Westlife were originally signed bySimon Cowell.
Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan, along with fellow Sligo men Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron, and Michael Garrett, were part of a six-member pop vocal group called Six as One, changed in 1997 toIOYOU. The group, managed by choreographer Mary McDonagh and two other informal managers, released a single titled "Together Girl Forever".
Louis Walsh, the manager of fellow Irish boy band Boyzone, came to know the group after he was contacted by Filan's mother, but the group failed to secure a BMG record deal with Cowell.
Cowell told Walsh: "You are going to have to fire at least three of them. They have great voices, but they are the ugliest band I have ever seen in my life."[5] Three members of the band (Lacey, Keighron and Garrett) were told they would not be part of the new group, and auditions were held in Dublin where Nicky Byrne and Brian McFadden were recruited.
The new group, formed on 3 July 1998, was renamed Westside but that name was already in use by another band, so it was changed to Westlife. In Westlife – Our Story, Byrne revealed that, unlike the others in the group, he was keen to change the name to West High. McFadden also changed the spelling of his name to Bryan to make it easier to sign autographs. Boyzone singer Ronan Keating was brought in to co-manage the group with Walsh. The band then released an EP titled Swear It Again.
Debut album (1998–99)[edit]
Westlife's first big break came in 1998 when they opened for the Boyzone and Backstreet Boys' concerts in Dublin. Later Act award at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party.[6] In April 1999, the group released their first single, "Swear It Again" which immediately topped the charts in Ireland and in the UK for two weeks.[6] Their second single, "If I Let You Go" was released in August 1999, along with the highly acclaimed "Flying Without Wings" produced by Steve Mac and written by Wayne Hector(their first 'Record of the Year'), released in October the same year, also followed suit. "Flying Without Wings" was also included on the soundtrack of the Warner Brothers film, Pokémon: The Movie 2000. Their first album, simply titled Westlife, was released in November 1999 and went to No. 2 in the UK. The album was the biggest chart dropper on the top 40 in UK music history when, in its 58th week on the charts it leapt from No. 79 to No. 3 before falling to No. 37 the following week.[citation needed]
In December 1999, a fourth, double-side, single was released, "I Have A Dream"/"Seasons in the Sun". It knocked Cliff Richard's "The Millennium Prayer" off the top spot and earned them the 1999 UK Christmas number-one single.[7][8] The fifth and last single from the album, "Fool Again", also peaked at #1.[9] Then the group went on a short UK, US[10] and Asian tour in support of their debut album before releasing a second album.
Coast to Coast and World of Our Own (1999–2001)[edit]
Coast to Coast was released a year later and was another No. 1 UK album, beating the Spice Girls' Forever album. It became the country's 4th biggest selling album of 2000.[11][12] The album was preceded by a duet with Mariah Carey singing the Phil Collins' classic "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" and the original song "My Love" (their second Record of the Year award). Both singles reached No. 1 on the UK charts.[13][14] With this, Westlife broke an unexpected record of the most consecutive number-one singles in the UK, having their first seven singles debut at the top. However, in December 2000, they failed to secure their eighth chart-topper in a row, with their UK and Ireland-only single "What Makes A Man" when kid's favourite, Bob The Builder's "Can We Fix It", was crowned as the Christmas number-one single of that year.[15] Outside the UK and Ireland, they gained chart success with "I Lay My Love on You" and "When You're Looking Like That. In 2001, they launched their first world tour, "Where Dreams Come True Tour", unofficially nicknamed "The No Stools Tour" due to the group's reputation of performing while perched on stools.[6][16]
Westlife released World of Our Own, their third album, in November 2001. "Uptown Girl", "Queen of My Heart" and "World of Our Own" were released as singles, all of which peaked at No. 1 in the UK.[17][18][19] "Bop Bop Baby" was also released as a single, but it peaked at No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart. In 2002, Westlife went on their second world tour, the World of Our Own Tour (In The Round).[6]
Westlife were originally signed bySimon Cowell.
Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan, along with fellow Sligo men Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron, and Michael Garrett, were part of a six-member pop vocal group called Six as One, changed in 1997 toIOYOU. The group, managed by choreographer Mary McDonagh and two other informal managers, released a single titled "Together Girl Forever".
Louis Walsh, the manager of fellow Irish boy band Boyzone, came to know the group after he was contacted by Filan's mother, but the group failed to secure a BMG record deal with Cowell.
Cowell told Walsh: "You are going to have to fire at least three of them. They have great voices, but they are the ugliest band I have ever seen in my life."[5] Three members of the band (Lacey, Keighron and Garrett) were told they would not be part of the new group, and auditions were held in Dublin where Nicky Byrne and Brian McFadden were recruited.
The new group, formed on 3 July 1998, was renamed Westside but that name was already in use by another band, so it was changed to Westlife. In Westlife – Our Story, Byrne revealed that, unlike the others in the group, he was keen to change the name to West High. McFadden also changed the spelling of his name to Bryan to make it easier to sign autographs. Boyzone singer Ronan Keating was brought in to co-manage the group with Walsh. The band then released an EP titled Swear It Again.
Debut album (1998–99)[edit]
Westlife's first big break came in 1998 when they opened for the Boyzone and Backstreet Boys' concerts in Dublin. Later Act award at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party.[6] In April 1999, the group released their first single, "Swear It Again" which immediately topped the charts in Ireland and in the UK for two weeks.[6] Their second single, "If I Let You Go" was released in August 1999, along with the highly acclaimed "Flying Without Wings" produced by Steve Mac and written by Wayne Hector(their first 'Record of the Year'), released in October the same year, also followed suit. "Flying Without Wings" was also included on the soundtrack of the Warner Brothers film, Pokémon: The Movie 2000. Their first album, simply titled Westlife, was released in November 1999 and went to No. 2 in the UK. The album was the biggest chart dropper on the top 40 in UK music history when, in its 58th week on the charts it leapt from No. 79 to No. 3 before falling to No. 37 the following week.[citation needed]
In December 1999, a fourth, double-side, single was released, "I Have A Dream"/"Seasons in the Sun". It knocked Cliff Richard's "The Millennium Prayer" off the top spot and earned them the 1999 UK Christmas number-one single.[7][8] The fifth and last single from the album, "Fool Again", also peaked at #1.[9] Then the group went on a short UK, US[10] and Asian tour in support of their debut album before releasing a second album.
Coast to Coast and World of Our Own (1999–2001)[edit]
Coast to Coast was released a year later and was another No. 1 UK album, beating the Spice Girls' Forever album. It became the country's 4th biggest selling album of 2000.[11][12] The album was preceded by a duet with Mariah Carey singing the Phil Collins' classic "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" and the original song "My Love" (their second Record of the Year award). Both singles reached No. 1 on the UK charts.[13][14] With this, Westlife broke an unexpected record of the most consecutive number-one singles in the UK, having their first seven singles debut at the top. However, in December 2000, they failed to secure their eighth chart-topper in a row, with their UK and Ireland-only single "What Makes A Man" when kid's favourite, Bob The Builder's "Can We Fix It", was crowned as the Christmas number-one single of that year.[15] Outside the UK and Ireland, they gained chart success with "I Lay My Love on You" and "When You're Looking Like That. In 2001, they launched their first world tour, "Where Dreams Come True Tour", unofficially nicknamed "The No Stools Tour" due to the group's reputation of performing while perched on stools.[6][16]
Westlife released World of Our Own, their third album, in November 2001. "Uptown Girl", "Queen of My Heart" and "World of Our Own" were released as singles, all of which peaked at No. 1 in the UK.[17][18][19] "Bop Bop Baby" was also released as a single, but it peaked at No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart. In 2002, Westlife went on their second world tour, the World of Our Own Tour (In The Round).[6]
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