Louis Walsh has reignited his feud with Ronan Keating, telling the Boyzone singer that his ‘pop career is dead’.
While the former X Factor judge was instrumental in launching Keating’s career through Boyzone in the 90s, tensions have remained high between the pair following a bitter split in 2003.
Walsh has long claimed that the singer began ‘believing his own publicity’ while Keating has accused his former manager of ‘trying to ruin his career’.
Now, Louis Walsh has reignited his feud with the Boyzone member, telling The Big Interview host Collette Fitzpatrick that he will never have another hit single.
‘I did all the work on Boyzone, everybody knows that,’ Walsh claimed before describing Boyzone as ‘the puppets for Westlife’. ‘I picked all the songs,’ he added.
Ronan Keating became a household name alongside Stephen Gately, Mikey Graham, Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch as Boyzone took the charts by storm in the 90s.
Keating would go solo in 1999, with Walsh staying on as his manager for a massively successful decade before ultimately being sacked in 2003.
Speaking on the fallout, Walsh said: ‘Ronan started believing his own publicity then. He said to me one day in the Four Seasons, “I don’t want to be a karaoke artist anymore.” But that’s what he is!
‘I was picking all the songs – he hasn’t had a hit since. He hasn’t! He’s singing all the old songs now, he doesn’t have a record deal. He was great to work with at the start, but then he believed it.
‘He wanted to be George Michael… he was chasing around George Michael in London. What he didn’t know is that George Michael fancied Stephen [Gately], and George Michael was only being friendly with him to get to know Stephen. That’s the real story.’
Keating has since returned to Boyzone alongside Graham, Duffy and Lynch as a four-piece following the death of Stephen Gately in 2009.
The four lads would take to the stage for the final time earlier this year for two sold-out gigs at London’s Emirates Stadium.
However, Walsh remains adamant that Keating’s career is dead in the water. He told The Big Interview: ‘It’s over – he’s never going to be a pop star now. He’s never going to have another hit. I’m happy.
‘We had great times together, we had great fun, but it was a bad divorce, and it’s fine – I’m over it. I’d say he’s happy enough in his life, because he’s always gonna be working. He’ll either be a DJ, or he’ll act, or he’ll dance. He can do anything.’
Keating previously spoke out about his chequered history with Walsh in the 2025 documentary Boyzone: No Matter What.
Here he said: ‘Louis became a TV personality – he was given that chance because he was the manager of Boyzone and that took a lot of his time.
‘Things started falling into place, and you realise Louis is not a great manager. I gave him multiple opportunities to fix things. ‘I have one shot at my career and he didn’t give a f**k, it fell on deaf ears.’
