Upon Boyzone's reformation, Gately featured as part of the first gay couple in a boyband music video for "Better", in what was to be his last with the band.

[7] Tim Teeman of The Times (UK) heralded Gately as a hero of gay rights for his response to being "smoked out of the closet".

[20] Keating informed the congregation at Gately's funeral that he had nicknames for them all; "the campest straight band in the world"—Rosaleen, Michaela, Kitty, Shanice and Stephanie.

In 2008 following his solo career and various bouts of acting and television appearances, Gately rejoined his old colleagues when Boyzone reformed, following the success of revived contemporaries Take That.

The video for the song generated controversy, as scenes depicting romantic couples included a shot of two men embracing, in an inclusive nod to Gately's homosexuality.

Wrote Tim Teeman of the Times Online, "Gately showed that an unflamboyant guy could be a pop star and gay...the real shame should be reserved for those managers and showbusiness power-brokers who practise that kind of discrimination, and also maintain the closet, to line their pockets.

"[25] At the time of Gately's death the group had selected thirty songs which they intended to record for a new album to be released in 2010.

[27][28] In 1999 Gately took part in animated television series Watership Down, where he voiced Blackavar and performed show's theme song, a cover of Art Garfunkel's "Bright Eyes" (included in the previous adaptation from 1978).

[29][30] In December 2002, Gately took the lead role in Bill Kenwright's new production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,[15] which previewed in Oxford in December 2002 before moving to Liverpool over Christmas 2002 and finally to London's West End and the New London Theatre in Drury Lane in February 2003.

Gately made his pantomime debut at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley in December 2005 starring as Dandini in Cinderella.

Gately also took part in Channel Five's All Star Talent Show in October 2006, performing the slice and dice magic trick which he only had a week to learn, coming second to Toby Anstis.

In January 2007, Gately was heard in "Horror of Glam Rock", a Doctor Who audio drama produced by Big Finish Productions for BBC7.

For this audio play, Gately recorded an original song, "Children of Tomorrow", with music by Tim Sutton and lyrics by Barnaby Edwards; this was his first solo track since 2001.

[31] In September 2007, Gately began touring the UK in an 11-week run of Stephen Schwartz's rock musical Godspell but withdrew from the production after just three weeks for contractual reasons.

[32] In 2008, Gately appeared in the independent horror film, Credo, which was released in the United States as Devil's Curse.

[33] He was an ambassador for the Caudwell Children Charity in Stoke and on one occasion gave a private Christmas performance, raising thousands of pounds.

[34] On one visit to a hospital he met a terminally ill child who admired the jacket he was wearing, and Gately allowed her to have it.

In an April 2009 interview with the Press Association he declared that he was nearly finished, had publisher interest, and hoped for a Christmas 2009 release.

[36] Boyzone bandmate Ronan Keating promised at Gately's funeral that "by hook or by crook" the book would be finished.

[10] Gately started dating Andrew Cowles, an internet businessman[42] who had been introduced to him by mutual friends Elton John and David Furnish.

[44] In July 2009, their home was broken into by thieves who took £80,000 of items, including a prized Rolex watch which Gately had purchased with his first pay cheque.

[45] His manager Louis Walsh was unaware of Gately's sexuality when he selected him for Boyzone and has said that, had he known, he would have thought twice before picking him, claiming less than a year before his death that "it wasn't cool then to have a gay guy in a band".

[50] Gately had spent the evening with his partner Cowles at the Black Cat club in Mallorca's capital, Palma.

Police said they had no reason to believe the death was related to abuse of substances, and no suicide note or signs of violence were found on his body.

[54] The remaining members of Boyzone, Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Ronan Keating, and Shane Lynch, issued a joint statement: We are completely devastated by the loss of our friend and brother, Stephen.

[55]A post-mortem and toxicology tests took place on 13 October and this examination showed that Gately died of natural causes.

[68][69] Gately's coffin was carried into and out of the church by his bandmates,[70] and during the service Ronan Keating gave a eulogy, during which he broke down several times and apologised to the congregation.

Our thoughts are with Andy and the rest of his family, his friends, his legions of fans and of course his bandmates Keith, Mikey, Shane and Ronan who will be devastated at the loss of a truly beautiful person.

[83] An article by Jan Moir in the Daily Mail on 16 October 2009 claimed: "Healthy and fit 33-year-old men do not just climb into their pyjamas and go to sleep on the sofa, never to wake up again.

The PCC did not uphold the complaint, stating: "It found the article caused some offence but there was insufficient evidence it breached the law".