Kian Egan said he wants Westlife fans to remember the good times










IT'S going to be an emotional rollercoaster.

But Westlife's Kian Egan says fans left devastated over their split should try and focus on how amazing their 14-year career has been.

Speaking in our exclusive interview, the heartthrob told us they want fans to walk away from their 2012 tour with "happy memories," and not in floods of tears.

"[We want the tour to give fans] happy memories," he told us.

"If a fan is that devastated that we've broken up, then it means they've been there from the start and it will be as devastating for them as it is for us.

"But don't look back on the last 14 years as if they haven't existed, look back on the last 14 years for how great they've been.

"It's been an amazing time," he said. "[But] not everything lasts forever. Take the positive don't take the negative. That's what we're trying to do."

And it seems he and the rest of the boys - including Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan - are going ALL out to give their fans the best-ever farewell tour imaginable.

"[Fans should] look forward to every hit," Kian told us. "And expect the best show we've ever done.

"You'll see four guys on that stage with so much passion, so much love for what we do and for the fans, who've given us what they've given us. We want to give amazing things."

Westlife's Shane Filan: Louis Walsh was behind fake stories about us

Westlife singer Shane Filan, 32, talks to Metro about why the band decided to split, the worst gig they've ever played and why he suspects Louis Walsh was behind some of the group's most ridiculous stories.

Westlife's Shane Filan reveals why the band decided to break up
..Why did you decide to split up?

It?s been 14 years as a band, the Greatest Hits (album) was coming up, we?ve been talking about it for a year and thought it was better to end it on a high. The tour should be massive and it?s better we were honest with the fans now rather than tell them when the tour finishes.


Was it a difficult decision?

Yes, it was a massive thing. We?ve been in the band for half our lives. It?s given us the life we have and meant we can provide for our families. We could keep it going if we wanted to but every year we enjoyed it less and less, the past three years especially.


What bits weren?t you enjoying?

Just keeping it going. Making new albums, trying to get things to a level we wanted to be at. We haven?t had any bad years but we weren?t getting any better or bigger.


What will you miss the most?

The live performances. The adrenaline of performing on stage to a crowd ? there?s nothing like it.


What have been the highlights?

Playing our national stadium, Croke Park, in 2008 and we?ll be doing it again for two nights next year. Our first night there sold out in four minutes.


You?re renowned for sitting on stools singing ballads ? were you a fan of the music you were making?

When we started, we wanted to be like the Backstreet Boys but Simon Cowell was adamant we had to be different and there weren?t any other bands singing ballads. We had seven ballads in a row before we released Uptown Girl. They were going to No.1, so people liked it. Songs such as Flying Without Wings and Swear It Again are hard to come by. We?ve made 12 albums in 14 years and finding those songs every year was getting harder.


Were you frustrated with the material you were given?

Not at the start but towards the middle, we were being given lots of covers. We were striving to get the original songs but they weren?t there like they used to be. Our fans liked us doing covers so there?s no point knocking it.


What?s the worst gig you?ve done?

A gig in Germany around six years ago. It was 5,000 capacity and 500 people turned up. I was like: ?We?re not that big in Germany, are we lads?? We concentrated more on northern Europe and Britain after that. We still sell 100,000 albums there but to be big there you need to sell a million.


What lessons has the music industry taught you?

It?s very cut-throat. You?re only as good as your last album. You need to work hard, keep your head down and don?t lose your focus ? we could have easily lost the plot but we didn?t. If you have the songs, you?ll have a big career. If you don?t, you won?t.


What?s the most ridiculous story your manager, Louis Walsh, placed in the press about you?

Louis will deny to the last he?s had anything to do with any of those stories but I suspect he did. There was one that I?d broken my back and was in a wheelchair ? that was on the front page of one tabloid. The reality was I?d fallen off stage in Asia on to a drum kit. I?d hurt myself but that became exaggerated a bit. There was one that Kian was chased by lion. I think that came from us going on a safari in Africa and a lion came up to the van ? we were covered by a cage ? and growled at us. If a lion had chased Kian it would have eaten him. You just have to laugh at it.


Does Westlife have a typical fan?

The record company did a survey to find out who our demographic is and it turns out most of our fans are aged 44 to 64. We thought it was around the thirties. We were quite surprised but when you go to our shows you see we have older fans, which might be why we?ve been around for so long. They?re not teenagers who?ll grow out of us. It was mothers bringing their kids rather than kids bringing their mothers.


What?s the audience like?

Great ? there?s lots of hen parties, ten women in a row wearing wigs and having fun. Performing is the best part of the job. We walk over on the frames and are ten feet from the fans, and they?re 50 years old, pulling their tops down, screaming like teenagers. Maybe it makes them feel like teeny-boppers again.


What?s been your most extravagant purchase?

A four-seater helicopter. I used it for a year-and-a-half before I had children. I didn?t like taking my daughter in it so I sold it. It was pretty cool to have it for a while. I?ve been through the cars. Me, Nicky and Brian went out and bought Ferraris one day. I bought a black 550 Maranello. We were only 23. It was one of the best days of my life.


What plans have you got for after the band split up?


I?d like to keep singing ? whether that?s small or big. To stop singing for a living would break my heart. I?m not rushing into anything. Hopefully I?ll have something sorted out when the tour finishes.

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Westlife star Mark Feehily looks to solo future as band call it quits


2012 may or may not bring about the end of civilisation, as predicted by the ancient Mayan calendar.

However, it’s absolutely certain the summer will see the end of an era for one of Ireland’s most popular musical exports of all time, when Westlife call it a day.

The foursome – since Brian McFadden departed – find themselves contemplating life outside the band that’s taken them around the world for 14 years.

Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, Shane Filan and Nicky Byrne have no idea which of them will go on to be solo superstars, and which – if any – will fade into obscurity, happily or otherwise.

Mark said: “I don’t think anybody could have predicted Cheryl Cole would have the most successful solo career out of Girls Aloud.

“It’s only when we all go off and make music that it will be a bit more apparent who will be successful or not.”

Mark is the guy most would put their money on. With one of the strongest voices in the band, striking looks, a likeable nature and having already written some of the material on previous albums, he appears to have a head start.

He admitted he’s keen to carve out a name for himself once the band finally stops performing, following a greatest hits tour in the summer.

He said: “I’ve been creative since I was 13 and recently I’ve been applying it a bit more. I’ve written thousands of songs but they are hidden away on a hard drive.

“In the last few years I opened up a bit more about them and presented a demo to Westlife.

“They were immediately recorded and the boys put some tracks on the Where We Are album.

“Our last album has four new tracks on it and I have written the last song we will release, Beautiful World.”

Mark, 31, is determined to continue with a musical career once he and his bandmates part ways.

He explained: “I’m a singer and will always want to make music. I didn’t want Westlife to end so I could make a solo record, but it is something I will do now.

“I’ve got a million ideas, a very creative brain. In order to be happy in life I’m going to have to create.”

Of course, Westlife are not the first boyband to split up, and the road ahead can be tough for members flying solo.

Having witnessed the hardships endured by members of East 17 and 5ive, after failing to relight the fires of success, Mark is determined that he and each of his bandmates are not headed for oblivion.

He asserted: “We’re all very driven people. If anything, we are more now that we have to push ourselves individually.

“Some people run off to the distance and you never see them again.

“They have a big stint at the top and then you see some random picture of them with a two-foot beard living in obscurity.

“We are more driven than ever. We are all just over the age of 30 now. A lot of people speak to us as though we are already dead but we are just moving on from Westlife.

“Each of us, hopefully, will have beautiful, flowery careers ahead.”

Most of his bandmates are champing at the bit to try their hand at new adventures but Mark admits Kian may take more time than others to readjust.

He explained: “The only person who wants to go off and completely get away and relax is Kian.

“He’s already a coach on The Voice in Ireland and he has just had a kid. Part of him wants to completely get away, step away from the business and enjoy his child.

“We took a year off three years ago and it was horrible for Kian because he suffered a terrible misfortune during that time.

“His dad passed away, which put a dark cloud over the year for him.

“He wasn’t able to relax and do a bit of soul searching like the rest of us.

“I think he’ll definitely relax and go away for a while, but Kian is also very driven.”

Making the final decision to split was not easy for anyone but it came after months of rumours about the band.

Mark is keen to reassure Westlife fans that there was never any animosity among them.

He said: “That is something we are stressing a lot.

“There was no incident or episode where someone said: ‘That’s it. I’m f***ing out of here’.

“There was no sensational moment. It’s something that manifested over years. It was more an idea of calling it a day and moving on to new adventures for all of us.

“Everyone’s mind was eventually on the same page.

“We’ve had an amazing 14 years but it’s time for something new. We didn’t want it to dwindle away and for the magic to have gone from it.

“The tour we are about to do, our farewell tour, is the biggest tour we’ll have ever done in our career.

“We are going out on top, not staying around like an unwanted guest at the end of the party.”

As Mark insisted that the boys’ plans to split are not a publicity stunt, quashing hopes that they have secret plans for a big reunion three years down the line, he revealed a new string to his bow.

Though his secret new project is still in its infancy, the excitement in his voice was clear.

He enthused: “I’ve been asked to write a musical by an amazing person in London.

“It’s somebody I really admire and it’s to do something like Boy George’s Taboo musical, which he wrote about 20 years ago. It’s an updated newer version and it’s not completely commercial mainstream – a jazz hands musical like Grease – but a bit more off the centre with a mixture of indie, pop music and Broadway.

“That’s always been something I’ve been interested in and I’m flattered that I’ve been asked to be involved with some people I really admire. But nothing exists yet.

“It’s all just talk but it’s very exciting to even be talking about it.”

Before anything can be done, however, the boys will lay to rest their collective status, their career together culminating in a farewell tour that will see them play 90 dates in the UK and Ireland.

Mark’s eyes twinkled, partly in sadness, part in excitement, as he added: “It’s going to be a sad day, but it’s also a celebration of 14 years together and 14 years of touring.

“It’s not all doom and gloom.

“We want to have fun and Scotland has an absolutely electric crowd who always scream very well.”

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Westlife singer Mark Feehily splits from boyfriend Kevin McDaid after seven years

Westlife star Mark Feehily announced today that he and partner Kevin McDaid have split after seven years together.
The singer, 31, took to Twitter today to reveal the news to fans, calling their time together 'amazing.'

He wrote: 'Sadly, Kevin & I are no longer together. We've had an amazin 7 yrs & are both so thankful for the love & support u have shown us from the start.
Split: Westlife star Mark Feehily and his boyfriend Kevin McDaid have announced that they have broken up
'We won't be answering any questions about this as its a very private matter. Thanks in advance for understanding that. Lots of love, Mx.'

 

 

Westlife's Feehily and partner split

The family of Westlife's Mark Feehily were said yesterday to be devastated by the split between the singer and his fiance, Kevin McDaid.




"It's all off and it's such a pity because Mark's family really liked Kevin," a family friend in Sligo told the Sunday Independent yesterday. "They thought he was a nice chap who was very good for Mark."

Another source said the family were "deeply disappointed" as they were "incredibly fond" of Kevin.

It was to have been the showbusiness wedding of 2012, but instead, the couple went their separate ways over the Christmas holidays after seven years together. And yesterday there were unconfirmed reports that Mark has met someone new since the break-up -- an Englishman who was described as "very nice, very mannerly and of independent means".

But a spokesperson for Mark Feehily denied that the singer was involved with anyone new or that anyone else had been involved in the break-up.

The 31-year-old pop star had been engaged to Mr McDaid, 27, for nearly two years after popping the question on their fifth anniversary as a couple. But this weekend, friends close to Westlife comfirmed: "It's all off".

Although an official spokesperson denied that Mark was seeing someone new, a source has said the singer is now being linked to "a very well-to-do guy" living in the UK.

After Mr Feehily discovered that this newspaper was to run the story, he released an official statement on Twitter yesterday evening, telling fans: "Sadly, Kevin and I are no longer together. We've had an amazing seven years and are both so thankful for the love and support you have shown us from the start."

The sensational news will shock Westlife fans, who were looking forward to the lavish showbiz wedding of 2012.

The split is a major shock for close friends of the handsome singer, who recently spoke about how he planned to get married to his long-term love "as soon as possible".

As recently as November, the loved-up singer had said: "It will definitely be next year. We want to do it as soon as we possibly can."

But this weekend a source confirmed the split while another friend close to Mark's family explained that the news was well known locally, saying: "People know back in his home town of Sligo.."

A source close to the singer explained: "Nobody likes going through something like this in the public eye. They are trying to keep it quiet and deal with it in their own way but it's all off. It's heartbreaking, it's upsetting, but that's the way these things go sometimes, unfortunately."

In recent days, Kevin deleted his Twitter account and has been keeping a low profile to deal with the heartbreak.

Speaking in recent weeks, Mark had explained why the pair had yet to pick a date for their big day.

"We've been so committed to Westlife that while we've had big gaps when we're not working, you have to plan so far in advance for a wedding."

Last year, the singer also revealed how he wanted to become a father some day by adopting a child with his partner. Speaking to reporters at the time, the Sligo-born singer said: "I'd like to think I'd be a good dad. It's the dream for me that surpasses everything else, to nurture and to bring up a kid and try and teach them all the right things."

The couple first laid eyes on each other backstage at the Cheerios Childline Concert in 2005 when Westlife and V, which Kevin used to be a member of, both performed at the event. Mark had been dating Kevin ever since he announced in 2005 that he was gay. At the time, he said: "I'm gay and I'm very proud of who I am. I'm not asking for sympathy, or to be a role model to anyone else."

Speaking at the time about the happiness he had found with Kevin, he said: "I've found someone who is a real companion. It does get lonely being on the road with the band sometimes and I'm very happy now. I'm in a relationship with someone who makes me laugh."