Latest Westlife News - February 2001

note: thanks to the following websites for providing some of the news items found on this site - Worldpop | MTVasia | Music365 | The Sun | BBC

2/28/01

After the Brit Awards, Westlife partied at London's fashionable Soho House club...a bash that was thrown by Arista Records (their record company). Kian, Bryan, Shane and Nicky enjoyed their time at the party (in excess). Bryan and Kerry left at the end of the awards to spend some quiet time together in a hotel.

Elton John played an important roll in letting Westlife perform "Uptown Girl". It turns out that Elton called Billy Joel to ask for the publisshing rights to the song. He said, "['Notting Hill' writer] Richard Curtis, the founder of Comic Relief, phoned me and asked me if I'd ask Billy for the publishing rights to "Uptown Girl." I rang him and he agreed immediately." Elton also believes that Westlife have a huge hit on their hands with the cover. He adds, "It will definitely be a number one record and earn millions of pounds (dollars) for a fantastic charity."

Westlife, Ronan Keating and Samantha Mumba are supporting a campaign called Pennies From Heaven which will raise money for children's charities. In this campaign, old Irish coins will be collected as the coins will no longer be legal tender after February 2002. They hope to raise over $7.5 million.

2/27/01

"I Lay My Love on You" debuts in Australia at #29

I got a an e-mail from a Westlife fan, Sophie, that clarifies the "disturbing" article from MTVasia. Apparently, MTVasia took the exact same quotes from a cd:UK magazine article, and put a new spin on it! In the original cd:UK interview didn't say anything about Westlife splitting up just yet! So, perhaps, MTVasia just wants to put some controversy in the air for fun?

Congrats to Westlife for winning best pop act at the Brit Awards! We'll be putting up a few more Brits pics soon (hopefully tomorrow).

2/26/01

"I Lay My Love on You" is now #9 in Asia, up 4 spots in the last week.

Stay tuned for results of The Brits...we'll post them later tonight! Also, for those of you in the UK, The Brits will be televised tomorrow (2/27) on ITV.

Brits update

Day 2 of rehearsals started early for Westlife. The group left Manchester at 5 am in order to make 9 am rehearsals at Earls Court. Ex Take That Choreographer Kim Gavin is in charge of the set design and the overall look of the production number, and although the details of the performance are secret, the lads were giving some hints along the way. Shane said, "Think 50's, think Grease. We've completely re-done the routine and the styling from the live show we do on tour so this will be a first-time performance on the BRITs". Stylist Dave Thomas has had 10 days to design and make 56 costumes for the band's dancers, as well as outfits for the lads themselves. Mark commented, "Mine isn't finished yet - but it should be ready on for the dress rehearsal".

Kian isn't especially confident that the group will win a Brit Award this year. He said (with a grin), "I would love to win. To go home with one would be an absolute honour. But to be honest with you, I don't think we have a chance. We're well chuffed to be up for three gongs. I don't think an Irish band, except perhaps U2, has been nominated for as many before. The category we have the best chance in is Best Pop Act because it's a phone-in public vote. Our fans have been very supportive in the past, so we're keeping our fingers crossed for that one!". Kian believes that U2 will win Best Interntaional Group and Jill Scott will win Best International newcomer.

This "disturbing" article comes from MTVasia . I decided to leave the article in its entirety. My advice? Westlife definitely need a vacation!

Westlife Showing Strain

February 26, 2001 British chart-topping boy band Westlife have warned their fans that the end may already be nigh -- because success is upsetting their lives. The five record-breaking hit-makers have revealed the strains of their punishing work schedules, which meant they have only had three weeks off in more than two years. The boys -- Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, Bryan McFadden and Nicky Bryne -- admit the enormity of the pressures have left little time to catch up with family and friends and caused arguments between them. Byrne says, "Westlife won't be about forever. We've all spoken about how long the band will last and where we'll go when it's finished. "A lot of us want to go solo when Westlife finishes, or into TV or acting." And Feehily adds, "Westlife work harder than other bands. We do fall out with one another, because we spend all day together. We're not 100 per cent mature.

2/25/01

"Coast to Coast" - rises from #37 to #27 in Germany (thanks to Stephan)
"I Lay My Love on You" - enters the chart at #19 in Asia. It is already #1 in Thailand.

Tash of Atomic Kitten said on cd:uk that Kerry has become the unofficial 6th member of Westlife, as she is following Westlife (and Bryan) everywhere on tour.

Also, don't forget that Westlife will be performing at the Brits tomorrow night (Monday)! They are up for 3 awards at the show. As a reminder from January, here's what they're up for:

Best International Group: Westlife, Santana, Savage Garden, U2, The Corrs
Best International Newcomer: Westlife, Pink, Jill Scott, Kelis, Lene Martin
Best Pop Act: Westlife, Ronan Keating, S Club 7, Steps, Britney Spears

2/23/01

Bryan has signed for a top amateur soccer side. After he finishes touring with the group, he will join the Aer Lingus team based in Cloghran, Co Dublin. Bryan said, "I've never said that I was great at football, but I watch it all the time on TV. I don't think I'll be threatening any of the positions in the Manchester United squad." The spokesman for the club, Bryan McGuinnes said, "What we really need is a bit of a Keano - we think Bryan's the man for the job." But don't expect Bryan to get superstar treatment. The spokesman went on to say, "I expect the only difference he'll make to life in the club outside of matches is the hordes of screaming girls that will be waiting for him. Having said that, we'll most likely have to tighten up security around the showers now."

2/21/01

"My Love" - #1 in Latin America this week
"I Lay My Love on You" - #1 in Thailand this week

Westlife have turned down an invitation to perform at the Irish Recorded Music Association Awards in Dublin on March 16. Instead, they have agreed instead to perform in Belfast on Ulster Television's Gerry Kelly chat show the same evening. But, they will still appear at the Awards Ceremony, albeit thru a live satellite link from the TV studio.

Westlife met British Prime Minister Tony Blair the other day. The reason? His 12 year old daughter, Kathryn, loves Westlife and wanted some autographs. Mr. Blair asked to meet the group when he found out that they were in Glasgow at the same time he was hosting a Labour party conference. Kian said, "He told us he was going to be killed if he didn't leave with autographs for her. We met him at the conference centre and promised him tickets for Wembley and a backstage pass for Kathryn to meet us." Westlife were very impressed by the Prime Minister. Kian said, "He seemed very genuine. He asked which one of us was going out with Premier Bertie Ahern's daughter. He told Bertie during the week that he would be meeting us and Bertie told him to say hello to Nicky, who is going out with Georgina."

Seems like Westlife can have a bit of fun making up names for themselves...including What-Life and Waste-Of-Life. The reason for the names? Their lack of free time. A source close to the band said, "They call themselves What-life or Waste-of-life these days. it's just a bit of fun but the boys do work terribly hard."

Westlife will be helping 1960s singing sensation Lulu in a relaunch of her musical career. The group will join her on a new album of duets, coming out in the fall. Who else is behind Lulu's album but Louis Walsh (Westlife's manager), who is also putting Samantha Mumba on the album. Lulu is looking forward to teaming up Westlife saying, "Westlife can all sing. They're not just stage performers, their voices are excellent. I haven't actually met them yet, but I think they're just fantastic." Yeah =) Another Westlife fan out there!

Westlife in Glasgow, Scotland

Westlife have hailed Scots fans as among the best in the world. The group are performing 5 sold out concerts at the Glasgow's SECC. Kian said: "The Scots fans have always been wonderful. We were warned when we first came to Scotland to try to make it that the response to our music would be overwhelming and it has been." In addition, the group teamed up with Virgin Megastores and OTR to give fans a chance to meet the group at the show. Despite their huge success, Westlife say they'll never be too famous to remember the fans who put them at the top of the pop ladder. Kian said: "We promise to keep our feet on the ground and we hope we'll always be welcome in Scotland."

In Glasgow, the group paid paid tribute to Premier League champions-elect Celtic. They told 10,000 screaming fans they have taken inspiration from the season enjoyed by fellow countryman Martin O'Neill at Parkhead. At the end of the show, Bryan said, "We'd like to thank the people that made it all possible for us and got us where we are today - Celtic Football Club." Then, in an effort not to alienate the other half of the Old Firm, he added: "Just joking, you folks out there!"

During the Glasgow show, Westlife burst onto the stage in Stars Wars-style black outfits. Kian told the crowd, "We have been waiting three years to come to Scotland. We're not just going to sit on stools, we're going to dance!" And dance they did as they stripped off the black gear to reveal futuristic versions of their trademark white suits.

2/18/01

BBC is running a Westlife concert, where you could win a chance to meet Westlife in March at Wembley Arena! Click here for all the details.

Alas, during Valentine's Day, Shane had no one to send a Valentine to. He said."I didn't even send one card. It's a bit of a shame really. Hopefully next year it will be a different story. But I've no one special at the moment." But, many fans sent Valentine's to him...over 3000 in fact! He said, "This year's cards ranged from giant-sized ones to sexy underwear. It's really flattering to get so many, and I try to get through as many of them as possible."

2/16/01

MTV is holding a contest to meet Westlife in London on March 12...which includes airfare, accomodations, 2 tickets to the concert ....and a chance to meet them in person. Click here to enter.

2/14/01

Happy Valentine's Day!

Kerry, Bryan's fiancee, tried to join the audience in front at Westlife's first Newcastle performance...but had to retreat rather quickly when she was mobbed by the fans. She said,"I was gutted that I couldn't go out front to see the show properly. It's really spectacular." Kerry spent most of the concert backstage.

There's another report out there that Westlife have sold 750,000 tickets for their current tour and that the tour cost $4 million to produce. Wow! By all accounts the tour has been a smash success so far, as I've now read 3 positive reports on how the group have dazzled the crowds with their performance.

When Kerry and Bryan went shopping in a baby store in Newcastle, they were quickly recognized by fans...and a riot nearly broke out. The pair were escorted out through a back way. Bryan said, "It got a bit crazy and I was getting worried for Kerry. But in the end everything was cool and no one was hurt or anything."

Finally, Mark claims that he never gets recognized when he goes out because of his desire to wear less fashionable items, which is unlike the others in Westlife. He says, "The other lads have more of an image, so they get recognised more. They really like their clothes and they have their hair done and stuff like that. I wear baseball hats and scabby track suits."

2/13/01

Here's our 2nd update on their live tour in the UK.

Westlife performs it's 4th show tonight in Newcastle. With 51 dates, it is believed that Westlife has sold 500,000 tickets! That's a lot of people...and a lot of money =) Westlife can now claim its concert tour as the biggest UK/Ireland arena tour ever, beating the previous record held by the Steps. To open the concert, the boys wore space-age suits and harnesses, and delighted fans by flying toward the stage in the opening moments of their show. In addition to the songs I mentioned yesterday, they also performed "When You're Looking Like That" and "Uptown Girl"

Perhaps with help from their tour, What Makes a Man has rebounded on the UK singles chart from #38 to #17.

In other news, the Vengaboys were forced to edit their new video and remove a small clip showing them with Westlife. The original version of "Forever as One" had footage of Vengaboys and Westlife greeting each other while on tour and also includes clips of the Vengaboys with other groups.Westlife's management claimes that they did not give permission for Westlife to be in the video. Kim of the Vengaboys said, "We used the footage to underline the friendship between us and the guys from Westlife. Unfortunately, it now turns out that what a manager thinks is more important than what an artist feels."

Many European stars including Westlife, Sting and the Coors have written to Euro MPs urging copyright protection from large-scale free distribution of their work via the Internet. The stars are seeking guarantees that their works are properly protected in the digital era. A crucial vote on the EU Copyright Directive will occur on Wednesday.

2/12/01

There's news out there that Westlife is going to be recording a Christmas album this year...and according to Louis Walsh, their manager, you can look for a cover of "White Christmas". [thanks to Adil for the news]

So how many of you were lucky enough to see Westlife live in concert this past weekend? =) Send us details if you have them! Anyways, on Friday, Westlife performed a sold out 90 minute concert at Newcastle's Telewest Arena. The group kicked off the concert with "Dreams Come True", and also sang past hits My Love, Fool Again, and If I Let You Go. Among one of the amazing stunts they did was flying over the crowd of 10,000 Westlife fans. The cost of the special effects are said to cost £500,000 ($750,000) a week to stage. Shane said, "We have waited for this for a long time, you can't describe the excitement. After months of rehearsals, we are finally on our first tour. It's incredibly exciting."

2/11/01

For all the Australian fans, I Lay My Love on You is being released on 2/19/01.

Also, "I Lay My Love on You" has entered the German charts at #50. [thanks to Stephan for the info!]

2/10/01

Westlife's worldwide popularity continues to explode (except in the U.S...sigh). "My Love" is now the #3 song on MTV in most of Latin America, and you can vote for the video here.

2/08/01

Ronan has finally admitted that his role as a manager of Westlife was all a PR stunt to give instant visibility to Westlife. He said: "I didn’t manage the band. I just used my name to get them a record deal and then set up the first album." Well, it certainly worked =)

Louis Walsh, Westlife's manager, is about to form another 5 person male group that will be along the likes of Duran Duran and A-ha. He terms it "a pop band with a rock edge"...and what the rest of the world will think of first as a "boy band that can play instruments". Auditions are being held in Dublin, Ireland this month. Louis explains, "I'm only looking for guys who can sing and play instruments -- guitar, bass, drums, whatever. Ideally, they will be in their late teens or early 20s. This is not another boy band. So if they can't play instruments, they won't fit into this group. The record deal is already in place, so it should come about fairly quickly."

2/07/01

Why do these no name stars continue to criticize Westlife? Our guess...they want the publicity to help jumpstart their careers. So, anyways, this fairly unknown Northern Irish rock group, Ash, decides to burn 300 Westlife CDs in Leeds, England.

Westlife manager, Louis Walsh, certainly had a quick reaction to the stunt saying, "Three hundred singles is more than Ash have ever sold. Where did a struggling band like them get the cash to buy the CDs? We're doing 11 nights in Dublin's Point Theater while Ash couldn't fill one night in the Olympia Theater! I told Bryan what they had done. He said he's never heard of them, but suggested they put a TR in front of their name!"

What does Ash say? "It's sad when five talentless no-hopers have more number ones than The Beatles -- especially when they sound like Daniel O'Donnell meets The Tweenies. Bob The Builder has more integrity. At least he can write his own songs." Ash does currently have a UK top 10 single, Shining Star.

2/05/01

Westlife with dance moves - now this I would love to see...and apparently many of you have already seen it =) Mark was afraid, at first, that he would not be up to the band's elaborate new dance routines for their upcoming tour. But after working with their choreographer Priscilla, he's quite confident with all the dancing involved. Mark said, "I didn't have much confidence starting off. But we worked with a fantastic choreographer called Priscilla. She encouraged me and pushed me to do the type of dancing I never thought possible. At the beginning of the rehearsals I would say to her 'I can't do that, no way.' But she would give a really serious look and ask how I could possibly know if I'd never tried it. I suddenly started co-ordinating all the moves and it felt really great. Now I feel I could even take on Michael Jackson -- well maybe that's stretching it. But I'm now enjoying every minute of it."

Here's another not so subtle hint that the Westlife - Five "war" is all but the media's wishful thinking. Five's Scott invited Bryan to come to his 21th birthday party at the Papa Gaio bar in London. But unfortunately, Bryan was with Westlife in Asia doing promotional stuff. Scott said, "I was disappointed that Westlife couldn't turn up. I'm especially good mates with Bryan and I rang him and asked him if he could come but they're in Asia. All that stuff in the press about us and Westlife hating each other is a load of rubbish. I've got on with those guys for a long time."

Finally, Atomic Kitten has scored their 1st ever #1 UK hit, "Whole Again," this week...and they attribute part of their success to none other than Westlife! (If you don't know by now, Kerry - ex-Atomic Kitten - is having a child with Bryan). Kerry's replacement Jenny Frost said, "We have definitely benefitted from the association with Westlife. Both bands came up at the same time and a lot of Westlife fans have bought our record. It's been like a chain reaction so, yes, you can say they helped us. But it could easily have gone the other way with fans turning against us because of them."

2/03/01

In this 5 minute clip, dotmusic visits the artists who performed at the Childline concert in Dublin last Saturday (too bad they don't actually show a bit of the concert). Westlife is first up, with the group talking about their past Childline experience. Atomic Kitten makes an appearance sans Kerry. A1 talks a bit and Boyzone does as well. They play video clips of songs performed by each group. For Westlife it was "My Love". (the kicker for me was seeing Boyzone's "Picture of You"...which I had never seen a clip of). Watch the Childline video here. (need real player, and the faster your internet connection, the better the video quality. I accessed the video at 225 kbps).

Also, this was posted by emma in our forum on the 29th, but I'll repost it here. onlinepop.co.uk is holding a competition and giving away Westlife concert tixs! What do you need to do to participate? You need to post on their Westlife message board.

2/02/01

Seems a lot of people are jealous over Westlife these days...let's see here. Actor Max Beesley (aka Melanie B's boyfriend) still thinks the Spice Girls are superior to the Westlife. He claimed, "They are nowhere near the Spice Girls. They won't last if they carry on singing ballads and cover versions." I'll give him major points for loyalty, but no points for seeing the future. Singer Boy George also dissed Westlife this week, calling them "Pondlife". In the same mouthful, he also called a1 "Gay One". This exchange occured during a debate about manufactured pop groups called GM:Pop. Could Boy George be jealous that Westlife actually has a record contract to speak of? He lost his last week. hmmm...

click here for all the Westlife news from February 2001

click here for all the Westlife news from January 2001