About Westlife

click a year to expand: 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008

In the corner (from left to right)

Shane, Mark, Kian, Nicky

In a nutshell...

Westlife is arguably one of the best pop acts in the UK - ever. Formed
in 1998, the group released their first single and album in 1999, and
have dominated the charts ever since. In their 8th year, they are still
making it to the top of the UK charts. They have far outlasted their
competitors, including Busted, Five, Blue, S Club 7, and many more
lesser acts.

Interesting fact:

Westlife has consistently released a single and album by the fall of any
given year, almost always in October.

Timeline

1998

* Group forms originally as IOU as a six member gruop. "Discovered" by
Louis Walsh, who dumps 3 members and holds auditions in Dublin. Nicky
and Bryan join the group, making it a 5 member group, and renamed as
Westside. Ultimately changed name to Westlife because other groups
already held the name Westside.

* Ronan Keating, lead singer of Boyzone, named as a co-manager for the
group along with Louis Walsh. However, it turns out it Ronan was named
more for recognition and star power than anything else.

* Performs as opening act to the Backstreet Boys in Dublin.

1999

* April 12 - release first single "Swear It Again"

* release first album, the self titled debut "Westlife"
makes it to #2 on the UK chart.

2000

* Attempt at cracking the US market with release of "Swear It Again" in April.
Made it to #20 on the Billboard 100 singles chart. They make several
stops in the US promoting the album. It would ultimately be their best
showing in the US. Interestingly enough, to this day, you can find this
CD in record stores across the country.

* June - westlife.org created =) Now into its 7th year of existence.

* release second album "Coast to Coast" - UK #1

* December - Westlife's 8th single release loses to Bob the Builder's
" Can We Fix It". Oh the sorrow. But the boys still have 7 consecutive
UK #1's to their name.

2001

* release third album "World Of Our Own" - UK #1

* September - Bryan becomes a father as Molly is born.

2002

* January - Bryan marries Kerry Katona.

* February - Westlife score their 10th UK #1 with "World of Our Own"

* April - Westlife start their 2nd UK/Ireland arena tour. Another smash success.

* 2nd attempt at cracking the US market with a release of "World Of Our
Own" with an updated (and improved music video). Promotional CD singles are sent
out. However, this attempt fails, and it seems the group have given up in the US
market. No album relase was made in the US. You can't blame them though. Pop groups
and boybands are not popular in the states by this time. The song peaked on the Radio and Records CHR/Pop charts, at #41 on radio airplay. In some cities, the song reached as high as #2 in popularity in nightly chart countdowns, including Providence, Rhode Island

* release fourth album "Unbreakable: Greatest Hits Volume 1"- UK #1

* Christmas - Shane proposes to Gillian, Nicky proposes to Georgina.... both happily accept!

2003

* January - Westlife trek to Nashville, Tennessee (USA), home of country music. They spent 3 days transforming themselves into country music artists and even recorded an unreleased song, Daytime Friends, Nighttime Lovers. Unfortunately, the show was broadcast only on BBC in the UK in May, leaving only the lucky folks in Nashville, as one of the privileged few Americans to catch them at a live performance.

* July - Nicky marries his sweetheart Georgina Ahern, daughter of Irish
prime minister Bertie Ahern.

* Westlife embark on another tour, this time encompassing the Nordic countries, Germany, UK/Ireland.

* release fifth album "Turnaround" - UK #1

* Bryan has a second daughter with Lilly Sue.

* December - Shane marries his sweetheart Gillian Walsh, the cousin of
Kian.

2004

* March 9 - Bryan splits from Westlife leaving a four-some, with the initial
headline plastered over "The Sun". The group holds strong, continuing to tour and
ultimately release more albums.

* Fourth UK arena tour

* August - "Flying Without Wings" (live) becomes the first ever #1 of the UK
download chart.

* September - What a short lived marriage, as Bryan separates from Kerry.

* release sixth album "Allow Us To Be Frank" - UK #3

2005

* July - Shane becomes a dad, when Nicole is born.

* The world finds out that Mark is gay through "The Sun" headline,
although it had been suspected for some time. Later on, we find out
that he has been dating Kevin McDaid of former boyband "V"

* release seventh album "You Raise Me Up" - UK #1

2006

* February - "Amazing" becomes Westlife's 20th single release in the UK ... and is
also the group's 20th UK top 5 hit.

* Westlife sign a new 5 album deal with Sony/BMG

* spring/summer - Continuation of arena tour

* fall - Australia tour

Major Awards:

ITV Record of the Year
1999 - "Flying Without Wings"
2000 - "My Love"
2003 - "Mandy"
2005 - "You Raise Me Up"

Brit Awards
2001 and 2002 - Best Pop Act

from left to right (top): Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Bryan McFadden (bottom) Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan

Group members