Latest Westlife News

note: thanks to the following websites for providing some of the news items found on this site - Worldpop | MTVasia | dotMusic | The Sun | BBC | WENN | Agnes =)

If you want to share your positive concert experiences, feel free to send it to us at westlife@previewstock.com and we will post it on this site and share it with other Westlife fans. Please include the date/concert venue that you attended. Also send any Westlife news we might have missed to that address above!

The Westlife news archives can be found at the bottom of the page

Westlife in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Westlife in Mexico!

1/27/02

Westlife's 1st visit to Venezuela!

[thanks to Gabriel] Westlife will be performing in "The Caracas Pop Festival 2002". The festival is between March 13 and 17, and Westlife will be performing on the 15th (Friday). There will also be performances from Korn, Alanis Morissette, Papa Roach, No Doubt, Pink Floyd, Roger Waters and other famous Latin artists like Puerto Rican Juan Luis Guerra, the Mexican Paulina Rubio and Colombian Carlos Vives. It's the first time Westlife in Venezuela!! The price of the tickets is US$32 (25.000 Bolívares - entrada general) and US$72 (55.000 Bolívares - VIP).

Last year, the festival was a success. There were performances from Christina Aguilera, Oasis, Five, Collective Soul, Sting and Sheryl Crow. The press predicts the same for this year.

1/24/02

Westlife win award!

[Thanks to Linda for the info] Westlife was in Stockholm (Sweden) this Monday (Jan 21) for the Nordic NRJ Music Awards 2002. They were nominated for Best International Group which they took home with them! Congratulations to the guys =) Presenting the award was no one less then their old manager Ronan Keating together with the Swedish actress and singer Regina Lund.

They were still without Bryan but did a great job performing live both World Of Our Own and Uptown Girl. They shared the stage with artists like Kyle Minogue, Alanis Morissette, Ronan Keating and Andreas Johnson. The show was broadcast in Scandinavia on TV, Internet and on the radio.

1/20/02

Westlife in Cannes

[Thanks to Sandrine] Westlife was at Cannes (southern France) yesterday for the French NRJ Music Awards. It was broadcast on channel tf1. They performed "Uptown Girl" without Bryan. Unfortunately they did not win awards for which they were nominated.

Childline Concert

This is more like a reminder that Westlife will be performing at the Childline concert this coming week (Jan 27). The show is already sold out. Other performers for the charity benefit concert include S Club 7, Hear'say Sophie Ellis-Bextor, A1 and Bellefire.

More on their honeymoon in Sun City, S. Africa

The couple checked in to the hotel's swank Royal Suite on Tuesday, January 8th, according to a photographer hired by an Irish weekend newspaper to shoot the couple. In an effort to keep their holiday under wraps from the prying eyes of the media they used the name of 'Spears'.

Following a very non rock 'n roll stay – they didn't wreck their hotel room or get trashed in the casino - the couple checked out of the hotel at midday on Saturday. After signing the hotel register and a copy of a Westlife CD, presumably for a member of staff's daughter, they were whisked away in a black limousine that had been waiting close to the entrance for some time. It's not certain whether the couple were then driven to the local airport or Johannesburg International. What the photographer could confirm is that the couple were heading for Mauritius where several photographers were lying in wait.

While at the Palace the couple kept mostly to their room, says the photographer who spent hours camped out in the lobby and around the hotel hoping to catch them on film. There was no sign of the couple's new baby girl so it's assumed that Molly was left behind in Ireland in the care of family or friends so that Bryan and Kerry could enjoy time alone.

By the time Saturday came the photographer was beginning to think that he would not get his shot. Then he got word from the paper on his cellphone that the couple were heading for the lobby and that they were willing to be photographed. Unlike a lot of pop stars they posed for the camera before moving on to the checkout desk. What struck the photographer was how approachable the couple were and how easily they blended in with other holidaymakers at the resort. 'If they hadn't been pointed out to me I would have walked right past without recognising them.'

More from the wedding

It's all about that fabulous reception after the wedding.

The castle itself was transformed into a winter wonderland by Irish society florist James Bailie. As a barbershop quartet sang a cappella in the background, the newlyweds – unable to stop smiling – greeted their guests in front of a giant Christmas tree.

A kir royale reception kicked off the party, and it came to choosing what their guests would eat, Kerry and Bryan were adamant: “I didn’t want anyone to have to ask a waiter what anything was!” said Kerry, who remains remarkably unspoiled after her astonishing change in lifestyle from an upbringing in a Warrington council flat to fame with girl group Atomic Kitten and now, after leaving the band, a TV presenter and wife of Westlife heartthrob Bryan.

That Lee and Liz rumor

According to Cosmogirl, the rumor about Lee and Liz getting together at the wedding are not true. A spokesman for the Atomic Kitten assured Cosmogirl that there is absolutely nothing going on between the two chart-toppers. "Liz and Lee are signed to the same record labels and obviously they bump into each other when on tour or appearing on TV programs," he confided. "Naturally they've become close friends. But that's all they are just good mates."

1/16/02

Westlife nominated for Best Pop Act

The nominations for the Brit Awards have been announced...and Westlife have managed to score one nomination for Best Pop Act. They are competing against Kylie Minogue, Westlife, Blue, S Club 7 and Hear'Say. The nominations for this category are voted for by the readers of The Sun's Bizarre column. Westlife were not nominated for best international group or best international album. The awards are to be held at London's Earl's Court on February 20th. And Westlife will probably be there again this year. They did perform "Uptown Girl" at last year's Brit Awards.

Westlife to appear at MTV Asia awards

Westlife, Blue, Pink, P.O.D and Cirque Du Soleil are all confirmed to appear at the first ever MTV Asia awards. The event takes place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on February 2. Mandy Moore and Ronan Keating will host the ceremony.

Hook up at Bryan/Kerry's wedding

Atomic Kitten member Liz McLarnon and Blue member Lee Ryan gave their first public snog at the wedding. They first met while they were in New York City during the September 11th tragedy. Liz said, "We were both working in New York on September 11th and were stuck together for two weeks after the tragedy there. We became friends but nothing happened. Lee and I got together after the New Year, but were in constant touch on the phone over Christmas. I remember one night we were chatting for four hours. I knew then we would get together. We just clicked and that was it." Lee confirmed their romance saying, "We haven't been dating for long, but we're closer than people think."

Criticism of manufactured pop groups continue

[op-ed] I personally don't get it. Critics slag off the "manufactured" pop groups, which I can understand (but don't agree with) the reasons why. But I never hear them talk about the brilliant song writers behind some of these groups, Westlife included. Let's face it, some of the best pop songs come from these songwriters (including Max Martin's/BSB "I Want it That Way").

[actual original article] On the day the record industry announces its nominations for the showpiece Brit Awards, critics put the first nail in the coffin of Hear'Say, the ultimate manufactured band who were created on a hugely popular British television show. Tabloid reports that Kym Marsh may be quitting the chart-topping group were greeted with undisguised elation by John Harris of the music and entertainment magazine Q.

"If it means they are out of the way quicker, I think it can only be a good thing," he told BBC Radio. "The real evil is groups like Steps and Westlife who add nothing to the musical canon. Even in two years' time, let alone 22 years' time, they will not be remembered. They are utterly ephemeral rubbish. It's like the difference between great Italian food and McDonalds."

[Call it easy money for the record industry] Despite the break-up of some of the biggest selling manufactured bands, the music industry will not give up the concept that easily. Facing sagging growth as piracy bites into album sales, top labels rely heavily on manufactured bands for quick hits and easy money, often at the expense of real talent.

But from the Monkees to the Spice Girls, manufactured bands have always been an integral part of the music industry and still enjoy big success in the charts. Hannah Verdier, deputy editor of the pop magazine Smash Hits, sprang to their defence. "There have always been bands and artists that don't write their own music. Some of the greatest music we had was Motown. Did they write their own music? Not very often. Manufactured bands have always been around. They are here, they are making people happy and the music is quite good if you listen to it."

Rob Dicken, chairman of the British Phonographic Industry trade body, admitted that the boy and girl bands were not large sellers in the world's biggest music market, the United States, and said it was time to change gear. "They serve a certain market, a young market. I believe they will always be here. I just don't want them to be to the exclusion of unique great talents. Maybe if we stick to investing in our really great inventive artists and not quite so much in manufactured product artists, then the returns will be much better for everybody."

Westlife monthly news archives

January 2002 (1)
December 2001 (2)
December 2001 (1)
November 2001 (2)
November 2001 (1)
October 2001 (2)
October 2001 (1)
September 2001 (2)
September 2001 (1)
August 2001
July 2001
June 2001
May 2001
April 2001
March 2001
February 2001
January 2001
August 2000