Intro

Origin : Sligo & Dublin, Ireland

Genres :  Pop

Years Active : 1998 - present

Labels : RCA, Syco, Sony, BMG

Website : Westlife

Members

Shane Filan

Mark Feehily

Kian Egan

Nicky Byrne

Past members

Brian McFadden

Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily,Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden (left the band in 2004). The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one. Westlife have sold over 44 million records worldwide which includes studio albums, singles, video release, and compilation albums. Despite the group's worldwide success, they only have one hit single in the United States, "Swear It Again", which peaked in 2000 on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 20. The band were originally signed by Simon Cowell and are managed by Louis Walsh. The group have accumulated 14 number-one singles in the United Kingdom, the third-highest in UK history, tying with Cliff Richard. The group had also broken a few records, including "Music artist with most consecutive number 1's in the UK", which consists of their first seven singles and only behind The Beatles and Elvis Presley. The Official Charts Company credited Westlife as the second biggest-selling artist and biggest-selling band of the decade. It is also noted that Westlife are the most successful boy band to orginate from Ireland. With sales in excess of 44 million, 14 UK number ones and 25 top ten singles. They also certified that Westlife have sold 20.2 million records and videos in the UK across their 14-year career - 6.8 million singles, 11.9 million albums and 1.5 million videos.

On 1 June 2008, Westlife marked their tenth anniversary with a concert in Croke Park, Dublin which had more than 83,000 fans attending the special occasion. Music Week revealed on their website that Westlife are the official third top touring act within the years 2005–2008, while they were seventh top touring act of 2008. Also in 2008, they were declared Ireland's ninth-richest celebrities under 30 years old and thirteenth in general with 36 million euros as a group. In 2009, they dropped as sixteenth richest Irish with estimated 8 million euros each. They were named as the fourth most hard-working music artist in UK by PRS in 2010. In August 2011, it was reported in the Irish Examiner that the profits of the band's firm grew five-fold in 2010. On 19 October 2011, Westlife announced they were to split after their Greatest Hits album due for release at the end of 2011 and a farewell tour in Spring 2012.

Origin

Prior to becoming successful, Egan, Feehily and Filan along with fellow Sligo men Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron and Michael Garrett, were part of a six-member pop vocal group called Six as One and was later changed to IOYOU in the year 1997. Managed by choreographer Mary McDonagh along with two other informal managers, they released a single titled "Together Girl Forever". Walsh, the manager of the 1990s boy-band Boyzone, was contacted by Filan's mother and came to know about the group. However, the group did not meet Cowell's approval for a record deal with BMG, and thus changes were needed. Cowell told Walsh, "You are going to have to fire at least three of them. They have great voices, but they are the ugliest band I have ever seen in my life." Three members of the band were told they would not be part of the new group, and auditions were held in Dublin where Byrne and McFadden were recruited. The new group, formed on 3 July 1998, was re-named Westside but as the name was already taken by another band, it was later changed to Westlife. In Westlife – Our Story, Byrne revealed he was keen to change the name to West High but the others wanted Westlife. Brian also changed the spelling of his name to Bryan to make it easier to sign autographs. Boyzone singer Ronan Keating was brought in to co-manage the group with Walsh. The band then released an EP titled Swear It Again.

Biography

Dreams Come True: World Of Our Own: 1999–2002

Westlife's first big break came in 1998 when they opened for the Boyzone and Backstreet Boys' concerts in Dublin. Later Act' award at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. In March 1999, the group released their first single, "Swear It Again" which immediately topped the charts in Ireland and in UK for two weeks. Their second single, "If I Let You Go", released in August 1999 along with the highly acclaimed "Flying Without Wings" produced by Steve Mac and written by Wayne Hector (their first 'Record of the Year'), released in October the same year, also followed suit. "Flying Without Wings" was also included on the soundtrack of the Warner Brothers film, Pokémon: The Movie 2000. The first album, simply titled Westlife, was released in November 1999 and peaked at No. 2 in the UK. Ironically, the album was the biggest chart dropper on the top 40 in the music history of UK when, in it's 58th week on the charts it leapt from #79 to#3 before falling to #37 the following week. In December 1999, the double a side fourth single was released,"I Have A Dream"/"Seasons In The Sun", knocked Cliff Richard's "The Millennium Prayer" off the top spot and earning them the 1999 UK Christmas number-one single.The fifth and last single from the album, "Fool Again", also peaked at #1. Then, the group went on a short UK, US and Asian tour in support of their debut album before releasing a second album.

Coast to Coast was released a year after and was another No. 1 UK album beating the Spice Girls' Forever album. It became the country's 4th biggest selling album of 2000 and is Westlife's biggest selling album to date. The album is still considered by many to be Westlife's best album and was preceded by a duet with Mariah Carey on the Phil Collins' classic "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" and the original song, "My Love" (the song that bagged their second 'Record of the Year' award). Both singles reached No. 1 on the UK charts. With this, Westlife broke an unexpected record of having their first seven singles debut at the top of the UK charts, tying with The Beatles. However, in December 2000, they failed to secure their eighth chart-topper in a row with their UK and Ireland only single "What Makes A Man" when kid's favourite, Bob The Builder's "Can We Fix It", was crowned as the Christmas number-one single of that year. Outside the UK/Ireland territories, they have released "I Lay My Love on You" and "When You're Looking Like That" and gained chart success. In 2001, they launched their first world tour, "Where Dreams Come True Tour", unofficially nicknamed "The No Stools Tour" due to the group's reputation of performing while perched on stools.

Westlife released World Of Our Own, their third album, in November 2001. "Uptown Girl", "Queen of My Heart" and "World of Our Own" were released as singles, as of which all peaked at No. 1 in the UK. "Bop Bop Baby" was also released as a single but it peaked at No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart. In 2002, Westlife went on their second world tour, the World Of Our Own Tour (In The Round).

Unbreakable: Departure of Bryan: 2002–04

Brian McFadden left Westlife for his family and children.

The group released their eleventh UK No. 1 single, "Unbreakable", in 2002. Amidst rumours of a split, Westlife released their first greatest hits album in November that same year entitled, Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits Vol. 1 zoomed all the way to No. 1 in the UK. The release was followed by the double a side single, "Tonight/Miss You Nights", which debuted at No. 3 in the UK. At this era, Because Films Inspire... made a TV Documentary titled as "Wild Westlife" directed by Iain MacDonald and starred by the group itself. It reveals how was their musical life on a daily basis and when on tour. In 2003, Westlife went on to their third world tour, The Greatest Hits Tour, shrugging off rumours of a split.

In September 2003, Westlife released "Hey Whatever", which peaked at No. 4 on the UK Charts. Their fourth studio album, Turnaround, was then released in November, earning the group another UK No. 1 album. "Mandy", a cover of the Barry Manilow hit, was released in November 2003. Their version won them their third Record of the Year award in under five years. Their version of Mandy is also considered as the highest single leaper to the top (from No. 200 to #1) in the UK music history. "Obvious" was released as the final single from the album, charting at #3. On 9 March 2004, just three weeks prior to embarking on their fourth world tour, Brian McFadden left the group to spend more time with his family and work on solo projects. On that day, a press conference was held where all the group's members were present and gave emotional individual speeches. Brian's final public performance as part of Westlife was at Newcastle Upon Tyne's Powerhouse nightclub on 27 February 2004. He subsequently began a solo career, deciding to revert the spelling of his first name back to its original 'Brian', he released his first solo single, "Real To Me" which entered the UK chart at No. 1 and soon after, he released his first solo album, "Irish Son" under Sony Music. He went on to release more singles with moderate success.

Quintet to quartet: Back Home: 2004–08

Less than a month after McFadden's departure, the group kicked off their "Turnaround Tour". A live version from the said tour of "Flying Without Wings" was released as an official UK download, earning them the title of the very first UK Downloads #1. In September 2004, they were about to perform on the world-renowned World Music Awards as they were recognized as the Best Irish Act of that year but the little did know that it wasn't broadcast worldwide unfortunately. They then put out a Rat Pack-inspired album, ...Allow Us to Be Frank, peaking at #3. No singles were released in the UK from this album. "Ain't That a Kick in the Head", accompanied with a music video, was released as a physical single in other European countries. "Smile" and "Fly Me to the Moon", with music videos as well, were released as digital downloads only. Prior to the album release, Westlife scouted for "the perfect fan" to help promote their album from their one-season special show "She's the One", presented by Kate Thornton. After X Factor-style auditions, they found Joanne Hindley, who recorded "The Way You Look Tonight" with the group. To mark this special collaboration, a special programme was televised, showing auditions and live performances. Performers included Joanne, Westlife members' fathers and glamour model Katie Price, Il Divo and Kevin Spacey. Westlife continued to tour Europe as part of their "The Number Ones Tour", before taking a four-month break from work. On 4 May 2005, Westlife lost their battle for European trademark from the German trademark "West".

In October 2005, Westlife returned with their comeback single, "You Raise Me Up", which was taken from their Face to Face album. On 5 November 2005, both the album and the single were at No. 1 in the UK at the same time at the second week of the single. It was the first time that Westlife have held both top album and single position in the same week. "You Raise Me Up" was awarded as their fourth Record of the Year in UK for 2005. In December that year, the group released "When You Tell Me That You Love Me", a duet with Diana Ross, as the second single and it debuted at its peak position of #2. Westlife then released a third single, "Amazing", which debuted at No. 4 and marked as the group's lowest-selling single yet. After that, Westlife embarked on the "Face to Face Tour", travelling extensively to the UK, Ireland, Australia and Asia. This tour marked the first time that Westlife travelled to mainland China for a concert. In late 2006, Westlife signed a brand new five-album deal with Sony BMG. Their eighth album, The Love Album, was a "love" concept album which consisted of popular love song covers. The album outsold other compilation albums by Oasis, The Beatles, and U2 in its first week of release and went straight to #1. The first single from The Love Album was a cover version of Bette Midler's classic, "The Rose", which became their 14th UK No. 1 single.

The band on their 2006 concert tour

This made Westlife the third act (along with Cliff Richard) in the UK to have the most No. 1 singles, tailing behind Elvis Presley (21) and The Beatles (17). Westlife then kicked off their eighth world tour, "The Love Tour", in Perth, Australia. The group then went on to other Australian cities before moving on to South Africa, the UK and Ireland.

On 5 November 2007, Westlife released their ninth album, Back Home, which contained nine new original songs along with three cover songs. The album debuted at No. 1 on the UK Music Charts and it was also 2007's fifth biggest selling album in the UK. The first single released from the album was a cover of Michael Bublé's "Home", which peaked at No. 3 in the UK. "I'm Already There", not released as a single, managed to chart in the UK based on downloads alone following a performance on an The X Factor episode. On 15 December 2007, they had a two-hour show called The Westlife Show where they performed 10 of their songs, some voted by the fans through online and some from Back Home. It was hosted by Holly Willoughby. This time, Westlife together with Tesco brought out "The Definitive Westlife Quiz" that asked about the whole history about the group. It was participated by thousands of fans worldwide. Months later, "Us Against the World" was announced and released as their second single in UK and Ireland. Before the release of the second single, they embarked on the Back Home Tour on 2008 February 25. This tour marked the first time that the group have travelled and performed to New Zealand, performing four sold-out shows in Auckland, Wellington, New Plymouth and Christchurch. Meanwhile, "Something Right" was released as the second single and "Us Against the World" became the third single in Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Both songs performed well on several music charts.

10 years: Last two studio albums: 2008–11

Clip from their 2008 Back Home concert tour also seen on their 10 Years DVD

To mark their tenth year in music, Westlife staged a special 10 Years of Westlife sold-out concert at the world's thirty-third and Europe's fourth biggest stadium, Croke Park, on 1 June 2008. With a capacity of 82 300, it was the group's biggest show to date. Shayne Ward filled in as a support act for the concert, which Kian described to be of a "pop extravaganza". Shane confirmed that a corresponding live concert DVD will be released. The group announced that they will be on hiatus for a year after their Back Home Tour and that there would not be an album release in 2008 as they would be spending more time on the production of their tenth album. As promised, the group's official website confirmed on 27 September 2008 the release of a DVD on 24 November 2008 entitled 10 Years of Westlife – Live at Croke Park Stadium which went straight to No. 1 on UK, Ireland, South African, Hong Kong and New Zealand Music DVD charts.

As the group ended another successful tour, Louis Walsh announced in the show Xpose that 1 July 2008 is the official start of the longest hiatus of the group so far. He said that it will be a one-year break, from that day up to 1 July 2009. On 13 December 2008, while on a break, Westlife made an unexpected appearance on X Factor Final Performance Night where they performed "Flying Without Wings" with JLS. After the presentation, Shane and Nicky were interviewed on Xtra Factor with Ronan Keating and Stephen Gately of Boyzone. As JLS performed also "I'm Already There", Westlife's version of the song re-entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 63 while a new entry on Ireland Singles Chart at No. 47 due to extensive downloads only. On the last week of January 2009, a DVD entitled The Karaoke Collection was released. It contains some of their music video hits. In 27 February 2009 issue of Herald Ireland, Louis revealed that Simon already picked three new songs which he reckons to be instant hits. Nicky spread the word last 8 March 2009 that Westlife will come back to music charts when they start recording in June 2009 when he received his VIP Style Awards as the Most Stylish Man on X-pose, TV3. On 18 March 2009, they won the Best Irish Pop Act on 2009 Meteor Awards for the ninth consecutive time.

Their tenth album, Where We Are, was released on 30 November 2009 in the UK and peaked at No. 2 on both Irish and UK Albums Chart. The new single "What About Now", was released a few weeks earlier on 23 October 2009, with digital downloads being available the day before. The said single peaked at# 2 on both Irish and UK Singles Chart. Daughtry's original version of the song gained exposure on the audition rounds of The X Factor prior to Westlife's release. They were also part of the Haiti charity single in early 2010, "Everybody Hurts", an R.E.M. cover which was organised by Cowell. The tour in support of this album is called "The Where We Are Tour". The video album for this said tour will be released in DVD and Blu-ray format in 29 November 2010. The eleventh album was recorded and processed with songwriter/producer John Shanks in London and Los Angeles. It was entirely produced by Shanks. On 19 September 2010, the single "Safe" was heard first on X Factor as a snippet; the group later performed the song on the show on 14 November 2010. The single was released on 14 November 2010. It debuted on the UK Singles Chart on 21 November 2010 at No. 10, giving the group their 25th Top 10 single in the United Kingdom. It is also their lowest charting lead single to date in the country. The new album named Gravity was released on a 22 November 2010. It went to No. 1 on Ireland and No. 3 on UK. On March 2011, they started their eleventh major concert tour, Gravity Tour. On this tour marked the first time that the group travelled to Oman, Namibia, Guangzhou and Vietnam for concerts.

Greatest Hits and split: 2011–12

On 14 March 2011, Westlife confirmed that they had left Cowell after 13 years and his record label Syco Music after nine years. The group cited Syco's decision not to release a second single from Gravity as the reason. Byrne impacted another reason of being unloved, "We signed to Simon back in 1998 and he was brilliant, but then came the development of The X Factor and American Idol. Simon became famous himself and his interests went that way rather than on Westlife. We almost felt a little bit unloved with Simon Cowell, if I was to be honest. We had it (full time support) with Simon but he got so busy and would do it at the very last minute and we needed someone who was on it all the time." After going back to RCA Records full-time for a one year album contract, they announced their Greatest Hits album to be released on 21 November 2011. The first and lead single "Lighthouse" will be released on 14 November 2011.

On 17 October 2011, Irish Daily Mail reported that the former bandmate McFadden will reunite with them for a show, An Evening with Westlife, in support of the greatest hits album. Paddy Power added their bets if McFadden will rejoin the group permanently and with the next world tour after the report was out. Egan later denied it and said: "All the rumours about Brian re-joining Westlife are untrue. We have been a 4 piece for too long now. We love Brian but it's not going to be. That includes any TV performances." With a new compilation album coming out, it is highly speculated Westlife will be doing a new greatest hits tour. According to The Mirror, a source close to the band revealed plans for them to play either the Aviva Stadium or another Croke Park gig in mid-2012. They are scheduled to headline ChildLine Concert in Dublin in 12 November 2011 and to have another exclusive gig on O2 Blueroom in also in Dublin on 24 November 2011. in September 2011, Stereoboard.com announced the concert tour for 2012 will start on May that year. But the official site of the band stated: "Despite untrustworthy websites announcing Westlife dates for a 2012 tour, there is no definite tour plan. As soon as there is, the group will make an official announcement. Until then, please disregard any websites claiming they have tickets on sale this Friday." A UK Tour was first officially announced on October 18 with dates confirmed for May 2012 and it was titled as The Greatest Hits Tour or The Farewell Tour. The said tour was have sold-out in minutes. Stereoboard.com added: "After a massive rush, tickets for Westlife's May 2012 tour were snapped-up almost immediately as fans flocked to the Internet to try and get their hands on tickets for the final performances of the legendary Irish boy band." As part of it, ITV commissioned a unique one-off music spectacular will mark Westlife’s final TV appearance as the pop giants take to the stage to sing some of their greatest hits, it will be entitled "Westlife: For the Last Time". Another show entitled "The Westlife Show: Live" to be broadcast from Studio One of London Studios on the same channel on 1 November 2011. Then they will have a live guesting on The Late Late Show later.

On 19 October 2011, Westlife officially announced they were splitting after a Greatest Hits album and a farewell tour. They described the split as an "amicable" one and they want a "well-earned break". Later reports from Daily Record however said there was an "irreparable rift" in the band, but was later denied by a source close to the band saying: "There's no bad blood in the band, they're still great pals. But all good things come to an end and they are all keen to do their own thing." Later, the band also denied it and called the split as a "united decision". A more comprehensive story behind the split was discussed by Daily Mail and Daily Star. A second statement was issued through their official site, saying the fans were continuing to be the best support system. Raidió Teilifís Éireann made a collage of "Westlife - through the years" to mark the special occasion. Keith Duffy said he was surprised to hear of the split. Mayor of Sligo Rosaleen O'Grady, who gave the lads the Freedom of Sligo, was reported to be in shock. While The Irish Times defended the band saying:

Westlife remain one of Ireland’s best-selling musical acts. They set a new chart record for having their first seven singles go to number one and had massive merchandising sales, but to most music critics they had no musical merit whatsoever, specialising as they did in syrupy cover versions targeted at a pre- and young teen market. The boyband genre is one of the most difficult and demanding areas in the music industry, with many casualties who have been unable to keep up with the workload, the clean-cut image and the derision from serious music fans. Within the parameters of the genre, Westlife achieved excellence. Having a 14-year career in boyband circles would be the equivalent of a rock band having a 35-year career.

Fans have already taken to social networks to comment on the decision to break-up; some fans describe themselves as feeling "devastated", "the day the music died." Some media predicted a possible reunion in the future. However, Westlife scuppered that speculation by vowing they would never reunite. People can leave their messages on Twitter by using #WestlifeForever and #Westlife. It trended on Worldwide, Ireland (Dublin), Indonesia (Bandung, Jakarta), Philippines, Singapore, Sweden, New Zealand, and UK (Birmingham, Glasgow, London, Manchester) categories. A live stream Q&A was announced for 28 October 2011 as a thank you to their fans, but was moved to 3 November due to schedule conflicts.

Source: wikipedia