Andrew Lloyd Webber claims Louis Walsh tried to stop Boyzone collaboration

The musical creator behind the band's hit single No Matter What claimed their manager did not want them to release the track.

L-R: Stephen Gately (Boyzone), Andrew Lloyd Webber (Composer), Ronan Keating (Boyzone), Keith Duffy (Boyzone) and Jim Steinman (Lyricist) in London, celebrating their single
Boyzone released Andrew Lloyd Webber's song No Matter What as their most successful single to date in 1998. (Getty Images)

Andrew Lloyd Webber has claimed that Louis Walsh did not want Boyzone to release his song No Matter What.

The boyband released the track — from his musical Whistle Down The Wind — in 1998, featuring the lead vocals of the late Stephen Gately, along with Ronan Keating and backing vocals from the rest of the band.

It went on to become Boyzone's most successful number one single around the world. But Lloyd Webber revealed their manager and former judge on The X Factor Walsh did not approve of the collaboration, and tried to stop it being released.

Shane Lynch, Keith Duffy and Ronan Keating attend the World Premiere of
Boyzone's Shane Lynch, Keith Duffy and Ronan Keating spoke to The One Show's Alex Jones about their history as a band. (Getty Images)

Lloyd Webber appeared on The One Show on Tuesday, 28 January to talk about his choir initiative with football fans in 2025 city of culture Bradford, Bantam of the Opera. Also on the show was host Alex Jones' prerecorded interview with Boyzone about their new Sky documentary, Boyzone: No Matter What.

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Keating reflected of working with Lloyd Webber: "Steo [Stephen] was a big fan and wanted to work in the West End in any shape or form, and he offered us a song No Matter What. Whistle Down the Wind was the new show. It propelled us to a whole other level as a band around the world."

Andrew Lloyd Webber attends the
The One show guest Andrew Lloyd Webber claimed Boyzone manager Louis Walsh didn't like his song No Matter What. (Getty Imges)

Following the video of their interview, Lloyd Webber confided in Jones and host Clara Amfo: "Stephen came to me and asked whether Jim Steinman and I would write a song for him. And we had No Matter What, and we said, 'Yeah, let's go ahead and record it. We recorded it, with Steve on his own, and then the other guys got involved, and then they sang on it too, but the record company and Louis Walsh didn't want to issue it.

"They really thought that it was not a great idea and that it might just be okay as a B-side. This is a story I've not told before, but this is exactly what happened. We had it recorded, I'm not sure exactly who did what on the recording, and some of the voices,, you know, sound a little... interesting to me, shall we put it that way.

"But anyway it was recorded, and I went to go to something called the Chinese Elvis which was done in Millwall with Richard Park, who ran Capital Radio and did all the radio. So Richard and I, we went. Day went and, come the evening, we got back to my house and he said, 'Have you got anything to play me anything new of yours?'

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And I said, 'I've got this track that nobody wants to issue, which has got all of the members of Boyzone on it, but they don't want to, they don't want to release it. Louis Walsh doesn't want it out.

"So I played it to him. Richard said, 'Listen to Capital Radio in five hours time, because I am playing this because this is the biggest hit that they will ever have. And Richard played it. Rest is history.

Boyzone: No Matter What (Sky)
Louis Walsh and Boyzone admit they had a difficult relationship in the documentary. (Sky)

"They did a wonderful job with it, but it's just extraordinary, isn't it? It was a bit of politics, I suppose, with what song was there and whatever. Maybe it was something to do with the fact that Stephen came to me, I don't know. But anyway I'm very, very proud of it."

Read more: Boyzone

Baroness Karren Brady, Lord Alan Sugar, and Tim Campbell will return to the boardroom in The Apprentice S18. (BBC)
The Apprentice advisors Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell will sing in the new series of the show as AI pop stars. (BBC)

The Apprentice advisors Tim Campbell and Karren Brady were also guests on the show and revealed they sing in the upcoming series of the BBC reality show. The pair divulged that one of the tasks in the latest series of the show – which sees aspiring entrepreneurs compete for a business investment from Lord Sugar – is centred around creating an AI pop star.

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Brady revealed: "This year we've got a virtual pop star, an AI pop star and the scary thing I think for Tim and I, when Lord Sugar set the task, we were there as virtual pop stars singing. We'd had to record a little thing, we didn't quite know what it was for, and that was quite scary."

The One Show airs on BBC One at 7pm on weekdays.

Boyzone: No Matter What premieres on Sky Documentaries on Sunday, 2 February.

The Apprentice returns to BBC One at 9pm on Thursday, 30 January.