Ronan Keating and Robbie Williams record 'special' song dedicated to Boyzone's Stephen Gately

It's still hard to believe it has nearly been 11 years since Boyzone member, Stephen Gately, passed away.

And now his bandmate Ronan Keating is honouring Stephen - who tragically passed away aged 33 at his holiday home in Majorca, on 10 October 2009 - in the best way he knows how.

The 43-year-old pop star is set to release a star-studded new album titled Twenty Twenty this month - and featuring on the album will be a special duet that was written in tribute to Stephen.

Speaking on Goss.ie's chat show Goss Chats, Ronan said Robbie Williams contacted him out of the blue about the song, called 'The Big Goodbye.'

"Robbie emailed me out of the blue," he shared.

READ MORE:
• Ronan Keating and Boyzone pay tribute to Stephen Gately ten years after his death
• Robbie Williams' wife shows off their daughter's incredible musical talents in sweet video

"It was Stephen's 10th anniversary, and the boys and I were doing a TV show in London. Robbie saw the show and he emailed me that night," he explained.

"He said 'hey Ro, I have this song I wrote and I wrote it the week Stephen died.' And I'm standing in my kitchen, listening to this song with tears running down my face.

"I said 'let's do something together on it it would be lovely.' And then we worked on this record, it's a very special song."

What a beautiful way to remember Stephen.