What’s On interviews Shane Lynch from Boyzone as Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy and Mikey Graham prepare for a show in Dubai, at Dubai Tennis Stadium, Garhoud.

Ahead of their 20-year anniversary tour, Shane Lynch tells What’s On how the band, who sold 36million records, have grown up

Your new single Who We Are seems to reflect Boyzone’s journey through the years. Would you agree? I think as far as records are concerned there’s a lot of history for us. Twenty years is a long time; we write passionately and it means a lot to us.

How does touring now compare to 20 years ago when you started out? It’s more of a pleasure now than it ever has been, simply because of the workload. Years back we spent so much time on the road there was no time to enjoy anything we were doing.

You must still have had some fun back in the day? Oh, absolutely, don’t get me wrong; I’m not being a miserable old man. It’s just that there is more of an appreciation factor now.

Did you always think you would carry on this long, or has this revival come as a pleasant surprise? We have the history and the records to get up on stage and play for two hours, so I always thought we would come back and do some more gigs. Making new records was the sort of stuff I thought we might not do again.

There’s no sign of the coordinating white outfits of Boyzone’s Father And Son days in the video for your new single – do you pick your own clothes now? We still have a stylist but now it’s more just to tie some things together so it [the band’s look] makes some kind of sense. I’m probably the outsider. I’m guaranteed to show up in a T-shirt when the other boys are all in suits. I’ve always been a bit different since I was a kid.

Did you struggle with the matching outfits in the early days of Boyzone? I still had to be slightly individual. If we were all in leather jackets, I’d make sure mine was three times longer than as the others.

Do you have more control over things now than you used to? In the 1990s we were led down a path. Now we’re asked as the men we are today: what songs do you want to sing? What do you want to sound like? So we sing our songs with conviction.

How does it feel watching footage of your early TV appearances, like the band’s famous debut on Ireland’s Late Late Show? I don’t purposely watch them, but every couple of years they pop up on TV. It’s awesome to look back on such an innocent stage of life, especially as, in the beginning, we were really bad. To go on from that and sell 36 million records is incredible. It shows that if you work hard you can make things happen.

Is it difficult touring without Stephen? [Boyzone member Stephen Gately died in 2009 as a result of an undiagnosed heart condition] One of the reasons we continue to be Boyzone is that when the four of us are together, we are more comfortable allowing ourselves to remember great times with Stephen. He’s more alive when the four of us are together and we will always be a five-piece.

What can fans expect from your gig? We can never deny the great music and number ones from back in the 1990s, but it’s also about the future of Boyzone as much as the present and the past.

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EVOLUTION OF A BOYBAND
From leather slacks to matching suits, the Irish pop group have undergone a fashion transformation in their 20+year career. Scroll through our gallery at the top of the page to see the boys throughout the years.

May 22
Dubai Tennis Stadium, Garhoud, Dubai, 9pm, Dhs255. Tel: (04) 2824750. Metro: GGICO. tixbox.com