Keith Duffy

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Keith Duffy : biography

1 October 1974 –

Keith Peter Thomas Francis John Duffy (born 1 October 1974) is an Irish singer-songwriter, actor, radio and television presenter and drummer. He began his professional music career as part of Irish boy band Boyzone alongside Ronan Keating, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately in 1994. The band decided to focus on solo projects in 2000 since which Duffy has achieved critical acclaim for his acting roles, particularly in soap operas such as Coronation Street and Fair City. He has also presented The Box and You’re a Star.

Duffy has been an autism "awareness" campaigner since his daughter was diagnosed with the condition at age 18 months, and acts as the patron for Irish Autism Action holding regular fundraising events and informational talks. In 2012, he admitted his disappointment that One Direction were already “much, much bigger” than Boyzone.

Duffy was the winner on the British reality TV series The Door.

Personal life

Duffy married Lisa Smith on 24 June 1998 in Las Vegas, only proposing two days before. Ronan Keating acted as his best man. Together, Keith and Lisa have two children, Jordan Stephen Scott Duffy (born 22 April 1996) and Mia Duffy (born 11 March 2000). After Mia was diagnosed with moderate autism, Duffy has become active in "raising awareness" of the condition. On 2 May 2009, Duffy and his wife won the game show All Star Mr & Mrs. The £10,000 prize money went to an autism charity. Duffy was also present in Kilcloon, Meath on 2 March 2012 for the official opening of ‘Stepping Stones’, a specialised school for children with Autism stating "All we want to do is give our kids a chance in life" Duffy is reportedly working on solo material, with a rumoured collaboration with singer Rihanna.

Early life

Duffy was born on 1 October 1974 in Donaghmede, Dublin to parents Sean and Pat. He is the second oldest of three children, with an older brother Derek and younger brother John. He was raised Roman Catholic. As a young child he contracted pneumonia. Between the ages of 7 and 18 he played hurling and Gaelic football, representing the Dublin under-16 hurling team for three years. At the age of 16 he bought a drum kit and played in bands called Toledo Moon and This Burning Effigy. Duffy studied architecture for a year at college, before dropping out.

Career

Duffy first became aware of Boyzone after hearing auditions to become a member were being held. He was unsuccessful in securing an audition, but was later noticed by Louis Walsh (who became the band’s managerList of groups and performers managed by Walsh) whilst dancing in Dublin’s POD Nightclub and was invited to audition. Duffy sang Billy Joel’s "Piano Man" and danced to Right Said Fred’s "I’m Too Sexy". He was chosen as one of the original members of the band. He played a backing role in Boyzone, with Ronan Keating acting as the band’s lead singer. In 1994 Duffy and fellow band member Shane Lynch were involved in a nearly fatal car crash; both survived without serious injuries. Boyzone performed together for the last time before their hiatus in Ireland at the Point Theatre during nine dates running from 3—8 January and 10—12 January 2000; they had sold more than 13 million records in total by this time and all sixteen of their singles had reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart. They also became the first Irish act to have four number one hits in the United Kingdom charts.

Boyzone disbanded in 2000. Following the band’s demise, Duffy’s profile was raised as a result of his appearance on the first series of the UK’s Celebrity Big Brother in 2001, where he finished third out of six. In the same year, he appeared on the celebrity special in the fourth season of Fort Boyard alongside Tris Payne, Scott Wright, Sally Gray, and Nell McAndrew. He branched out to acting, most notably on the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as the character Ciaran McCarthy. What was meant to be a three-week stint on the show turned into three years from 2002—2005, with Duffy leaving the show to be closer to his family in Ireland.