Keith Duffy has opened up about his relationship with Louis Walsh and claimed the music manager would make brutal digs at him in a bid to keep him “grounded”
Keith Duffy has opened up about feeling “hurt” by Louis Walsh, the mastermind behind Boyzone, when he insulted him in front of Bono.
The singer, who hails from Donaghmede, alleged that the boyband’s manager “suppressed” them to prevent them from getting too carried away with their fame.
He suspects Louis was “fearful that the monster would become bigger than the creator” after he formed the group in 1993 as a rival to Take That. Boyzone enjoyed immense success, securing 21 top 40 singles including six UK number one singles and nine in Ireland.
However, Keith, now part of Boyzlife alongside Westlife star Brian McFadden, said they didn’t need Louis belittling them in public, asserting that at the time they were kept grounded by the women in their lives like mothers and partners.
Sharing one particularly painful incident, he shared on the Lewis Nicholls Show: “Being sensitive, meeting Bono from U2, I’m a huge U2 fan, massive Larry Mullen fan, I love drums, Larry was my hero.
“Louis introduced me to them – ‘This is Keith from Boyzone, the one who can’t sing.’ I died a thousand deaths when I was shaking Bono’s hand that day. I thought… ‘Wow, Jesus, no need for that.’ And it hurt.
“But he would do that thinking it wouldn’t bother me, it would be water off a duck’s back, because get over it. And he would do it to keep you grounded to make sure you knew he was still the boss.”
Earlier this year, Sky Documentaries aired a three-part series called Boyzone: No Matter What where Louis faced criticism from fans afterwards for his portrayal.
In the programme, the renowned talent manager stated: “I prefer ordinary people, because they work harder. And they do whatever you want at the start.”
Keith acknowledged he grasped the fans’ reaction but emphasised that outsiders weren’t familiar with Louis as he was.
He clarified that Louis could have demonstrated greater compassion towards the teenage lads he was suddenly propelling into the spotlight.
Nevertheless, presenting a different perspective, he continued: “He lacked a little bit of that emotion or empathy but when you get to know him, you realise he is not evil, he is not trying to hurt you.
“He wouldn’t be hurt if you said those things to him, it would be water off a duck’s back, so he can’t understand why you are hurt by what he said. He didn’t realise people were different, everyone is different.
“Some people are more sensitive than others, he would assume you would react how he would react and you can’t assume that.”
Additionally providing a balanced perspective on Louis, former Boyzone member Shane Lynch commented in the documentary: “All those little things make Louis Walsh, and made us to be fair, because without him this journey wouldn’t have existed. So we probably, individually, at some point loved him, or hated him, or fell out with him, or were arguing with him but realistically we all were grand.
“Everything was grand, Louis is a good man at the end of the day, crazy as f**k but he’s a good man.”
Boyzone revealed last month that they are set to reunite for a one-off show at London’s Emirates Stadium on June 6.
When questioned about whether Louis would be part of this special event, Ronan Keating responded: “No. Louis hasn’t been involved in Boyzone for a very long time, before the documentary, even well before the documentary. We stopped talking to him.
“He’s very much working with Westlife and those things.”
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