Music mogul Mark Walton: ‘I got the boot from Boyzone… now I’m a billionaire’

BOYZONE’S founder has finally gotten over being kicked out of his own band — because he’s a now billionaire.

Mark Walton has gone on to become an internationally successful music mogul and a judge on Vietnam’s Pop Idol.

The 40-year-old works with top artists like Jennifer Lopez, Shaggy and Enrique Iglesias — making him richer than he ever expected.

And Mark, from Donaghmede in Dublin, admitted: “I never planned to be in a position where I could be a billionaire from Ireland.”

He added: “Right now, I have the crazy glamour, big-name side to what I’m doing in my career that I think no one expected of me.

“And I intend to do a lot more with it than buy Lamborghinis and spend my time on the beach.”

Mark put Boyzone together while he was in school with Shane Lynch — before going to Boyzone manager Louis for help taking over the charts.

But about a year after they made their name through their infamous Late Late Show debut, Mark was edged out of the band he created.

He said: “I was the lead singer. The boys felt it was my band and there were articles written about this 15-year-old boy who had put this band together.

“Then these articles would start appearing with photos of Boyzone and an X over my face and quotes saying I had been X’d out of Boyzone.”

But Mark set up a successful new band 5th Avenue, using his rage to further learn the ropes of the music industry.

He also got involved with B*Witched, adding: “I was dating Shane Lynch’s sister Edele and I encouraged her to put a girl band together and we created B*Witched which turned out really well.

“I had a newfound confidence after the crushing disappointment of how I was treated with Boyzone and several songs I had written were number ones.”

Mark is now based in Los Angeles and has become a judge on Vietnam’s Pop Idol.

He said: “I became very, very famous over there.”

But Mark is now eager to work on the homeless problem in LA and Ireland, as well as women’s rights and child trafficking.

He said: “I don’t want to sit around and not do something about these issues.”