Ronan Keating has said "nothing will ever be the same without our dearest friend" in an emotional statement given ahead of Stephen Gately's body being returned.
Speaking in Majorca on behalf of Boyzone, Keating said: "We have had countless messages of love and support.
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We thank you from the bottom of our hearts."
He also said the future of the band was "too hard to think about" as their world had "changed forever".
The bandmates have flown to the Spanish island to take Gately's body back to Dublin.
They will spend the night watching over their friend inside St Laurence O'Toole's church on the street where Gately grew up, after the singer's mother asked them to.
"Stephen's mother didn't want him to be alone in the dark, so Ronan, Keith, Mikey and Shane have stepped up and will sit with Stephen's body," manager Louis Walsh told Sky News Online.
"He was like their little brother and they want to be a friend to him in death as he was to them in life.
"Stephen was a beautiful young man and we can't believe he has gone."
Mass will be held at the church this evening after the singer's body arrives and a funeral service will be held at midday on Saturday.
Volunteers have been working to tidy up the grounds of the small church ahead of the arrival of the mourners.
Celebrity friends including Westlife, Gary Barlow and David Furnish will accompany Stephen's family and friends to the service.
The singer's coffin will be carried into the church by his four bandmates and two of his brothers.
Parts of the Irish capital are expected to come to a standstill as Dublin remembers the boy from Sheriff Street who achieved fame and fortune but never forgot his roots.
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