MEDIA

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.’

He wasn’t wrong and after two members dropped out for one reason or another, Louis Walsh called him in to join the band.

Success beckoned for the group called Boyzone and it all began with ‘Working my way back to you,’ a song which Mikey sang lead vocals on along with Stephen; it was released only in Ireland and it got to number 3 in the charts. It kick-started Boyzone’s music career which saw them release sixteen top 5 hits over the space of 7 years. ‘Working my way back to you’ was the only single that Mike sang lead vocals on, however, he sang on few b-sides including ‘Here to eternity,’ (which was performed on tour) ‘Price of love’ and ‘Too late tonight.’ He also sang on album tracks; ‘When all is said and done’ (Said and done) and ‘Good conversation’ (Where we belong.) On Boyzone’s live shows through the years; Mikey had the opportunity to showcase his talent during his own solo spot, singing ‘Good conversation,’ ‘Too late tonight’ and ‘You’re my angel’ usually aided by a guitar, adding another dimension to his role within Boyzone. He also usually sang a song within the much celebrated medley.

Away from his life in the music business, Mikey became a father to his little girl, Hannah, with girlfriend Sharon Keane on 30th April 1996. Talking about Hannah around that time he said ‘She just looks up into my eyes and I can’t believe the beauty of her. I still can’t comprehend the miracle that two people can create another life. It’s just an amazing thing.’

In May ’98 at the ‘Where we belong’ album launch, Mikey announced his engagement to Sharon, telling the story of how he proposed; he said at the time; ‘I gave Hannah the ring and as she gave it to her mother I popped the question.’ However, for whatever reason, the relationship didn’t work out and they separated in 1999.

Career-wise in 1998, away from the Boyzone bubble, Mikey appeared in ‘Fatal Deviation;’ a low budget martial arts film that his friend was involved with. Despite its’ continuity errors, many plot-holes and the fact it was released straight to video without any cinema showings, the film has achieved something of a cult status; becoming essential viewing through word of mouth alone.