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Westlife's Biography

The Westlife story really began way back in December 1996 when the three original members of Westlife were performing in a local production of the musical 'Grease'. Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily were all born and bred in Sligo, a small town a few hours west of the Republic of Ireland's capital city, Dublin. During breaks the three would get together and sing covers of some of their favourite songs including Boyz II Men's 'I Make Love To You'. The reaction to their singing was so positive that they decided to form a band as soon as they had finished their exams at school. This they duly did and on July 3 1997 they formed I.O.U.

The boys organised concerts in the area and even produced their own CDs to sell locally. This local success led to an appearance on TV that was to prove extremely important. Among the viewers who saw the trio perform in a children's hospital was Boyzone's manager, Louis Walsh. Soon after Shane's mother contacted him about I.O.U. and found he had been desperately trying to get in contact with them. His first success with the Sligo boys was to land them the support slot with the Backstreet Boys at their concerts in Dublin on March 16 and 17 1998.

The concerts were an enormous success but something was still missing. Louis Walsh decided to hold auditions to recruit two new members in June of 1998. This is when Nicky Byrne and Bryan McFadden, two Dublin boys and friends entered the picture. A quick name change and Westside was born. Yes, WESTSIDE. This was to be the quintet's name until they discovered another band already using the name and a final change to Westlife was called for. The final link in the chain was Ronan Keating, Boyzone's lead singer, who at Louis Walsh's request joined him to help and nurture this raw talent. His experience proved an invaluable help.

 The next step was to secure a record deal. The band organised a showcase in Dublin and soon representatives of every major record label were offering the bewildered boys contracts. In October 1998 Westlife signed to RCA, a label that had a proven track record with the successful marketing of both Take That and 5ive.

Barely had the ink on the contract dried when they headed out on tour as part of the Smash Hits Show, which led to them winning the Best New Tour Act in December 1998 (this was an award Boyzone themselves had one in 1994 which seemed like a pretty good omen). Their connection to Boyzone continued when Ronan offered them the support slot on the next Boyzone tour. Every night Ronan would disguise himself and watch the lands in action before returning to their dressing room to offer his comments and advice on improving their performance even further.

Styled by Kenny Ho, who was responsible for The Spice Girls image, Westlife's first single 'Swear It Again' was released in March 1999. In their native Ireland it went straight to number one and became the biggest selling debut single in the history of the Irish charts. A month later 'Swear It Again' repeated the feat in the UK, staying at number one for two weeks and following on from Boyzone and B*Witched's dominance of the UK top spot. This success was soon matched all around Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

In the UK Westlife made chart history when the following five singles all matched 'Swear It Again' and shot straight to the top.
'If I Let You Go' and 'Flying Without Wings' were followed by their debut album 'Westlife' which also shot straight to the top of the charts and the Christmas number one double A-side 'I Have A Dream'/'Seasons In The Sun'. A re-mixed version of 'Fool Again' became their fifth number one single in April 2000.

With all this success in Europe it was time for the boys to look further afield. Trips to the USA and the Far East consolidated their success. 'Swear It Again' soon became a huge hit for them in the States but the relentless promotional schedule took its toll on Bryan McFadden who suffered nervous exhaustion and had to miss some shows while recuperating back in Ireland with his family.

In September 2000 Westlife released their long-awaited duet with Mariah Carey - a cover of Phil Collins' 'Against All Odds'. This was their sixth UK number one and hot on its heels came their seventh chart-topper in October with the release of 'My Love' along with their second number one album 'Coast To Coast'.

This incredible run of number ones came to an end in December when 'What Makes A Man' only made number two - it was kept off the top spot by children's favorite Bob the Builder and his novelty hit 'Can We Fix It?'. Any disappointment however was more than made up for with the awards that they won in the same month. 1.5 million viewers of the UK's ITV channel voted 'My Love' Record of the Year ahead of other nominees All Saints, Robbie Williams and Craig David. At the Smash Hits Awards they walked off with an amazing four awards - Best Band In The Universe, Best Non-British Band, Best Single, Best Album. Shane additionally won Most Fanciable Male and Kian won Best Haircut!

Anyone thinking it was the end of Westlife's number one singles was very wrong. Their eighth chart-topper came along in March of 2001 when 'Uptown Girl' (a cover of the Billy Joel song) hit the top. The video featured an appearance by the German supermodel Claudia Schiffer, which helped the single become an enormous hit throughout Europe. The single was released to benefit the charity Comic Relief which helps fight poverty and promote social justice throughout the UK, Ireland and Africa.

In just three years Westlife have sold over 10 million copies of their first two albums. This success has been not only in Europe but also in the Far East. 'Coast To Coast' for example has sold a staggering amount and been certified multi-platinum in the likes of Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia. In Indonesia alone it has sold 1 million copies to become the top-selling record ever by an international pop group! The band's Far East visit has been so eagerly awaited and fans so eager to get as close as possible to their idols that there have been a number of potentially dangerous situations between local police and security guards as well as reporters and photographers and Westlife's own bodyguards.

Westlife have also recently recorded two songs in Spanish in an attempt to tap into the enormous Hispanic market. Spanish versions of 'I Lay My Love On You' ('En Ti Deje Mi Amor') and 'When You're Looking Like That' ('Con Lo Bien Que Te Ves') are included on a special version of 'Coast To Coast' for Latin American territories.

Looking further ahead Westlife are set to smash even more records when they play a record-breaking 15 nights at Dublin's Point Theatre at the end of the year.