The birth of boyzone at the end of 1993 saw the Irish music well and truly broken. Following the huge success of U2 and the Cranberries, critics gave the five boys from Dublin little hope of ever leaving the Emerald Isle - let alone make it across the water.

However, when their debut single "Love Me For A Reason" crashed into the charts at No.2 in 1994 it ensured that Ronan Keating, Stephen Gately, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham became the most promising and exciting Irish export since�.well �Guinness!

They won the Smash Hits Award for Best New Act shortly afterwards, but a betting man still would have given you even odds on them going the distance. It's a jungle out there, after all.

But, Boyzone's assault on the charts continued healthily with singles "Key To My Life" and "So Good", both of which went to No.3. Their acclaimed cover of Cat Stevens classic "Father and Son" proved even more popular, hitting the number two spot, and showing no immediate inclination to move down. The penny finally dropped when boyzone scored their first No.1 hit in December 1996 with "Words".

Since then Boyzone have become the first act in chart history to reach the top 3 with their first 14 singles. Remember the good old days when records stayed in the charts for more than the blink of an eye? Stephen Gately does: "We just kept working, and working really hard back then. There will always be people trying to knock you down but you just have to rise above that. Boyzone are Boyzone and we enjoy what we do".

We all know the story from here onwards. While the press have been poring over the band's marriages, babies and the colour of their socks, Boyzone have been busy recording three number one albums.

Their last long player "Where We Belong", saw the boys increasing their share of the creative pie. Much of the album was written by the band and showcases their work with the likes of Ray Hedges, Stirkin, Rogers (most noted for their sterling work with Annie Lennox), and Johnny Douglas, who has worked with All Saints and George Michael. The album has now gone five times platinum, topping the charts on two separate occasions.

Despite the huge increase in musical respect now afforded to the band, it wasn't until they walked home with the ultra-prestigious Ivor Novello Award for "Picture Of You", (the lead song from the Mr Bean movie) that they were notably evolving and were taken seriously by their peers and steadily maturing, but loyal fans.

The very same fans also ensured that Boyzone ran home with the Record of the Year award for "No Matter What" at the end of '98. From school to cool in a moment. Who says awards don't mean anything?

It has all meant a lot to Ronan: "We are really proud of all our work, but especially the last album "Where We Belong". It is slightly more 'grown-up' than our previous material. We have taken a step away from the boy-band thing lately. We want to bring in an older audience without alienating the younger one".

Shane goes on to say "Boy bands usually flop after the first album, but Boyzone are still going strong after three. We never forget where we started from, here's to the fourth". So it is all change in the Boyzone camp. If you actually listen to the music, it's not too hard to hear why popular opinion has changed so massively.

For five years now, Boyzone have been dominating the radio play list, the TV, and most importantly the charts. They have been the face and voice of Pepsi. They have four Irish Music Awards under their belts.

Ronan has presented The MTV awards, Miss World, the Eurovision Song Contest as well as the recent BBC1 talent show "Get Your Act Together".

Shane races rally cars for Ford, beating British rally car champion Alistair McRae in his first ever race! Stephen presented the 1998 Smash Hits Poll Winners Party, Child-Line show and is currently working on the sound-track for the film Watership Down.

Keith is turning down modelling offers from the likes of John Rocha, and caused a stir at the '99 Brits by playing drinking games with buddy Robbie Williams. Mikey has been seen Kick-Boxing on an underground Irish film.

Collectively, boyzone have earned themselves fans including the all important Mr. Bean and Israel's Miss World - not to mention George Michael, Brian Kennedy, Bono (who asked the band to appear in U2's "Sweetest Thing" video), the Bee Gees, Pavarotti and David Bowie, who recently did a web-chat with Ronan.

Pretty good for a band who have never taken their success for granted, aren't constantly surrounded by a fog of controversy and according to Mikey "Still go to the supermarket, sweep the floors and do the washing up!".

As if that lot isn't enough to make the whole planet realise that Boyzone are in for the duration, they are also the first group from Ireland to have six number ones, leaving Shane's sisters' band B*witched in second place with four and U2 with three.

And one particular TFI Friday (the ultimate barometer of late 90's cool - probably), is noted for Chris Evans' public apology to the boys for the past years of p**s-takes and put-downs. "Nuff said!"

Discussions begin to commit the Boyzone story so far to film. A brand new deal with Mercury records in the USA mean plans to crack America are well supported and Boyzone embark on a tour to mark the release of their greatest hits album By Request. The tour travelled all around Britain before moving on to Europe, and included a spectacular open-air gig at the RDS in Dublin on the eve of By Request's release.

By Request certainly proves how far Boyzone have come, and was the perfect way to kick start the second chapter of this band's shining career. In a brand new Millennium, you can rely on Ronan, Stephen, Keith, Shane and Mikey's unique brand of perfect pop not to lose any of it's fizz. Rest assured Boyzone's Platinum discs will be occupying wall space well into the 21st century...