Ronan Keating has been back in South Africa over the past week to contribute to charitable causes, in conjunction with Citadel as well as to perform in Cape Town and Pretoria. Ronan performed at the Grand West Arena on the 3rd of March, which coincided with his birthday.

Citadel hosted their annual charity gala dinner with Keating and Gary Player at The Table Bay Hotel on Saturday 4 March 2023. After a performance by Keating and his band, Citadel Head of Philanthropy, Jean de Villiers, took to the stage to facilitate the charity auction.

The auction raised over R2.1 million. The proceeds will be managed and distributed by the Citadel Philanthropy Foundation. The beneficiaries are the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town and the Blair Atholl Pre-Primary School in Johannesburg.

“I’ve visited South Africa many times and, although it’s such a beautiful country, there are many challenges South African children face today and I care deeply about ensuring that cancer treatment is not one of them. I’m thankful to Gary Player and Citadel for supporting these efforts,” says Keating, who is well known for his cancer advocacy and relationship with the Oncology Unit at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital

This Citadel event began in 2018 and was inspired by the loss of Keating and Player’s mothers to cancer. Both their moms were passionate about giving back. Since then, this event has raised R7.1 million in total.
On Sunday the 5th of March he performed at the Sunbet Arena in Pretoria in front of 5000 excited fans. The aim was to play hos greatest hits as well as to showcase the release of his lockdown albums, Twenty Twenty and Songs From Home.

As the lead singer with one of the biggest ever Irish boy bands, he needed no introduction. Accompanied by a five piece band, when he walked on to the stage dressed in a grey suit, the screams from the predominantly female crowd were deafening.

Despite the Dublin singer ( although he now lives in London) promising all of his hits, he did open the proceedings with new song Heyday, but after that he certainly delivered. Lovin’ Each Day induced the evening’s first sing along and with everyone on their feet where they remained for the entire evening; he followed it up with Isn’t It A Wonder.
Slowing things right down for a cover of Tracey Chapman’s Baby Can I Hold You, the Bee Gees’ Words and Anne Murray’s You Needed Me, the crowd swayed, arms aloft as they sung every word right back at him.

The set list was peppered with classic hits from his Boyzone catalogue, such as No Matter What, One More Song and Picture Of You, which took the crowd on a trip down memory lane. With record sales declining, Keating is undoubtedly a great live entertainer, and with his soft Irish lilt, he had the crowd hanging on his every word. And when he launched into When The Going Gets Tough and set closer Life Is A Rollercoaster, he was rewarded with a well earned standing ovation.

We cant wait to see him next year, like he promised.



[Submitted by Kevin Rademeyer]