Michael

Michael Christopher Charles Graham was born 15th August 1972 to parents, Sheila and Billy. The youngest of seven children; the Graham house was already full with his five sisters; Yvonne, Avril, Cathy and twins, Claire and Debbie and one brother; Niall. From the age of 7 weeks to 7 months; Mikey was seriously ill in hospital and the family nearly lost him. As a result he became incredibly close to his mother when he was growing up . Mikey was quite mischievous as a young lad, getting himself into a few scrapes at school. However, it was all pretty harmless and he still managed to well in his studies; English, Woodwork and Technical Drawing were his best subjects. Music and acting were in his blood from a very early age; attending the Billie Barry stage school from five years old to fifteen. As a result, he appeared in some TV adverts for things such as Mikado Biscuits and the Irish Electricity Board. He also did the ‘Late Late Show Toy Show’ a few times. Mikey was a member of the scouts, The 51st Kilmore and the cubs from seven years of age and in the Artane Boys Band playing the drums for two years when he was eleven. Sport played its part in Mikey’s teenage years as well; he was involved in martial arts and from the age of 13 to 19, he participated in kickboxing. Music, though, remained his first love and he joined several bands and for one in particular; Ivory; he was the lead singer. Also a keen songwriter; playing guitar and piano; Mikey had written around 70 songs by the time he was twenty-three. After leaving school; at 17, he went for a job as a mechanic and was offered an apprenticeship if he worked at particular garage for a year, but that never materialised so Mikey went onto work for a sign company and also worked on cabs, before eventually serving his apprenticeship at another garage. Even after seemingly finding his path in life; music was a constant pull and one day while at work in 1993; Mikey heard about auditions for an Irish boyband on the radio. He didn’t really think too much about it until seeing another advert in the newspaper back at home; his dad and friends encouraged him to go for it and Mike auditioned three times in total; singing George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper,’ Eric Clapton’s ‘Layla’ and Meatloaf’s ‘Two out of three ain’t bad.’ He made it into the top ten auditionees but when the final line up was announced; unfortunately Mike’s name wasn’t called out. Speaking of that time, Mikey said; ‘I wasn’t disappointed when I was turned down initially for the band, as I knew there'd be something else for me. I had a strong feeling within me that it didn’t matter, it would be ok.’