KEITH DUFFY and SHANE LYNCH of BOYZONE have buried the hatchet with WESTLIFE after a drunken reconciliation following their recent attacks on their fellow Irish boyband.
The duo take a swipe at Westlife on new single ‘Girl You Know It’s
True’, and Duffy criticised the current crop of boy bands, commenting that “after a couple of Number Ones … they think they’re fucking invincible”.
However, speaking to NME.COM backstage at the Smash Hits tour on Saturday
(December 2), he said that the two groups had been reconciled. “The boys are
cool you know what I mean? They understand where it’s all coming from, and
only a couple of nights ago we sat down and had lots of drink together and a
good chat.”
Asked what he thought about Boyzone singer Ronan Keating’s cover version of The Pogues’ ‘Fairytale Of New York’, the B-side of his current single ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’, Duffy was equally diplomatic. “I wouldn’t cover a song like that, it’s a very, very dangerous song to cover. It’s so well-liked, it’s an old fucking public domain song. It’s very courageous to do that song. He does his own version, he does it very well, he’s a good singer.”
He also revealed that, contrary to rumours of a permanent split, Boyzone were hoping to tour in November 2001. Plans to tour in the summer fell through because of Keating’s solo commitments.
Of the rumours, he joked that “As long as they’re spreading rumours we’re in the newspapers, so it’s good!”
‘Girl You Know It’s True’, a reworking of Milli Vanilli’s hit and a satire of the music industry, is released on Monday (December 11).