Stephen Gately to be laid to rest in Dublin today
Stephen Gately is to be given an unforgettable send off today, with celebrities and thousands of fans uniting in grief at his funeral.
The remaining Boyzone members will sing for their friend during an emotional service, to be held in Dublin a week after Gately's death in Majorca.
Ronan Keating, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Keith Duffy spent the night at the church with the West End star, who they call their brother.
Members of Westlife, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elton John's partner David Furnish and former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern are expected to attend the funeral service, which will be relayed on loudspeakers outside.
On Friday night, Gately's grief-stricken bandmates bore his coffin into St Laurence O'Toole Church, near the star's family home in Dublin's north inner city.
Gately's heartbroken parents Margaret and Martin, brothers Mark, Alan and Tony and devoted sister Michelle, his partner Andrew Cowles and Boyzone manager Louis Walsh then supported each other during a short private prayer vigil at the chapel.
Hundreds of local residents, all with their own special memory of the pop star, lined the streets during his emotional homecoming to his working-class roots.
Gately, 33, will be cremated at Glasnevin Cemetery. This will be followed by a funeral gathering for 450 invited guests at the exclusive Four Seasons Hotel, Ballsbridge.
