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, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately in 1993.

Duffy was born on 1 October 1974 in Donaghmede, Dublin to parents Sean and Pat.

He has an older brother, Derek, and a younger brother, John.

He was raised Roman Catholic.

As a young child he contracted pneumonia.

Between the ages of 7 and 18 he played hurling and Gaelic football, representing the Dublin under 16 hurling team for three years.

At the age of 16 he bought a drum kit and played in bands called Toledo Moon and This Burning Effigy.

Duffy studied architecture for a year at college, before dropping out.

Duffy first became aware of Boyzone after hearing auditions to become a member were being held.

He was unsuccessful in securing an audition, but was later noticed by Louis Walsh (who became the band's manager ) whilst dancing in Dublin's POD Nightclub and was invited to audition.

Duffy sang Billy Joel's "Piano Man" and danced to Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy".

He was chosen as one of the original members of the band.

He played a backing role in Boyzone, with Ronan Keating and Stephen Gately handling the majority of lead vocals.

In 1994, Duffy and fellow band member Shane Lynch were involved in a nearly fatal car crash; both survived without serious injuries.

The band decided to focus on solo projects in 2000 since which Duffy has taken acting roles in soap operas such as Coronation Street and Fair City.

He has also presented The Box and You're a Star.

Duffy has been an autism awareness campaigner since his daughter was diagnosed with the condition at age 18 months, and acts as the patron for Irish Autism Action holding regular fundraising events and informational talks.

Boyzone performed together for the last time before their hiatus in Ireland at the Point Theatre during nine dates running from 3—8 January and 10—12 January 2000; they had sold more than 13 million records in total by this time and all sixteen of their singles had reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart.

They also became the first Irish act to have four number one hits in the United Kingdom charts.

After Boyzone disbanded in 2000, Duffy teamed up with Shane Lynch and released their pop-rap version of "Girl You Know It's True" under the name Keith 'N' Shane.

It was a top 40 hit in the UK, peaking at No. 36 in December 2000.

Duffy's profile was raised as a result of his appearance on the first series of the UK's Celebrity Big Brother in 2001, where he finished third out of six, and on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.

In the same year, he appeared on the celebrity special in the fourth season of Fort Boyard alongside Tris Payne, Scott Wright, Sally Gray, and Nell McAndrew.

He branched out to acting, most notably on the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as the character Ciaran McCarthy.

What was meant to be a three-week stint on the show turned into three years from 2002 to 2005, with Duffy leaving the show to be closer to his family in Ireland.

The year 2005 saw Duffy take to the stage for the first time as Damien in the play Dandelions at Dublin's Olympia Theatre.

Duffy also played the title role in The Wizard of Oz, staged at the Weymouth Pavilion in Weymouth, Dorset.

In May 2008, it was announced that Boyzone would return with their "Back Again... No Matter What" Tour which sold over 200,000 tickets within three hours.

The tour began on 25 May 2008 at Belfast's Odyssey arena and finished at Carlisle Bitts Park on 23 August 2008.

Duffy went on to play the part of James "Ringo" Leyden in 2008 in the Irish soap opera Fair City, with his character leaving the show in 2009.

Boyzone then played their "Better" Tour, which was the last tour to feature member Stephen Gately.

Duffy acted as pall-bearer at Gately's funeral on 16 October.

Speaking after Gately's death, Duffy reminisced on the early days: "He told Louis [Walsh] he was 5ft 7in. When he auditioned for The Hobbit later on, he said he was 5ft 3in. But he was a true giant of a man".

Duffy became presenter of The Box on Irish television channel TV3, as well as featuring in Irish comedy Mrs Brown.

He later served as a judge on the RTÉ talent contest You're a Star, later presenting the fifth series of the show.

Duffy was the winner on the British reality series The Door in 2010 and came third in the first series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2001, and in the second series of Splash! in 2014.

Landing his first major feature-film role in 2010, Duffy was cast in Irish horror film Loftus Hall.

He reportedly had to bow out of the production due a prior contract stipulation committing him to a 2010 Coronation Street return, which would have interfered with the film's schedule.

Subsequently, he returned to the soap in February 2010, reprising his role as lovable Irish rogue Ciaran McCarthy.

On 2 and 3 April 2010, Duffy appeared in ITV's one-off game show The Door.