Westlife were originally signed by Simon Cowell and are currently managed by Louis Walsh. They garnered 14 number one singles in the United Kingdom, the third-highest in UK history, tying with Cliff Richard and trailing behind only Elvis Presley and The Beatles. The group has also broken a few top records, including "Music artist with most consecutive number 1's in the UK". It was officially announced by the Official Charts Company that they are the "2nd biggest selling artist" (trailing behind Robbie Williams) and "Biggest selling band of the decade" (beating Coldplay) in UK with 11 million album sales.
On 1 June 2008, Westlife marked their 10th anniversary with a concert in Croke Park, Dublin which saw more than 83,000 fans attending the special occasion. Music Week revealed on their website that Westlife is the official third top touring act within the years 2005–2008, while they were 7th top touring act of 2008.Also in 2008, they were declared as Ireland's ninth-richest celebrities under 30 years old and 13th in general with 36 million euros as a group. In 2009, they dropped as 16th richest Irish with estimated 8 million euros each.
Formation (1998–1999)
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. 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, IOYOU did not meet Cowell's approval for a record deal with BMG, and thus changes were needed. Three members of IOYOU 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, though only in Asia.
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 that year, they won the 'Best New Tour 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" (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 #2 in the UK. Ironically, the album was the biggest chart dropper in the music history of UK, falling from #3 to #37. 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.[9][10] 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 #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 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 #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.[17] 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, the boys 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 #1 in the UK. "Bop Bop Baby" was also released as a single but it peaked at #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 Brian (2002–2004)
The group released their eleventh UK #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 #1 in the UK. The release was followed by the double a side single, "Tonight/Miss You Nights", which debuted at #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 #4 on the UK Charts. Their fourth studio album, Turnaround, was then released in November, earning the group another UK #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 #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, Bryan 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. Bryan'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 #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 – 10 years (2004–2009)
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. 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 2005, Westlife returned with their comeback single, "You Raise Me Up", which was taken from their Face To Face album. On 6 November 2005, both the album and the single were at #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 #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 have 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 #1 single. This made Westlife the third act (along with Cliff Richard) in the UK to have the most #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. Westlife staged their last major concert of 2007 at Bitts Park in Carlisle, England.
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 #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 #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 boys. 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. It peaked at #8 and is the group's lowest charting single to date. 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 traveled 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.
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 boy'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 #1 on UK, Ireland, South African, Hong Kong and New Zealand Music DVD charts.
As the group ended their successful Back Home 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 #63 while a new entry on Ireland Singles Chart at #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.
Where We Are (2009–2010)
Walsh has revealed that after a year's break with their friends and family Westlife will return to hit the charts once more in June when they work on their tenth studio album. Walsh also said that while he met up with Cowell they jointly managed to mastermind Westlife's comeback. At the time three songs had already been chosen which he believes will be big hits when they are released. Filan told the Irish Mirror that they want to make the next album one of their best.
The new album, Where We Are, was released on 30 November 2009 in the UK and peaked at #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 organized 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.
Gravity (2010–present)
The eleventh album was recorded and processed with the Grammy award winning songwriter/producer John Shanks in London and Los Angeles. It will be entirely produced by Shanks. On 19 September 2010, their first 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 said single will be released on 14 November 2010. The new album named Gravity, which was named by a fan, is scheduled for a 22 November 2010 release.Gravity Tour dates for 2011 supporting the upcoming album have also been announced.
Discography
Westlife discography
- Westlife (1999)
- Coast to Coast (2000)
- World of Our Own (2001)
- Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (2002)
- Turnaround (2003)
- Allow Us to Be Frank (2004)
- Face to Face (2005)
- The Love Album (2006)
- Back Home (2007)
- Where We Are (2009)
- Gravity (2010)
Full Name: Kian John Franciss Egan
Birthdate/place: Sligo, April 29th 1980
Birthdate/place: Sligo, April 29th 1980
Full Name: Bryan Nicholas Mc Fadden
Birthdate/place: Dublin, April 12th 1980
Birthdate/place: Dublin, April 12th 1980
Full Name: Nicholas Bernard James Adam Byrne
Birthdate/place: Dublin, October 9th 1978
Birthdate/place: Dublin, October 9th 1978
Name: Shane Steven Filan
Birthdate/place: Sligo, July 5th 1979
Birthdate/place: Sligo, July 5th 1979
Full Name: Mark Michael Patrick Feehily
Birthdate/place: Sligo, 28 Mei 1980
Birthdate/place: Sligo, 28 Mei 1980
On 9 March 2004, just three weeks prior to embarking on their fourth world tour, Bryan McFadden left the group to spend more time with his family and work on solo projects.
Westlife Charts
Westlife around the world: The numbers speak for themselves. Westlife is a true global pop phenomenon.
43 million copies worldwide (10+ million in the UK alone) including...
Best selling band of the decade in the UK (10.14 million albums from 2000-2009). They were the 2nd biggest selling artist of the decade after Robbie Williams.5 million copies of "Westlife" (1999) sold.
12 million copies of "Coast to Coast" (2000) sold.
5 million copies of "World of Our Own" (2001) sold thus far.
Best selling band of the decade in the UK (10.14 million albums from 2000-2009). They were the 2nd biggest selling artist of the decade after Robbie Williams.5 million copies of "Westlife" (1999) sold.
12 million copies of "Coast to Coast" (2000) sold.
5 million copies of "World of Our Own" (2001) sold thus far.
7 consecutive UK #1s (a record).
14 UK #1 smash hits, 1 UK #2 hit, 2 UK #3 hits, 1 UK #5 hit.
14 UK #1 smash hits, 1 UK #2 hit, 2 UK #3 hits, 1 UK #5 hit.
"Westlife"4x platinum in the UK
12x platinum in Ireland
5x platinum in Malaysia
3x platinum in the Philippines
1x platinum in the Middle East
2x platinum in New Zealand, etc. You get the point.
12x platinum in Ireland
5x platinum in Malaysia
3x platinum in the Philippines
1x platinum in the Middle East
2x platinum in New Zealand, etc. You get the point.
Coast to Coast"7x platinum - 2 million copies sold in the UK
This success has been repeated in 25 countries with an astonishing total of 52 platinum awards .
"World of Our Own"
4x platinum in the UK
projected worldwide sales of 10 million.
4x platinum in the UK
projected worldwide sales of 10 million.
Westlife in the US/Canada: Well, Westlife is a global pop group except for this part of one continent called North America, excluding Mexico. Unfortunately, this corner of the world also happens to be the biggest music market in the world.
Westlife made their first and only attempt to break the US market in the summer of 2000. And it was a fairly successful attempt. "Swear it Again" peaked at #20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts. The debut album itself wasn't quite as successful as it didn't make it to the top 100 albums on Billboard. They did not follow up "Swear It Again" with another single release. Westlife have been off and on about plans to try America once again. US fans can only hope that they will give US listeners another shot.
They tried again in the summer of 2002 with "World of Our Own". It peaked at #41 on Radio and Records Pop/CHR airplay charts. However, it did not enter the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. Westlife were to have released the album "World of Our Own" in early October, but have since delayed it twice. It now appears, the album will never be released in the US.
Westlife did travel to Nashville, Tennessee in January 2003 as part of a BBC special where they were transformed into a country music act. They performed an unreleased single "Daytime Friends, Nighttime Loves". Only a few lucky American fans were able to see their performance in Nashville.
Westlife's albums10 albums released!
Seven UK #1, Two UK #2 and One UK #3 albums
Seven UK #1, Two UK #2 and One UK #3 albums
Westlife - #2 UK Album (1999)
Coast to Coast - #1 UK Album (Nov 2000)
World of Our Own - #1 UK Album (Nov 2001)
Unbreakable: The Greatests Hits - #1 UK Album (Nov 2002)
Turnaround - #1 UK album (Nov 2003)
Allow Us to Be Frank - #3 UK album (Nov 2004)
Face to Face - #1 UK album (Oct 31, 2005)
The Love Album - #1 UK album (Nov 20, 2006)
Back Home - #1 UK album (Nov 11, 2007)
Coast to Coast - #1 UK Album (Nov 2000)
World of Our Own - #1 UK Album (Nov 2001)
Unbreakable: The Greatests Hits - #1 UK Album (Nov 2002)
Turnaround - #1 UK album (Nov 2003)
Allow Us to Be Frank - #3 UK album (Nov 2004)
Face to Face - #1 UK album (Oct 31, 2005)
The Love Album - #1 UK album (Nov 20, 2006)
Back Home - #1 UK album (Nov 11, 2007)
Where We Are - #2 UK album (Nov 30, 2009)
Of note, 2008 has been the only year where Westlife did not release an album.
Of note, 2008 has been the only year where Westlife did not release an album.
Westlife's UK #1's (singles) in chronological order
Westlife has had 24 UK top 10 hits...and a whopping 14 UK #1 hits!!!
Westlife (1999-2000)
1. Swear It Again
2. If I Let You Go
3. Flying Without Wings
4. Seasons in the Sun/I Have a Dream (Double A side single)
5. Fool Again
1. Swear It Again
2. If I Let You Go
3. Flying Without Wings
4. Seasons in the Sun/I Have a Dream (Double A side single)
5. Fool Again
Coast to Coast (2000-2001)6. Against All Odds
7. My Love
What Makes a Man - UK #2
8. Uptown Girl
7. My Love
What Makes a Man - UK #2
8. Uptown Girl
World Of Our Own (2001-2002)9. Queen of My Heart (October 2001)10. World of Our Own (Feb 2002)
Bop Bop Baby: May 2002 - UK #5
It is noteworthy to point out that a cover of Westlife's "Evergreen" performed by Will Young broke the UK singles sales record by selling over 1.1 million copies in a single week...and it obviously entered the charts as a UK #1 in Feb 2002.
Bop Bop Baby: May 2002 - UK #5
It is noteworthy to point out that a cover of Westlife's "Evergreen" performed by Will Young broke the UK singles sales record by selling over 1.1 million copies in a single week...and it obviously entered the charts as a UK #1 in Feb 2002.
Unbreakable: The Greatest Hits (2002-2003)
11. Unbreakable (Nov 2002)
Tonight/Miss You Nights: March 2003 - UK #3
11. Unbreakable (Nov 2002)
Tonight/Miss You Nights: March 2003 - UK #3
Turnaround (2003)
Hey Whatever (November 2003) (#4)
12. Mandy - (December 2003) Westlife's 12th #1
Obvious (#3 - March 2004)
Hey Whatever (November 2003) (#4)
12. Mandy - (December 2003) Westlife's 12th #1
Obvious (#3 - March 2004)
Let Us Be Frank (2004)
Face to Face (2005)
13. You Raise Me Up (October 24, 2005) - Westlife's 13th #1
When You Tell Me That You Love Me (Dec 2005) - UK #2
Amazing - UK #4 (Westlife's 20th top 5 UK hit)
13. You Raise Me Up (October 24, 2005) - Westlife's 13th #1
When You Tell Me That You Love Me (Dec 2005) - UK #2
Amazing - UK #4 (Westlife's 20th top 5 UK hit)
The Love Album (2006)
14. The Rose (November 12, 2006) - Westlife's 14th UK #1
14. The Rose (November 12, 2006) - Westlife's 14th UK #1
Back Home (2007)
Home - UK #3 (Westlife's 22nd top 5 hit - Nov 4, 2007)
Us Against the World - UK #8 (Westlife's 23rd top 10 hit - March 9, 2008)
Home - UK #3 (Westlife's 22nd top 5 hit - Nov 4, 2007)
Us Against the World - UK #8 (Westlife's 23rd top 10 hit - March 9, 2008)
Where We Are (2009)
What About Now - UK #2
What About Now - UK #2
Gravity(2010)
Safe-UK #1
