Westlife is an Irish pop band that was formed on July 3, 1998. They were signed on by Simon Cowell and are currently managed by Louis Walsh. Over the years, Westlife's music has evolved from teen pop to an adult contemporary sound, with an emphasis on ballads.
The group's original lineup comprised Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden. Filan and Feehily are the band's lead vocalists. All of the band members are songwriters, although most of their hits have been composed by external writers. They garnered 14 number one singles in the United Kingdom, the third-highest in UK history, tying with Cliff Richard and tailing behind Elvis Presley and The Beatles. The band has also won numerous awards such as the "Best Irish Pop Act" at the annual Ireland Meteor Awards and ITV "Record of the Year" award in the UK. The band has also broken a few top records, including "Music artist with most consecutive number 1's in the UK" and the "Biggest selling arena act in the UK". Westlife have had 14 UK no.1's and were the first act in UK history to have 4 number 1s in a year. Not only that, they were the only band to have no.1's with their first 7 singles. All the rest of their hits have got to the top 10, if not the top 5.
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Louis Walsh speaks up
Louis Walsh went to The Sun explaining why he thought Westlife was the world's greatest band.
"Westlife truly are the people band they appeal to ordinary people, people like you and me. The sort of people who pick up this paper every day. That is the key to their success. It,s people on the street up and down the country who buy their records not the trendy London types who are too snobby to think they are any good. Look at the numbers and they speak for themselves. People go out and buy Westlife records in the shops in their thousands. They not the type of fans who will download them.
And the lads themselves are solid gold. Mark, Nicky, Shane and Kian keep their feet firmly on the ground they don,t try to be anything they are not. They know they are just four guys from Ireland who got lucky and, at the end of the day, they are nice people who don,t forget their roots. Four normal lads in an extraordinary situation who are close, tight, good friends. I think that comes across with people. As a band, they are not in competition with anyone there no one else out there who compares. Take That are similar in terms of being a successful boy band but it,s a different kind of music. In terms of other boybands, they have seen them all come and go.
Westlife have sold 32 million records and they going to go on for ever. It,s all down to hard work. They put records out back to back and they just don,t stop. It means their fans keep coming back for more. They had 14 No1 singles and will try to get 20. They never get good airplay, they cannot get played on Radio 1 for love nor money . . . but it doesn,t matter. They proved you don,t need Radio 1.
Westlife aren,t hip but I think that why many people like them. Like the band, their fans don,t pretend to be something they are not either. Westlife have a huge fanbase. They sold 150,000 tickets for their tour. I love Oasis I bought the new album and I love The Beatles. Westlife are No1 in Ireland this week they beaten U2 there, which has never happened. This is going to be their biggest-selling album in Ireland. They are set to do eight nights at The Point in Dublin next year no one else can do that. As for the tunes, I pick them all including the cheesy ones. I pick them because I love them and it seems a whole load of people out there love them too.
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Irish popstars Westlife play secret gig at Wirral hotel
May 1 2009
Liverpool Daily Post
THEY have topped the charts, sold tens of millions of records and have countless fans but one fan from Wirral, in particular, was in for a treat.
For the 50th birthday party of one lucky fan and guests at an exclusive Wirral hotel, they were entertained by Irish pop band Westlife for a full 45-minute set.
The secret gig had been organised by the wealthy husband as a surprise for his wife at the birthday party at the Hillbark Hotel, in west Wirral.
Around 100 guests were treated to the show in a marquee at the party in the luxury hotel grounds at Royden Park, Frankby.
One of those lucky enough to grab a sneak view said the band had arrived last Saturday afternoon and spent several hours doing sound checks after being jetted in from Ireland.
He said it had been a very intimate performance and, although not a fan himself, had recognised the songs from the band extensive back catalogue.
He said: It was all very hush hush.
They had said they loved doing this kind of gig because it took them back to where they had started out, playing to small but appreciative audiences, and that it made a change from playing to huge stadiums.
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Westlife's Our Story
For the past couple of weeks, the No 1 position in the Non-Fiction Bestsellers chart in Britain has been occupied by the Westlife autobiography. It knocked Jordan's Pushed to the Limit off the top spot, no mean feat. So it's a huge seller, both in Britain and here, whatever any critic might say. But the question remains, is it any good? Well, given that this is billed as Westlife in their own words, the clean-cut quartet are actually quite forthcoming in their revelations. We learn of excess cursing, excess boozing and even one member throwing up in a strategically-placed bucket just before going on stage, so bad was his hangover.
So far, so promising, but the disadvantage of this being an official biography means that Westlife can leave out and leave in exactly what they want to. Hence there are no revelations on groupies or any other very bad behaviour. The old motto of "what happens on the road, stays on the road" obviously prevails here. There is hardly any mention of sex (except when Mark steps gaily out of the closet, new boyfriend Kevin in hand), hardly any drugs (Mark was once offered coke in London's Met Bar but turned it down) and as for rock 'n' roll? Forget it. Written in a chatty, easy style, it moves along swiftly with passages from Nicky, Kian, Mark and Shane.
So just when you're getting bored with one, another comes along with a fresh story about their struggle to get to the toppermost of the poppermost and how to stay there. It kicks off with Kian, Mark and Shane growing up in Sligo and how they were forced to ditch two close childhood pals from the original line-up. But the wailing and gnashing of teeth soon passes. At the same time, Nicky Byrne was back in Dublin cooling his heels after being rejected by Leeds United as a goalkeeper because he failed to gain the required extra few inches in his late teens.
Girlfriend Georgina Ahern heard how Louis Walsh was looking for two new members for a boy band he was putting together. She encouraged him to apply and he got the job, as did fellow Dubliner, Brian McFadden. It's all here in minute detail, just about everything every Westlife fan could want to know, from the birth of Shane and Nicky's babies, to Nicky crying when Mark revealed he was gay to Kian getting slightly carried away when Louis appointed him the contact person in the band and something akin to being their spokesman.
But while Louis guided the boy band to unbelievable fame and fortune, it wasn't without some big bumps and huge hiccups along the way. Kian revealed: "He's quit as our manager on more than one occasion. I remember one of the first times was when we all turned up late for a meeting in Sweden. He told us: 'You were like a bunch of spoilt kids on the plane on the way over. You all arrived down here in dribs and drabs. You don't realise what you have. Your attitude stinks.' We managed to apologise to him, but it was quite a scare."
There was more trouble when Ronan Keating -- then co-managing the band -- told Louis how Westlife had snubbed fans at an airport, refusing to sign autographs. Cue another lecture and threats of resignation by big boss, Louis. But it too was smoothed over and, not surprisingly, Ronan the Snitch was soon no longer involved in co-managing them! Each band member shares a selection of personal photographs from their youth right up to the present day.
After 10 years at the top Westlife have no intentions of calling it a day and are expected to get back together again early in 2009 to begin picking songs for a new album. All four members emerge well from the book, coming across as likeable enough young guys who got extremely lucky -- and know it. Some egos became seriously over-sized as the band's initial success kicked in, but they were soon cut down to size. But, whatever else, they have been well-groomed by Walsh to appreciate what they have and to be nice to the people they've met on the way up. While the book certainly won't win any major prizes for literature, it has been enthusiastically received by fans, knocking Jordan's latest off the top of the best-sellers chart in Britain.
But, for some reason, it hasn't topped the Irish book charts. While it also won't win over any new converts to their rather bland, ballad-based and anodyne music, Westlife -- Our Story is just what the fans ordered to see them through those long, lonely months while the band take a well-deserved break from their always hectic schedule. This one will sell and sell.
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Westlife has confirmed they are to stage a home coming concert at Lissadell House this summer.
The Sligo stars will take to the stage at the historic estate on Friday 30th July as part of a major musical weekend in the North West.
Canadian singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen has already confirmed he will play the venue the following two nights in his only Irish appearances this year.
It"s the first time the historic estate will hold a music concert and thousands of revellers are expected to descend on the region for the three day festival.
Tickets for the two Leonard Cohen dates have already sold out while an official announcement on a sale date for the Westlife concert is due on Monday.
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