Every year since the last Boyzone tour, rumours consistently abounded that they would be reuniting for one last time, although nothing became of these rumours at first. It was obvious that the demand for Boyzone was still there though - they would consistently be mentioned in the top 10 of polls about which band people would most like to see reunite. And their record company Polydor also released a Boyzone compilation album in 2003, billed as The Ultimate Love Songs Collection, which reached number 6 in the UK chart despite there being no promotion for it!

Stephen has always maintained that he would love to do one last tour as part of Boyzone and, in 2006, he performed No Matter What on stage with Ronan for the first time in 6 years at a charity ball.

A year later, in November 2007, and after several meetings, it was finally announced that Boyzone had reunited and would be performing together as a band during BBC's charity night, Children In Need. The response to this announcement was phenomenal and within days a reunion tour was announced for 2008.

Ten dates were initially announced but, in order to meet the phenomenal demand, this was extended to 25 dates throughout the UK and Ireland. And, in addition to this, they also added a further 9 outdoor shows for the summer!

Their first live gig together, at the G-A-Y on 1st March 2008, was received fantastically well and provided fans with a great teaser of what we could expect from the tour - lots of camp and plenty of fun!

Their first tour in 8 years finally opened in Belfast on 25th May 2008 and received rave reviews from fans and critics alike, which continued as they performed up and down the country to rapturous audiences.

Initially it seemed that the tour was going to be their final farewell but with such amazing demand for more, it was obvious that there was plenty of mileage left in the reunion yet. This continued with the much anticipated release of their first single in nearly 9 years - an up tempo song entitled Love You Anyway, which reached number 5 in the UK chart. This was followed by another greatest hits album, Back Again No Matter What, which reached number 4 in the chart.

Not one to rest on their laurels though, they also found time to release another single before the end of 2008 - a beautiful ballad entitled Better, which was accompanied by a groundbreaking video which showed Stephen holding another man intimately. It is the first video of its kind to show an openly gay artist involved in a same sex romance. It raised some eyebrows but thankfully most people were supportive and fully supported Stephen and the Boyz in their decision.

They also announced plans for another tour - the ‘Better ‘09’ tour, which will see them perform live throughout the UK and Ireland again, in a tour which they have described as their biggest yet!

They have also been busy working on a brand new studio album, which is due to be released towards the end of 2009/early 2010, and is said to be quite experimental and quite different to what they have done in the past!

With the Boyz planning on making their reunion a long term arrangement, it looks like they will be around for many more years to come!

Take a look at Boyzone's discography from the reunion below...

Title	Release Date	Info
Love Me Anyway (single)	29/9/08	Reached number 5 in the UK chart. Available as a download and on one CD... CD1 1.) Love You Anyway 2.) Isn't It A Wonder (Live) Germany had a slightly better deal with the CD release there also including a live version of No Matter What, When The Going Gets Tough and also the Love You Anyway video!
Back Again...No Matter What (album)	13/10/08	Sold over 300,000 copies in the UK and reached number 4 in the UK chart. Available as a download and on two CDs... Standard Edition 1.) No Matter What 2.) Baby Can I Hold You 3.) Love You Anyway 4.) Words 5.) Love Me For A Reason 6.) A Different Beat 7.) All That I Need 8.) Better 9.) You Needed Me 10.) Father And Son 11.) Can't Stop Thinking About You 12.) I Love The Way You Love Me 13.) Coming Home Now 14.) Isn't It A Wonder 15.) When The Going Gets Tough 16.) Picture Of You 17.) Every Day I Love You 18.) Life Is A Rollercoaster (Live) Deluxe Edition (CD & DVD Set) CD 1.) No Matter What 2.) Baby Can I Hold You 3.) Love You Anyway 4.) Words 5.) Love Me For A Reason 6.) A Different Beat 7.) All That I Need 8.) Better 9.) You Needed Me 10.) Father And Son 11.) Can't Stop Thinking About You 12.) I Love The Way You Love Me 13.) Coming Home Now 14.) Isn't It A Wonder 15.) When The Going Gets Tough 16.) Picture Of You 17.) Every Day I Love You 18.) Life Is A Rollercoaster (Live) DVD 1.) No Matter What 2.) Baby Can I Hold You 3.) Words 4.) Love Me For A Reason 5.) A Different Beat 6.) All That I Need 7.) You Needed Me 8.) Father And Son 9.) I Love The Way You Love Me 10.) Coming Home Now 11.) Isn't It A Wonder 12.) When The Going Gets Tough 13.) Picture Of You 14.) Every Day I Love You 15.) Key To My Life
Better (single)	8/12/08	Reached number 22 in the UK chart. Available as a download and on one CD... CD1 1.) Better 2.) Coming Home Now

Extras...

Boyzone: B-Sides & Rarities - this was released as an exclusive in Woolworths. If you bought the Back Again No Matter What album, you could get this album with it. It reached number 34 in the UK chart and featured a number of remixes.

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