04 November 2009
Newsdesk
WESTLIFE have cancelled a promotional tour after band member Nicky Byrne's father died suddenly.
Byrne has flown back to Ireland to be with his family after dad Nicky Snr died yesterday from a suspected heart attack aged 60.
Byrne, 31, had been on a promotional tour with Westlife in London, but he has jetted home to comfort his mother Yvonne, sister Geraldine and brother Adam.
He was understood to be very close to his father, who used to be a musician and singer on the cabaret scene and had his own band called 'Nicky and the Studz'.
He inspired his son to go into the music business and the pair used to sing karaoke together.
A spokesman for Westlife said today: "The boys in the band’s main priority is looking after Nicky at this tragic time."
Nicky Snr's death comes almost a month after their good friend and Boyzone member Stephen Gately died suddenly aged 33 at his Majorca home.
It also comes just months after fellow bandmate Kian Egan lost his own father to cancer in July.
Speaking to the Irish Independent last night, Egan, 29, said he and the rest of the band were devastated.
He said: "It's been such a shock. Everyone feels so sad. It was just so sudden and unexpected."
He said he had spoken to Byrne yesterday and said he was inconsolable.
He added: "He was very broken up. I never expected to be talking to the boys about another death of our parents so soon after my own father died."
In a statement last night, Byrne's family said: "The family would like to confirm the sad news of the very sudden loss of a husband, dad and grandad today.
"A wonderful man who will be sadly missed by everyone whose life he touched. The Byrne family would like to ask that you respect their privacy at this time."
A spokesman for former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern - whose daughter Georgina is married to Byrne - said: "It is a huge shock to the whole family.
"His thoughts and sympathies are with Yvonne, Nicko, Gillian, Adam and his beloved grandchildren, Jay and Rocco."
X Factor' judge Louis Walsh, who formed Westlife in 1998, said: "Westlife are all devastated. They can't believe a second father is dead."
