Mikey Graham has responded to criticism about him Emotional Boyzone reunion performanceaccusing some commentators of trying to ‘hit a guy when he’s down’.
The singer, 53, made a rare return to the stage last weekend as Boyzone reunited for their Two For The Road concerts at London’s Emirates Stadium.
But while fans were excited to see him around Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch, questions quickly surfaced online as Mikey only appeared on a handful of songs and spent most of the performance sitting down.
The discussion intensified when his daughter, Sienna Graham, appeared on RTÉ Radio 1 and was asked about negative reactions to the reunion.
The interview did not go well with Mikey. Taking for it social media the star then accused presenter Kieran Cuddihy of unfairly putting his daughter in an uncomfortable position.
“I’m not the poor guy”, he wrote.
“I’m a quiet private man but when some stupid and cruel excuse of a so called talk show host tries to insult my daughter directly. radio about her father you better get ready for my reaction!’
He continued: ‘You’re not a man at all to ask a young girl that question!’
The singer later shared footage from the reunion concerts showing thousands of fans singing along and cheering.
“I was told that apparently there was mention of a backlash on Irish radio,” he wrote. “I can’t see any there, can I?”
In another slide, he added: “Shame on RTÉ NATIONAL IRISH RADIO. Try kicking a guy when he’s down!’
The row comes just days after fans expressed concern about Mikey’s appearance during the shows.
While Ronan, Keith and Shane opened the gigs as a trio, Mikey joined later in the evening, rising from under the stage before performing a few songs while seated. He then stayed to take part in the final.
For many viewers, however, just seeing him on stage was cause for celebration.
The singer has been honest in recent years about his struggles with it DEPRESSIONalcoholism, trust issues and the long-term emotional impact of his Boyzone years.
In last year’s documentary Boyzone: No Matter What, Mikey admitted he had no intention of returning to perform with the band due to painful memories associated with that period of his life.
“I don’t want to go back to the way I felt for many years,” he said at the time.
He also spoke about feeling overlooked during the group’s peak and revealed that his confidence had been severely damaged.
These admissions prompted many fans to defend her after the reunion.
“Nice to see him back on stage, especially since he said he won’t be in the documentary,” one supporter wrote online.
Another added: ‘Mikey was always my favourite. It was sad to hear his story in the documentary. Nice to see him up there.’
Others praised the courage it must have taken to perform in front of tens of thousands of people after years out of the limelight.
Sienna echoed those sentiments during her radio appearance, insisting many people failed to appreciate what her father had overcome to get on stage.
“As his daughter, I’m so proud of everything he’s accomplished,” she said.
“There’s a lot of people in a stadium, so it’s an achievement in itself to go up and do that and sing again in front of all those people.”
She also urged people not to focus on negativity, adding that her family did not prefer to spend time dwelling on critical comments.
The reunion gigs marked Boyzone’s first major live shows together since the success of the Sky documentary reignited public interest in the band and their complicated history.
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