Ronan Keating fired Louis Walsh as a manager after their relationship turned sour (Picture: Sky)
Ronan Keating has blasted Louis Walsh for ‘not giving a f**k’ about his music career as he pursued TV opportunities including The X Factor.
The Celebrity Big Brother star was Ronan’s manager when he was in Boyzone and as a solo artist before a bitter feud tore them apart.
Ronan, 47, alleged once they cut ties The Pop Idol judge, 72, became vindictive and ‘tried to ruin his career.’
On upcoming Sky Documentary, Boyzone: No Matter What, the pair reopened old wounds as they butted heads over Ronan’s career trajectory.
The Life Is a Rollercoaster singer claimed Louis became disinterested in Ronan’s music as he focussed on becoming a star in his own right.
They also had creative disagreements, with Louis wanting to position Ronan as a hitmaker, while the If Tomorrow Never Comes popstar sought artistic credibility.
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Louis formed and managed hit boyband Boyzone (Picture: Sky)
‘Louis became a TV personality – he was given that chance because he was the manager of Boyzone and that took a lot of his time,’ Ronan said.
However, Louis disputed Ronan’s claims and said he spoke to the When You Say Nothing At All singer daily.
Ronan continued: ‘Things started falling into place and you realise, Louis is not a great manager. I gave him multiple opportunities to fix things.
‘I have one shot at my career and he didn’t give a f**k, it fell on deaf ears.’
Ronan also hit out at Louis for making ‘the wrong choices’ for him as a solo artist.
The group remains the second most successful boyband in the UK (Picture: Ilpo Musto/Shutterstock)
He fumed: ‘He just got it wrong. He made the wrong choices.’
Louis, however, insisted that Ronan was ‘a big middle of the road artist who appealed to older women” and as such, it was the right decision to cater to that audience.
‘There was nobody better. That was his market, that was his line,’ Louis insisted.
He continued: ‘He said he didn’t want to be a karaoke artist and wanted to record and write his own songs and be a proper artist. That shocked me that he wasn’t happy with the songs, they were all hits.’
Ronan claimed Louis was more interested in becoming a TV personality rather than a music manager (Picture: Ken McKay/REX/Shutterstock)
However, their bitter feud came to a head when Ronan fired Louis as his manager.
Reflecting on his dismissal, Louis shared: ‘I always told him the truth, you’re a lucky f***er.
‘There was a divorce. I called him talentless and different things and there in the press… do I regret it? Yeah, a little bit.’
Ronan added: ‘He knew how to hurt me, vicious, f***ing bitchy horrible things. He tried to ruin me and my career.’
Ronan claimed Louis tried to ‘ruin his career’ after he fired him (Picture: Dave Hogan/Getty Images)
The pair first met when Ronan, then aged 16, responded to an ad Louis had placed in a newspaper seeking members for a boyband, which became Boyzone.
Ronan along with the late Stephen Gately, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham ended up having six number one singles and four number one albums in the UK, making them the second most successful British boyband behind Take That.
After Ronan took a break from the band to go solo in 1999, Louis continued to be his manager as the performer released hits like When You Say Nothing At All and Life is a Rollercoaster.
Although they seemed to remain close, in 2012 Louis branded Ronan ‘talentless and spoiled’, kicking off a back-and-forth that continues to this day.
Boyzone: No Matter What is coming to Sky Documentaries and Now on Sunday, February 2.
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