The Script's Danny O'Donoghue has said the group have had "the worst and hardest year" following the passing of their much-loved guitarist, Mark Sheehan, last year.
Sheehan, who co-founded the band with O'Donoghue, passed away in April 2023 at the age of 46 following a brief illness.
Speaking to RTÉ 2fm's Tracy Clifford, the 43-year-old singer admitted it's been "really tough" for him and his bandmate - drummer Glen Power - to come to terms with what happened.
"Grief is a crazy thing. I don't even know if I've entered the grieving process yet because it's so crazy," he said.
The frontman thanked fans for their support over the last year and vowed to honour Sheehan and continue his music legacy.
"We've had the worst and hardest year of our life," he said. "I know, for me, it's the first time I've done an interview or even talked about it.
"I just wanted to say to thank you to everybody that's helped me - and us - through this incredibly hard time.
"We're going to move forward and we're going to honour him by what we started together."
He continued: "It's really tough every day to come to terms with what happened. All we can do now is try honour his memory and just push forward."
The Hall of Fame hitmaker praised Sheehan for being a "lyrical genius" and said he was "an amazing ambassador for Ireland".
"The guy was a lyrical genius. He was incredible and an amazing ambassador for Ireland in his approach to music and he always put Ireland first wherever we went. He was so proud of his home country as well," he said.
On Friday, The Script announced the release of their new album called Satellites, along with a European and UK tour which includes dates at Dublin's 3Arena and Belfast's SSE Arena.
Opening up about the album's name, O'Donoghue explained how "there's a lot of meaning behind" the title.
"The name of the new album is Satellites. It's one of the tracks that's on the album. It's one of the last songs I wrote with Mark before he passed," he said.
"I just feel like it's such a great name because at the end of the day we're all just bits of dust floating through space.
"Satellites rise above the earth and they have a vantage point to look down and you communicate through satellites as well. So there's a lot of meaning behind it for me," he concluded.
Satellites, The Script's seventh studio album, is set for release on 16 August, featuring the up-tempo single Both Ways.
The Script will play Belfast's SSE Arena on Wednesday, 13 November, before taking to the stage at the 3Arena on Friday, 15 November.
You can catch Tracy Clifford on RTÉ 2fm weekdays from 12pm.
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