Westlife to split in 2012
? boyband Westlife, who have been delighting fans for the past 14 years, have announced they are splitting next year. Following a greatest hits album and a farewell tour, the Irish foursome - Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily ...
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LONDON (AP) After 14 years as one of Ireland's most successful boy bands, Westlife are finally handing in their mics. The pop group members issued a statement announcing their split, saying "the decision is entirely amicable
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Westlife blame 'irreparable rift' as they split after 14 years
Scottish Daily Record - ?Oct 20, 2011?
WESTLIFE announced their split last night after 14 years, with sources blaming an "irreparable rift" in the band. One insider said Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Nicky Byrne and Shane Filan couldn't agree about the future musical direction of the group. ...
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Westlife stopt ermee van onze redactie
AMSTERDAM - Na veertien jaar samen en talloze internationale hits, heeft de Ierse boyband Westlife bekend gemaakt dat ze ermee stoppen.
Bandleden Kian, Mark, Nicky en Shane maakten het nieuws bekend op hun Facebook-pagina. "We maken vandaag bekend dat we uit elkaar gaan na ons Greatest Hits-album en onze tour van volgend jaar. Het besluit is op vriendschappelijke basis genomen", zo schrijven de heren.
"Nadat we het grootste gedeelte van ons volwassen leven met elkaar hebben doorgebracht, zijn we toe aan een welverdiende pauze. Ook willen we graag nieuwe mogelijkheden verkennen. We kijken ernaar uit om onze fans nog een laatste keer te zien."
Westlife begon in 1998 als vijftal. Bandlid Brian McFadden verliet de groep in 2004 om een solocarrière na te jagen.
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Keith Duffy surprised by Westlife Split
Thursday 20 October 2011
Keith Duffy has revealed his surprise at Westlife's split. Speaking with RTÉ TEN, the Boyzone member and Coronation Street star, wondered why Westlife didn't take the same route as his boy band.
"I wasn't surprised by the news but I was surprised by the announcement that they were breaking up," he says.
"These days you can take some time off, do your own thing and then come back and make another album or whatever. So I don't understand why they announced they were splitting."
Duffy knew the band members well: "Westlife started their career on our stage.
"They opened our show for years before they went out on their own. Back in the day they used to come out on stage do a number with me.
"I had a song I used to do with Ronan but then the Westlife lads used to take turns and duet with me when we did a tour of Europe."
So with Westlife's passing does that mean less competition now for Boyzone? "We are dormant at the moment," he added.
"We finished a big tour last April but we'll never break up. We're together forever now, it's only a case of how often we work together. I think the next big thing for Boyzone will be 2013 which marks our 20th anniversary."
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Westlife: We won't reform after our farewell concerts next year
Da end ... Westlife DA LOIFE say they will never return as a band following their farewell tour.
Even if they were offered all the potatoes in Ireland. That's it.
Kian Egan said: "We walked away from a multi-million-pound record deal that would have changed our lives for ever, secured our future beyond anything.
"It's not about the money. We'd have made far more on a new record than we ever would with a comeback tour."
The boyband say there are no hard feelings behind the split.
They're just exhausted from years of recording, touring and plugging their ballads.
Shane Filan said: "We've been doing this for 14 years.
"It had been bubbling for a long time ? there was an intuition that all wasn't happy in the camp. Getting on stage is still amazing but that was the only part of the job we were enjoying."
Mark Feehily added: "The last few years have been very stressful.
"We'd talk through things to the point of tears, being brutally honest with each other.
"We never had physical fights ? we never even had a talking fight about the break-up."
At least fans can take comfort from seeing their heroes on stage as solo stars in the future.
Shane said: "The first person to decide to do a solo record, the other three will all be there.
"Everyone's thought about going solo ? I would love to continue singing for a living."
Kian is the only band member to have a job lined up ? a judge on the Irish version of The Voice.
But in the meantime, they're concentrating all their efforts on the Farewell Tour.
And, to end all the speculation, the lads have made it clear former bandmate Brian McFadden won't be anywhere near it.
Kian said: "We still text him and stuff, but he's not coming back."
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Westlife are doing a very special UStream today, where they will be answering fan questions submitted following the announcement that they are parting ways after 14 years together.
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Westlife were ready for split
Westlife have not started to think about life after the band yet but admit they had been expecting their split for a few years.
Westlife have been preparing for their split "for a few years".
The Irish quartet recently announced they will go their separate ways to the end of a tour next summer but are refusing to think about what will happen after their last concert.
Mark Feehily said: "We're not going anywhere just yet, so I'm not thinking about it. I don't know whether I'm doing it subconsciously or on purpose. But I think we've been preparing for the idea that it's not gonna last forever for a few years now."
Shane Filan added: "It will be kinda weird on the last night of the tour in Dublin next year, as that's when it will be scary. It's like, `What do you do after the concert?' Because that's it! It will be the last time ever! Do you go off for a drink; do you go for a cry? It's one of those weird moments that we haven't experienced, but when we do, I know it will feel like we've been hit by a ton of bricks."
While the band are comfortable with the idea of splitting, their manager Louis Walsh is struggling with their decision.
Mark told Britain's Star magazine: We're worried we'll have to set up a helpline for Louis because he wasn't happy about it at all! He is devastated, genuinely. I saw him the other night and I said, `So how are you feeling?' and he said, `I don't want to talk about it.' He's not there yet. But he understands."
Shane and Mark are joined in Westlife by Kian Egan and Nicky Byrne.
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Westlife interview: 'It's a miracle we've lasted this long'
Published Friday, Nov 25 2011, 17:26 GMT | By Robert Copsey | 10 comments We'll readily admit that we were saddened by the recent news that Westlife are to part ways next year.
To remind us of their career highlights - spanning 14 years and ten albums - the group have handily put out their final Greatest Hits LP this week.
With the retrospective riding high in the charts, we phoned up Nicky Byrne to find out what he plans to do post-split and whether the group are already considering a future reunion.
Is this really the end of Westlife or are you already thinking ahead to your reunion?
"It genuinely is the end! I mean, you can never say never - and it will be nice to see the boys again down the line. We've still got our tour, and we're really looking forward to going out with a bang. Louis [Walsh] wanted us to take a two-year sabbatical and come back to it, but that would have been too watered down for us. We needed to get away from it - we've given it our all during these 14 years."
It doesn't seem like you've ever had much of a break in those 14 years...
"We took four or five months off after our album Allow Us To Be Frank. It was a bad time in the band - Brian [McFadden] had left, we came out with a rat-pack album, the tour didn't do great and we had one album left on our contract. I actually went and did an acting course in New York to prepare me for what might happen next. We came back and recorded what we all thought might be our last hurrah - songs like 'You Raise Me Up' - and it ended up being huge, so we stuck with it a while longer. It's a miracle and a blessing that we lasted 14 years."
What do you think the secret is to a long-lasting boyband?
"There's no one-line answer to that, but one of the huge things that helps is being really honest with each other from the beginning. If someone was offered a solo deal, the rest of us would want to know about it because it affects our lives too. We all kept our cards on the table as much as we could. I think we were also blessed have Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh, who were a great team at the time we got them. The late '90s were also a great time to launch in the music industry."
What is Louis going to do now? He also threatened to leave The X Factor...
"He's been in the music industry for a long time - he'll be fine! There's life in the old dog yet. He's worked with Boyzone, Jedward, Girls Aloud and JLS for a short time. There's still room for him to do something again. What's going on with the panel on this year's show is not brilliant. There's no man better that Simon for sorting it out - I wouldn't be surprised if we see Simon, Louis, Cheryl and Dannii back year."
What are your plans after your farewell tour?
"I think TV and radio is something I really enjoy, and I've been dipping my toes into both over the years. I presented on BBC Radio 2 last week, which really gave me a buzz. It would be great to have a role like Ryan Seacrest. It's great to be able to have those discussions now without feeling guilty."
You've always had a hard time from critics; were you keen to go out on a high?
"We've had a lot of stick, but we've always been able to laugh at it. I've been on Digital Spy many times and laughed my tits off and things people are saying. We're obviously not going to be everybody's cup of tea, but you have to take it on the chin. When we first started we auditioned as if we were going to be the new Backstreet Boys, but Simon and Louis obviously saw a niche in the market and marketed us very differently.
People have often referred to you as a stool band...
"People joke about us being a stool band who always stood up for the big key change. Truth is, we were just as embarrassed by it! One thing no-one could take away from us was that we always sang the songs well. I understood why the average person thought we were a band who sang covers and sat on stools - we got that - but our fans who bought the albums and came to the shows would always see a lot more."
Is it true you were all big party-goers too?
"I never understood the whole boring side of Westlife. Maybe people thought that after seeing us on TV, but we were always having a laugh away from that. We recorded songs with some of the best artists in the world - I remember one amazing night out we had with the Backstreet Boys in Sweden. A lot of that stuff never got in the press, which in many ways was a good thing - we saw other boybands getting a hard time being photographed coming out of clubs. It was kind of cooler not to be there - you don't see the bigger artists going about town, do you?
"At the end of the day, we're a pop band, and at 32 years old we thought there had to be more out there than this. We're not a new face walking through the door anymore - we've been that, and it was amazing. We could have taken the money and stayed together for a few more years, but we all thought it was time to see what else is out there."
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Westlife: 'Greatest Hits' - Album review
Released on Monday, Nov 21 2011
Published Wednesday, Nov 23 2011, 12:52 GMT | By Robert Copsey After 13 years, ten studio albums and 31 singles, the question most people were asking when Westlife announced their split last month was how they managed to make it this long in an industry where you're the equivalent of day-old bread after your debut album. Our guess? Their dependability against an ever-changing pop landscape.
Sure, the line of progression between their 1999 debut 'Swear It Again' and most recent single 'Lighthouse' is near-horizontal, but to their credit it also means they've had relatively few slip-ups in their expansive career. As such, we'll (happily) allow them to whitewash over 2004's big band covers record Allow Us to be Frank, which, despite its double platinum status, fails to get a single mention here.
While the retrospective features their most memorable cuts - including chart-toppers 'Flying Without Wings', 'Uptown Girl', 'Mandy' and 'You Raise Me Up' - there are still a number of notable omissions. Even today, 'Fool Again' remains one of their most recognisable hits, while Europe-only single 'When You're Looking Like That' from 2000's Coast to Coast proved they could handle uptempos if they put their minds to it.
Even more frustrating is that after all the swooshing strings, dramatic key changes and carefully-selected covers, the three new cuts tacked on the end - 'Beautiful World' in particular - point to what could have been an interesting new direction for the band, should their record label have permitted it. Their decision to call time now means they probably wouldn't, and
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Westlife - The Ultimate Boyband? (Westlife Feature)
Monday, 28 November 2011 Written by Heather McDaid
There are two key kinds of boybands in circulation today. First, we have the new breed; the One Directions and Wanteds of the music world with fresh young guys set to steal many a girls heart with their baby faces or ridiculously good looks. Then, there are the comeback kings - Take That, Backstreet Boys, we could go on. Given the gift of time, theyve formulated their return to the music world, set to recapture the hearts of their old legions of fans and become bigger and better than ever.
For boybands, there is nothing rarer than longevity; few have had a long spanning career without an enormous bust-up, hiatus, or break-up preceding a comeback years later that seems nothing more than a desperate cling to the music industry. So, imagine the sadness that swept the UK music scene when Westlife, the veterans and ultimate success story under the veil of the boyband, announced that they are to disband in 2012.
While theyve given the world time to adjust to next year being the last chance to catch Westlife together, well take a run through the ultimate boybands history, and consider what the music industry will be like without them to keep a solid stance in the mainstream?
Formed in 1998, the band hit their first big break as the openers for Boyzone and the Backstreet Boys' shows in Dublin that very year. In early 1999, their first single 'Swear It Again' topped both the Irish and UK charts. The band remain the only act in both Irish and British history to have their first seven singles hit the number one spot. What Makes A Man would have been their eight consecutive number one single, but the band found themselves ultimately defeated by Bob The Builders Can We Fix It in December 2000.
Rumours of a split were rife in 2002 following the release of their greatest hits record, Unbreakable. The closest the band truly came to a split was in 2004 as Brian McFadden parted ways with Westlife to dedicate more time to his family and solo career. While his first single Real To Me peaked at number one, his success from then on in was relatively middle of the road.
While I admit, back in the day I used to have a little crush on Shane (a McDonalds M hair style and tank tops seemed to be what I thought was cool at 9 years old), there was no better move for Westlife than when they released Allow Us To Be Frank, a Rat-Pack inspired record. While many bands have taken time away and suited up for their return, Westlife took it as a turning point in their career. This period still remains the personal favourite.
Since then, the band have seamlessly continued their road of success with more number ones finally hitting the top spot on both the single and album charts consecutively and performing to bigger and better crowds. In celebration of their decade together, the band performed in Croke Park to their biggest crowd to date: over 82,000.
Earlier this year, the band ended their professional relationship with Simon Cowell; perhaps fuelling their decision to leave the industry without dispute. Finding that Simons interests were more focussed on his media empire, i.e X Factor, American Idol, etc, they found themselves almost unloved by their mentor and seeking a new path outside of SyCo Music.
The announcement of this split has left many devastated, even calling 19th October 2011 the day the music died. Weve still got a while to adjust to life without Westlife, but who, really, can step up to the musical plate?
According to Westlife: no one. Well, theyre not as brash as that, but they have their fair comments and criticism on the music industry they are set to leave behind in a recent interview with Muzu.tv.
I think it's gotten too cool; that's my honest opinion on music right now. Sometimes I think great songs get lost because of that. I think the variation of music young people are listening to now is just the same thing with a different melody. I just think it's got very samey samey, noted Kian, who also said people are making music for radio instead of making music.
Mark also adds, "I agree that the whole singer on top of a dance song is definitely wearing off a lot. It spoils the good ones. I actually really enjoy the movement that's happening at the moment. He then goes on to compliment the likes of Ed Sheeran. There's definitely a gap for some big mainstream pop act. There's no new Britney. Rihanna and Lady Gaga have definitely gone much more edgy."
This segment of the interview is the most telling, and theyre completely right in their notes. Suggesting that Westlife maintained their success by sticking to what they know and love instead of following trends, the duo solidify the detriment on the industry by everyone aiming for the same sound.
The main artist that merited praise from the duo was Adele, with Mark saying she appeared during Lady Gaga overload. As the world flocked to follow the trends of dance, raunchiness and overzealous production, Adele appeared with just her piano and her voice. In the same way that Westlife rest their success on their refusal to follow trends, Adele is following a similar suit.
Not that were suggesting Lady Gaga and Rihanna arent successful; that would just be ridiculous. But theres something frankly wonderful about an artist who can capture the worlds attention with simple songs about heartbreak without being renowned for flashing flesh or opting for strange attire. Frankly, like Westlife, Adele is famed for her music: pure and simple.
Of the boybands today, its hard to suggest who will follow in their footsteps. Can we really look at the new sensations like One Direction and picture them together around 15 years down the line? Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows what life holds? Thats the beauty of it. There are constant revolutions in music; its entirely unpredictable. Successful or not, we doubt anyone will outdo the legacy of Westlife and their music.
They've collaborated both live and in the studio with Mariah Carey, Lulu, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie to name but a few of a very, very long list. Pitching their dream duets with Beyonce and Christina Aguilera, we'd like to suggest that being a part of their final run of shows. So, Beyonce - if you're reading this....
They've won so many awards it's seemingly not worth listing them all. Their extensive repertoire includes numerous Meteor Awards, Smash Hits Awards, Brit Awards as well as winning the Best UK and Ireland Act at the 2000 MTV EMAs. As for the records they've broken, well...
They are the fourth biggest selling pop band of all time, only beaten by the Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block and N*Sync. They are also the sixth biggest selling boyband of all time with over 44 million records sold; quite a feat for a band who never managed to break America. Their self-titled album has the most #1 hits from one record in the UK, they had 14 number ones between 1999 and 2006, they were both the biggest selling band in the UK between 2000 and 2009. They have the highest single leap with 'Mandy', which jumped from #200 to #1... Their achievements could rack up a feature on their own.
Westlife will collectively leave behind quite the legacy and Id go as far to suggest that the reason theyll be missed is that they were just plain good without overtly striving to be. They were never in your face, never outspoken for the sake of press, they never took a ridiculous risk by dabbling with the trends of any given time; they were just wholeheartedly good and devoted to what they wanted to do.
The way they are ending this career is a testament to this legacy. If any band deserved to quietly take time for themselves after years of dedication to music and touring, then its them. Amicably parting ways next year, they not only give fans the option of time to adjust but they are leaving on their terms and on a high. We all know that Westlife could keep on going for years; their entire farewell tour sold out in minutes.
It seems just yesterday that Westlife were flying without wings, and while it will be sad to see them go theyve packed enough into well over a decade in the industry for fans to look back on. Added to that, theyll be saying their final farewells in a string of dates that will inevitably be the end of a very important chapter in the British music industry.
So Mark, Shane, Kian and Nicky; enjoy having some time to yourself. If you ever want to do a comeback tour somewhere down the line, Im rather certain youll be welcomed back with millions of open arms.
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and Shane Filan
WESTLIFE have revealed that they decided to call it a day because "it wasn't special any more."
The Irish boyband are due to go their own ways after a farewell tour this summer and despite their sadness, they are still sure they made the right decision to split.
After 14 years together, Shane Filan admitted that the boys weren't enjoying it as much as they used to.
It felt like it wasnt special any more, not like it used to be. For the fans its slightly different but for us its been like, Are we getting better? Are we getting worse? Are we getting to the stage where we arent enjoying it? It is half our life."
Shane also reckons there won't be a dry eye on stage when they finally finish.
"None of us want to let it go and all of us will be crying come June [when the tour ends], but its time.
Despite only announcing the news in October, Kian Egan revealed that the 'Flying Without Wings' hitmakers have known for some while that they wanted to call it a day.
I shouldnt say it but before we went on tour to Asia, we knew what was going to happen. We knew it was our last tour in Asia and when we came back we were going to release the news, so Asias probably the best trip weve had in years!
"It was like going away with your four mates on the p**s. It was a fairytale moment.
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