Ronan Keating has said hearing Robbie Williams’ song about his late bandmate Stephen Gately left him with “tears coming down my face”.

The track, called The Big Goodbye, appears on the former Boyzone singer’s new album Twenty Twenty as a duet between the two pop singers.

Gately died as a result of an undiagnosed heart condition aged 33 in 2009.

Speaking on Sunday Brunch, Ronan said: “Last October was Stephen Gately’s 10-year anniversary and the boys and I were out celebrating his life and honouring him.

“I got home that night and there was an email from Rob saying, ‘I’ve seen you boys on the telly and I forgot that I wrote this song 10 years ago about Steo and I put it away’.

“I’m standing in the kitchen with tears coming down my face listening to this song.