Westlife: Everything you need to know
Take a trip down memory lane!
Last updated 22nd Apr 2020
From breakups and reunions to the best Westlife songs and which of the boys are married, we've found the answers to all your burning questions. Even if you're a lifelong fan and have all the Westlife tour t-shirts, we bet you find out something you didn't know.
Are Westlife Irish?
Of course they are! Westlife's Shane, Nicky, Brian, Mark and Kian are proud Irishmen.
How did Westlife start?
The original Westlife were considered to be a six piece band consisting of Kian, Mark, Shane and their friends Derrick, Graham and Michael who all performed in a version of Grease in Sligo. The six of them started a pop band called Six Of One, later changing their name to IOYOU. The group were brought to the attention of Louis Walsh but failed to sign to BMG records where boss Simon Cowell told Louis that he'd have to "fire at least three of them".
As a result, Louis Walsh let Derrick, Graham and Michael go and held auditions to find replacements which is where Nicky Byran and Brian McFadden were found. Westlife were formed but were initially called Westside before having to change it because a band already had that name.
Are Westlife a Christian band?
Westlife are not a Christian band, although many find peace in their songs.
What was Westlife's first single?
"Swear It Again" was Westlife's first single; the track reached number one in the UK and Ireland and became the biggest selling single in week one by a debut artist. Westlife followed up with "If I Let You Go" and "Flying Without Wings" soon after, breaking records and performing to billions of people around the world on tours and TV.
WATCH: Westlife "Swear It Again" music video
What are the best Westlife songs?
With a catalogue as huge as Westlife's, it's pretty hard to pick the best Westlife songs. Classic Westlife tracks include "Better Man", their version of "You Raise Me Up", cover "Uptown Girl", "World Of Our Own" and "Flying Without Wings".
Westlife are also a highly popular karaoke song choice! "Mandy", "Seasons In The Sun", "Unbreakable", "What Makes A Man" and "When You're Looking Like That" can always be trusted to entertain.
WATCH: Westlife "Uptown Girl" music video
Are Westlife touring in 2020?
Sadly, the Westlife 2020 tour has been cancelled, having originally been announced for June to September. The tour was called "All The Hits", and the boys released a statement in April 2020 to explain.
Westlife were set to play the following dates in 2020:
17th June: Scarborough Open Air Festival, Scarborough
19th June: Carrow Road, Norwich
20th June: York Festival, York
21st June: The Weston Homes Stadium, Peterborough
26th June: Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff
27th June: The Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk
28th June: Caledonian Stadium, Inverness
1st July: Lytham Green, Lytham St Annes
3rd July: The Ageas Bowl, Southampton
4th July: Home Stadium, Plymouth
5th July: Stadium Zipworld, Colwyn Bay
10th July: Hull College Craven Park Stadium, Hull
11th July: Castle Park, Colchester
12th July: Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester
16th July: Fischer County Ground, Leicester
17th July: The Spitfire Ground, Kent
18th July: Emirates Riverside, Durham
22nd August: Wembley Stadium, London
28th September: Pairc Ui Chaomih GAA, Cork
29th September: Pairc Ui Chaomih GAA, Cork
Who were the support acts for the Westlife 2020 tour?
James Morrison and All Saints were supposed to be supporting Westlife on their Wembley date in August. Emilie Sande was set to be playing the Cork dates.
Why did Bryan McFadden leave Westlife?
Brian McFadden left Westlife in 2004 to focus on his family, at the time Brian was married to former Atomic Kitten star Kerry Katona and had two young children.
Just days before the band were due to embark on a world tour, Brian announced he was leaving and the tour continued without him. To mark his departure, Bryan changed the spelling of his name back to Brian- something he originally changed when he joined Westlife because he felt it was easier to sign autographs if his name was spelt with a "y".
Six months after he left the band, Brian released solo music to varying degrees of success.
WATCH: Brian McFadden and Delta Goodrem "Almost Here"
Why did Westlife break up?
In 2011, Westlife announced they'd split up. In a statement, the band claimed the decision was amicable, that they wanted a break to explore other projects and thanked the fans for all their endless support.
When did Westlife get back together?
Westlife got back together in October 2018, still minus Brian. Announcing new music and a tour, fans around the world were delighted!
Are Westlife married?
All members of Westlife all have partners. Brian McFadden married Kerry Katona but later divorced before marrying Vogue Williams and divorcing once more. Brian is currently engaged to PE teacher Danielle Parkinson.
Shane Filan married his childhood sweetheart Gillian Walsh in 2003. Gillian is the cousin of fellow Westlife member Kian. Together, Shane and Gillian have three children called Nicole, Patrick and Shane.
Kian Egan married Girl Thing band member and actress Jodi Albert in 2009 and they also have three children together: Koa, Zekey and Cobi.
Mark Feehily was once engaged to Kevin McDaid, a photographer and one-time member of boyband V. Nearly two years after their engagement, Mark announced the pair had split up. Since then, Mark has gone on to become engaged to Cailean O'Neill and the pair announced the birth of their daughter Layla via surrogate in 2019.
in 2003, Nicky married childhood sweetheart Georgina Ahern who is the sister of popular author Cecelia Ahern. Together, Nicky and Georgina have three children, twin sons Rocco and Jay and daughter Gia.
Scroll through to see Westlife's biggest career moments through the years:
1998: Westlife is born
Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan knew each other from school, forming a pop group with fellow students Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron, and Michael Garrett called Six As One in 1997, soon changing their name to IOYOU. When Mark's mum Mae Filan got in touch with Louis Walsh, who managed Boyzone, and he took them on - but when they got shot down by Simon Cowell, Louis fired Derrick, Graham and Michael, and held auditions to replace them.
They recruited Nicky Byrne and Brian McFadden, and officially became Westside in July 1998 - quickly changing to Westlife when they discovered a band already called Westside.
They signed a £4 million deal with RCA Records, and they were the opening act for both Boyzone and Backstreet Boys, with Ronan Keating of Boyzone co-managing the group with Louis. They recorded their first EP, 'Swear It Again', in 1999, which went to Number 1 in the UK
1999: Debut album and follow-up
The band's self-titled debut album 'Westlife' was released in November 1999, containing singles 'Flying Without Wings', 'Seasons in the Sun' and 'More Than Words', topping the charts in Ireland and going to Number 2 in the UK.
The band released their second album 'Coast to Coast' a year later, spawning singles 'Against All Odds', 'What Makes a Man' and 'When You're Looking Like That'. It went to Number 1 in the UK and Ireland, beating Spice Girls' 'Forever', and the boys embarked on their 'Where Dreams Come True Tour' in 2001.
2001: Third album and BRIT Awards
Westlife's third album 'World of Our Own' was released just one year later, containing singles 'Uptown Girl', 'Evergreen' and the album's titular song. It went to Number 1 in the UK and Ireland, and they sold over 12 million records in just three years. Westlife won Best Pop Act at the BRIT Awards in both 2001 and 2002.
Their 'Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits Vol. 1' was released in 2002, also going to Number 1 in both the UK and Ireland and Westlife then went on 'The Greatest Hits Tour' in 2003. They released their fourth album 'Turnaround' later that year, spawning singles 'Hey Whatever', 'Mandy' and 'Obvious' - it went to Number 1 in the UK and Ireland.
2004: Bryan McFadden's departure
Bryan announced that he was leaving the group in March 2004 to spend more time with his family, as he had two young daughters with then-wife Kerry Katona (pictured). He also reverted back to using the spelling Brian. His departure came three weeks before the band went on their 'Turnaround Tour', with Brian watching in the audience.
The remaining members carried on without him, releasing fifth album '...Allow Us To Be Frank' in 2004 which was a Rat Pack tribute album and contained many covers by Frank Sinatra, going to Number 3 in the UK. They released sixth album 'Face to Face' in 2005, containing 'You Raise Me Up', seventh album 'The Love Album' in 2006, which contained covers of famous love songs and eighth album 'Back Home' in 2007.
2008: 10th anniversary of Westlife and hiatus
To celebrate their 10-year anniversary, Westlife put on a show called '10 Years of Westlife' at Croke Park in Dublin in June 2008. In July, Louis announced that the group would be taking a hiatus for one year until July 2009.
They released 10th album 'Where We Are' in November 2009, and they won a Guinness World Record as the top selling album group of the 21st century. Westlife took part in the 2010 charity single 'Everybody Hurts' to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake, along with Rod Stewart, Mariah Carey, Take That and Kylie Minogue among many others. Their eleventh album 'Gravity' was released in November 2010, going to Number 1 in Ireland and Number 3 in the UK.
2011: Split and 'The Farewell Tour'
In March 2011, Westlife split from Simon Cowell's label Syco, and released their album 'Greatest Hits' in November 2011, and despite rumours that Brian could reunite with the band for an interview, this never happened. Westlife announced their 'The Greatest Hits Tour' or 'The Farewell Tour' on 18th October 2011, and announced their split a day later.
The statement read, 'The decision is entirely amicable and after spending all of our adult life together so far, we want to have a well-earned break and look at new ventures. We would like to thank our fans who have been with us on this amazing journey and are part of our family too. We never imagined when we started out in 1998 that 14 years later we would still be recording, touring and having hits together. It has been a dream come true for all of us. Kian, Mark, Nicky and Shane.'
2012 - 2017: Solo ventures and reunion rumours
After the group's split, all four went onto solo endeavours. Shane released three solo albums: 'You and Me' (2013), 'Right Here' (2015) and 'Love Always' (2017). Mark released his debut solo album 'Fire' in October 2015, performing as an opening act for Mariah Carey and Wet Wet Wet. He released his second solo album 'Christmas' in December 2017.
Kian released debut solo album 'Home' (2014), became a coach on The Voice of Ireland and won I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2013. Nicky released his solo album 'Sunlight' in 2016 and represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in the same year, sadly failing to advance to the final. He also took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2012.
Throughout the years between 2011 and 2017, there were many rumours about Westlife reuniting, and whilst they initially said they would never get back together, each member started to hint that they'd like to reunite as the years went on.
2018: Reunion at last
Westlife announced that they were getting back together in October 2018, revealing that they were going on tour and bringing out new music. Brian confirmed in an interview with Closer magazine that he would not be taking part.
The band released their first single as 'Westlife 2.0' in January 2019 - 'Hello My Love', which was co-written by Ed Sheeran. They performed it at the National Television Awards in 2019, and released the album 'Spectrum' in November 2019, which went to Number 1 in the UK and Ireland. Ed also co-wrote four other tracks on the album including 'Better Man'. They went on 'The Twenty Tour' in 2019.
2020: Stadiums in the Summer Tour
Westlife were set to embark on their 'Stadiums in the Summer Tour' in June 2020, visiting 21 venues around Europe including Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Cardiff City Stadium and Wembley Stadium among others. Sadly, it was cancelled due to Government advice around the Coronavirus pandemic.
2021: New record label and Wembley shows
Westlife broke the news on St Patrick's Day that they had signed a deal with Warner Music UK label East West Records, having left EMI Records earlier in the year.
They also added a second Wembley show date - going on to perform at the venue on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd August 2021.
2022: 'The Wild Dreams Tour'
The band released their 'Wild Dreams' album on 26th November 2021, going on to hit the road on a sell-out UK and Ireland tour. The lads performed all of their greatest hits 'Swear It Again', 'Flying Without Wings' and 'World of our Own' as well as tracks from 'Wild Dreams'. They performed gigs in Dublin's Aviva Stadium and two shows in Belfast's SSE Arena.
2024: North and South American tour dates
Westlife performed a series of tour dates in March 2024, visiting Canada, the United States, Mexico and Brazil.
Mark Feehily didn't join the band on tour, having been forced to 'stand down' from Westlife touring due to health issues.
You can hear Westlife's biggest hits on the Magic Radio playlist!