at the time even tried to suggest that it was a publicity stunt for me and all I could think of was that there are a hell of a lot easier things I could have done, that's just the way the world works.
"For every 100 people who are nice there's always one cynic. But I don't let them get me down because it's such a small part of what I do - you'd fall at the first hurdle if that was the only thing you worried about it your life.
"My next big dream for the Marie Keating Foundation is to set up special waiting rooms in all the hospitals throughout Ireland to give women somewhere comfortable and relaxing to wait for treatment and their appointments.
"We want to give them back a big of dignity instead of them having to wait for hours in a crowded waiting room with out-of-date magazines. It's a huge task but we'll do it eventually."
