Ronan Keating Says Music and Songwriting Help Him Grieve as He Prepares New Album, Ed Sheeran Track and Jose Carreras Concert

Ronan Keating said songwriting has helped him “grieve” as he prepares new music and live performances. In an interview with Billboard published July 16, Keating described how creating and rewriting songs has been part of his coping process while he continues working on an upcoming album and planning concerts that bring together different generations of mainstream and classical performance.

Keating, an Irish pop veteran known for his career with Boyzone and later solo work, told Billboard that the act of music creation has allowed him to grieve. The singer’s comments were tied to his current creative cycle, which includes recording new material and returning to studio work as a way to manage personal loss, according to the interview.

Billboard reports that Keating is working on a new album and that the project will include a song recorded with Ed Sheeran. The collaboration, Keating said, is one of the “superstar” partnerships he hopes will make its way onto the album as work progresses.

In addition to the album plans, Keating said he is also looking to complete a live-performance goal. Billboard reports that he is pursuing a one-off concert starring Jose Carreras, the Spanish tenor best known for his role with the classical crossover group Il Divo. Keating described the event as a box he wants to “tick,” framing it as a distinct undertaking from his album recording schedule.

Keating’s interview also framed his near-term work in terms of timing and execution, with the album and the concert plans developing alongside each other rather than replacing one another. Billboard’s report characterizes the projects as complementary, with his studio output paired with an appearance that would combine mainstream pop credibility with a classical star’s audience.

The Billboard interview provides a window into how a long-running pop artist is approaching mainstream collaborations and event-based performance at a time when audience expectations often lean toward recognizable names and cross-genre lineups. While details beyond the album’s Ed Sheeran collaboration and the stated Jose Carreras concert goal were not specified in the article, the comments place the collaborations and live plans within the same creative period.

As the new album progresses and the Jose Carreras concert plan develops, the next public steps for Keating, based on the reporting, will likely involve confirming release details for the album and providing additional information about dates, venues, and ticketing arrangements for the one-off live event.