Latest News

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

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.

Westlife.org is in the process of moving to a new server. Thus, there are a lot of missing pages on this site. These pages (and pics) will be modified and uploaded over the next 2 weeks...so the site will be back to normal by then. We appreciate your patience during this move =)

5/01/01

Westlife have definitely got the Atomic touch. As you know Bryan is marrying Kerry (a former Atomic Kitten). As it turns out, Natasha (another member of Atomic Kitten) is getting married to Fran Cosgrave. Who's he, you ask? A full-time security guard for Westlife. Natasha and Fran met 5 months ago at one of Westlife's concerts. A friend of Natasha said, "She is absolutely delighted but was desperate to keep it quiet for the time being."

Louis Walsh (Westlife's manager) had a few words about boy bands...

Walsh said that each member is picked to appeal to a different type of girl. The greater the difference in band members, the wider the audience they attract, he insists. "The girls must believe in the back of their minds that one day they'll go out with [every band member]. It doesn't help the fanbase if one of the boys is in a relationship or having a baby, but I can't control their lives as much as I'd like to. When you see facial hair, earrings and tattoos and they start to talk about being individuals, it's time to go to the conveyor belt and get a new set." And Walsh believes 5 is the magic number for a group. "It gives people just enough to look at. BBMak and 911 have three, and it doesn't look right." And about Boyzone: "I was tempted to have four [members] because it would have been much easier to fit them in a Taxi."

4/30/01

As you know, Westlife will be in Malaysia on May 26 with special guest Christian Wunderlich. The concert starts at 8pm local time at the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil. You can purchase tickets from Sg Wang Plaza Concourse, Sunway Pyramid Concourse and Music Valley Outlets. You can also call Axcess Hotline - 03 705 3000 for more ticket outlets. Ticket Pricing are as follows : RM160 (US$42) for numbered seating, RM130 (US $34) for free seating/standing, RM90 (US$24) for free seating, and RM50 (US$13) for free seating. Here's another number that you can call for ticket info: MK Hotline: 03 2166 6655

Fans in Malaysia can also call there local radio stations to request "Uptown Girl" =)

So how much does it cost to get Westlife to appear for a promotion? Coca-Cola paid each member of the group £6,000 (US$8500) each for a Coca-Cola promotion in January. That's some pocket change there!

And lastly, as a digression, Tamara has kindly let me know that there is another Popstars group in Holland, Starmaker, which already scored a #1 hit in that country. That makes 8 Popstars groups around the world.

4/29/01

Thanks to their new found German success, Westlife is re-releasing "Coast to Coast" in Germany! The new version of "Coast to Coast" will contain their 8th UK #1, "Uptown Girl" as well as "My Girl" and "I Have a Dream". They will also embark on an extended promotional tour in Germany this summer (2001). German fans are definitely in for a treat this summer!

Here's the original news in German, for those who can read it =) Thanks to Stephan for the news!

Westlife's zweites Album "Coast To Coast" wird in einer upgedateten Version ein zweites Mal in Deutschland veröffentlicht. Die enthält Westlifes 8ten UK-Nr.1-Hit "Uptown Girl", eine Coverversion des Temptation-Klassikers "My Girl", sowie den Hit "I Have A Dream" aus dem Jahr 2000. Ausserdem wird der Sommer 2001 für ausgiebige Promotion in Deutschland genutzt. Nichts wurmt Shane Filan (22), Mark Feehily (20), Kian Egan (21), Bryan McFadden (21) und Nicky Byrne (22) mehr, als dass das deutsche Publikum sie nicht in ihr Herz schliessen will.

Westlife have bought a new (bigger) tour bus so that Bryan will be able to take his and Kerry's new baby on the road. Bryan said, "We've been forced to buy a bigger bus. We've got to make room for a play area for the baby." As for becoming a dad, he commented, "I'm so proud. But it will be very hard work juggling roles as a pop star and a father."

4/27/01

As they had set out to do, Westlife have finally conquered Germany! "Uptown Girl" made its debut at #9 in Germany, their first top 10 hit (and highest ranking) there =) And German fans have even MORE to look forward to with a bunch of Westlife TV specials. [thanks to Stephan of a-teensweb.de].

4/26/01

Check back tomorrow for a video download from Westlife's VIVA performance!

Because Westlife is "out of the UK" at this point, news will probably slow down from the past few months. I've heard plenty of complaints from the Westlife chat at fanglobe.com. Well no wonder! Fanglobe.com said that 1 million fans from 122 countries tried to reach the chat room. And wonder why your particular question wasn't asked? Questions were flowing in at 200 per SECOND...and 400,000 questions were submitted in total. Wowee! No wonder there were so many technical problems. Terri has kindly sent me a copy of the transcript, which will be put up later today!

Contrary to what I have listed, I can confirm that Westlife will be in Beirut, Lebanon on May 14 for a concert. That concert will take place at Beirut Hall.

I love it when people share info =) A fan sent me the answer to a question I had asked 2 weeks back about Popstars. As you know, Germany's "No Angels" supported Westlife yesterday in Hamburg. Besides them, there are SIX other Popstars groups around the world representing 5 countries: TrueBliss in New Zealand, Bardot & Scandal'Us in Australia, Hear'say in the UK, Eden's Crush in the USA, and Sugar Jones in Canada. Canada will have another group later this year or early next year.

4/19-4/20/01

This update was so big (and important), that it might just last for 2 days. The news items were pulled from the AOL UK chat from yesterday.

Westlife are NOT planning to be touring the US this summer. They are currently planning for Jan/Feb/Mar 2002. Now that is really really disappointing news.

The next UK single will likely be released in October 2001 (yes that's a very very long ways away). They don't know when the Bryan Adams song will be released yet. And "I Lay My Love on You" will not be released in the UK.

Westlife are currently considering duets with Ronan, Hear'say, and Michael Jackson.

Shane maintains that he, Mark and Kian are ALL still single.

4/19/01

Thanks to Asfarina for clarifying something I asked a few days ago. And that is the meaning of the following location. Westlife is performing on 5/24 at Lapangan Sepakbola Gelanggang Mahasiswa Sumantri Brojonegoro, Kuningan. The last 7 words can be translated to mean Sumatri Brojonegoro Court Soccer Field in Kuningan. That does make so much more sense =)

Mark April 23 on your calendar if you want to chat live with Westlife at 5.30 PM CET...in Sweden. The boys will be at fanglobe.com, hours before their first ever live Swedish concert. At the fanglobe.com Westlife micro site, they will have competitions to win exclusive prizes as well on that day.

Does the rock group, Ash, ever know when to give up? Apparently not. Once again, they have decided that it is in their best interest to trash Louis Walsh, the manager of Westlife, as well as Ronan Keating and Samantha Mumba. If you remember, earlier this year, Ash decided to burn 300 Westlife CDs in a British car park. Singer Tim Wheeler launched a new attach on Westlife saying, "Westlife are just the most bland band on the planet ever. Every one of their songs is like a power ballad that sounds identical to the last one. It leaves you longing for some real music." Bass player Mark Hamiltion added, "Walsh is the worst thing to happen to Irish music in the last 200 years. Phil Lynott is probably turning in his grave."

4/17/01

The Sun has more to say about Bryan and Kerry. About Bryan's 21st birthday bash we told you about yesterday. Well, a lot seemed to happen at that party and not all for the better I might add. Apparently, the party was overcrowded and the bouncers wouldn't let any more people into the party. That included Bryan and Nicky's family members. Bryan and Kerry, who were inside, came out to get the group admitted. And that's when the chaos ensued.

An onlooker said: "It went a bit mad all of a sudden down at the door. There was a lot of pushing when a lot of people were trying to get in. Bryan was down there with Kerry trying to get his family in but the bouncers were saying they couldn't let anyone else inside. They were gutted as the family had come all the way over from Ireland to celebrate Bryan's birthday with him. Kerry was trying to speak to one of the bouncers and he turned round and accidentally knocked her one in the face. He apologised but she was furious and left with Bryan almost immediately."

Bryan and Kerry left immediately after that (they had stayed less than an hour). Bryan came back by himself a bit later. Luckily, Kerry appeared unhurt. [thanks to Katie and Holls for sending notices about this news item]

4/16/01

As we told you a few days back, "Uptown Girl" is being released in Germany today! And this is the album cover for Germany (different form the one released in the UK). [thanks to Stephan of a-teensweb.de].

Westlife's concert in Indonesia on 5/24 will take place at Lapangan Sepakbola Gelanggang Mahasiswa Sumantri Brojonegoro, Kuningan (I would love it if someone told me what that just meant, if anything). The concert will be at a huge stadium that can hold up to 15,000 fans...well, at least that's how many will be sold!!!

Happy 21st Bryan

Happy belated 21st birthday to Bryan! That makes 3 Westlife members who are now 21 (the magical number for us in the US...well at least most of us). So how did Bryan spend his birthday? By performing onstage at London's Wembley Arena...it was one of their scheduled concerts. But he did have a birthday bash at Propaganda's in London. Five, Atomic Kitten and the Spice Girls were to have been at the party. Bryan said, "I'm not going to be going mad or anything, but of course I'm going to mark the event. I'd love to be home to celebrate with my family and friends, but we're still on tour."

Bryan got a fantasatic present from his fiancee Kerry...a grand piano. He is now taking lessons so he can play the piano on stage. Kerry has given the 6ft long black piano pride of place in the couples £1 million Dublin home. A close friend said: "Bryan was nearly in tears. Kerry walked him into the room with his eyes closed and he was blown away. He's always dreamed of having his own grand piano as he fancies himself as an Elton John or Billy Joel." Bryan and Kerry with then fly off to Spain for a week starting Monday (today).

Next up on the birthday docket...Kian who also turns 21 this month. [thanks to Ashley for some of the info]

Nicky and Georgina

More choice quotes from Nicky and Georgina (we left you last time with a short article on how Nicky and Georgina plan to marry in a few years time):

Nicky said, "No matter what the future holds for me, I just pray I'm with Georgina," said Nicky. "Hopefully the money I get from Westlife will look after both of us for the rest of our lives. All I know is that if it wasn't for Georgina I wouldn't be the person I am today. She is my morning, noon and night. She's my everything." In an interview with the Irish Mirror the heartthrob revealed that they travel almost everywhere together when Westlife are touring. "It's really important to me that Georgina can be with me when I am on the road. In the early days we just had to get on with it and we didn't really have anyone with us. But when we are closer to home in Europe then I try and get her over with me as much as possible. We stay in a hotel together during the tour and try and get out a few nights and go shopping. It makes it a lot easier even though the Westlife thing takes up almost all my time. She is really a rock of support to me and has been behind me since day one. I honestly don't think I could do it without her, she's amazing. When she can't come on the road with me then we just constantly talk on the phone. If I'm away in America or somewhere far away like that then I try and get her to come out and stay with me for a couple of weeks. Whatever it takes for us to be together is really what I'll do. By the end of the month we've both got huge phone bills."

Nicky said that resisting the temptations which fame brings was not a problem. "I have never found it hard when girls start flocking around us and offering everything. At the end of the day you couldn't dream of having anything better than I have. It would be pointless to put that all at risk for someone who is only after you because you are famous. I'm lucky that I have found someone who I can trust because they knew me before I was in Westlife. I would say that it would be much harder if I was single in the group and trying to find true love now. It's hard to tell who is interested in you for being you, or who just wants to know you because you are in a pop band."

While band commitments are the priority for now, Nicky said he was desperate to be a dad before the age of 28. "That's the time limit I have set myself, hopefully it will happen before that," he said. "Both Georgina and I have discussed it and we are really excited about everything. It's a good bit in the distance at the minute but we still talk about it all the time."

Capital FM awards

Congrats to Westlife for winning the award for favorite International group!. The Capital FM awards are awarded by the London radio station.

4/12/01

TimeEurope.com has finally posted their interview with Westlife. To be honest, I've waited 2 months for the article to show up...the author has been planning it since mid-February. And he does a good job with it. The next single is "When You're Looking Like That". And on why Mark shaved his head, he said "I don't know, I just wanted to."

Kian, along with Robbie Williams, Ronan Keating and Geri Halliwell presented awards to children of courage at the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain awards in London on Tuesday afternoon. The awards were set up to honour children who have displayed special courage in the face of adversity and illness. Kian presented an award to 12 year old Katie Louise Beynon who saved her seven year old brother's life after a near fatal reaction to an asthma drug had stopped the little boy breathing. Katie-Louise instinctively performed a first aid manuever of mouth-to-mouth which saved her brother's life. Kian said: 'It was amazing that she had no training but still knew what to do to save her brother's life. It has been very touching to come here and see what strength people have. Doing the things that Westlife do, I realised how lucky we are."

Nicky is planning to marry Georgina, the daughter of Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. The couple have just moved into their 1st home after 6 years together. Nicky told the Daily Record that he wants to have a family by the time he is 28 (he's 22 right now). He said, "I want to put 100% of my energies into Westlife and then, if we take a break or slow down, I can get married and start a family. No matter what the future holds for me, I just pray I'm with Georgina. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be the person I am. She is my morning, noon and night." Nicky and Georgina appear in the current issue of Hello! magazine.

4/10/01

For those of you going to the Westlife concert in Hamburg, Germany on April 25: "No Angels", the German POPSTARS, will be supporting Westlife. [thanks to Verena for the info]....which gets me wondering...how many Popstars groups are there in the world. I'm counting 4.

Asia Tour

Asia will be hitting Southeast Asia again...their last visit was in late November of last year. This time around, the group is brining along newcomer Christian Wunderlich as their opening act.

May 21 - Jakarta, Indonesia
May 26 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
May 27 - Singapore
May 29 - Manila, Philippines

For those fans in Singapore, the concert will be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium with tickets from $51, $76, $96 (free standing) and $101. Tickets go on sale on April 28 for the Singapore concert. MTVasia will be giving away 5 pair of tickets for each country and two out of the lucky five will get to meet Westlife in person!

Arista Records

Westlife have been warned by Arista Records, their US label, to cut down on their drinking...especially if they ever want to crack the US market. Arista has told the group that the label will not back them if they don't clean up their act. Westlife are well known to go on drinking sprees. Most recently, Westlife have been seen drinking heavily after their concerts and after the Brit Awards. After the Brits, Kian had to be held up by pals and Nicky was visibly drunk.

An Arista insider says, "While their cheeky lad image might be OK for European teenagers, they have to be 100% clean-cut for the American market. Parents in the US get very upset about the idea of their children drinking alcohol and certainly wouldn't want any of their role models showing off about it. Westlife made great inroads into the American market when they did their duet with Mariah Carey and we don't want anything to spoil that [webmaster's note: um, the Mariah Carey/Westlife duet was never released in the States]. They are going to have to work harder than they ever have before to crack the States - and we don't want them taking their minds off the important job they still have to do."

I have to agree with Arista on this one. Over here in the states, the legal drinking age is 21...and only Nicky (22) and Shane (21) are old enough to drink here. Kian, Bryan and Mark are only 20. And even if they were old enough, drinking by superstars is really accepted. It would cause an uproar if the Backstreet Boys, N Sync and 98 Degrees had an image that they were constant drinkers. If I remember correctly, Britney Spears was caught drinking once this past year...and the media couldn't get over it.

Kian revealed that he was bullied at school because of his thick lips. He said, "I'd usually get hit in the face two or three times - it was a nightmare." He finally snapped and beat up one of his tormentors in the street. School administrators really should do something abou bullying...it is a worldwide problem.

4/8/01

It's chart news today: In Austria, "I Lay My Love on You" is at #28 on the Austrian Top 75 [thanks to MM for the info]. In Taiwan, the same song is up 1 spot to #9.

German Westlife fans: "Uptown Girl" is slated for release on April 16. On April 11 tune in to VIVA at 20.00 CET for a report about the video shooting of "Uptown Girl". [thanks to Stephan of a-teensweb.de].

Mark was spotted in Porchester Hall in West London last Thursday (April 5). He was there for the celebration of Destiny's Child launch of their 3rd album ("Survivor") in the UK. The other 4 members of the group didn't attend.

4/6/01

What a busy week for me...but here's another update for all you Westlife fans =) Details for 2 Westlife contests were posted this week on our message board. And here they are for those of you that missed them.

Fancy.nl is giving away a Meet and Greet for Westlife's concert in Ahoy (Netherlands) on April 26. It would help you if you could reach Dutch.

Spraydio is holding a contest to give away tickets to the April 23 concert in Stockholm, Sweden. But, since I can't read Swedish (just like I can't read Dutch) I can't tell you what the page says.

Westlife say that they will team up with Bryan Adams on an upcoming single. Kian said, "Basically me, Bryan and Shane wrote a song, and then our Bryan and Bryan Adams sat down and completely rewrote the track and added some brilliant new bits. It's very much like Bryan Adams' old stuff rather than his new stuff. It's in the same kind of style as Everything I Do. We're really excited because he's got a great voice and it's a brilliant opportunity for us."

So what happened after the March 31 Dublin concert aired live over the British Isles? It seems that Lillies Bordello was the place to be yet again (at least that's where Westlife always seems to show up at). Mark and Kian were the only Westlife members who showed up at the party. Mark could be seen dancing away while Kian spent the night surrounded by a ton of pretty ladies. Nicky, Shane and Bryan missed the party because they were just too tired after rehearsals and the live TV show. Who can blame them =)

A newspaper (Sunday Independent) report says that Westlife are breaching Irish company law. The band's official company, Bluenet Ltd, broke company law by giving out too many loans to its directors. The aggregate value at December 31, 1999 of loans advanced to directors was in excess of the 10% limit of net assets specified in section 32 of the company's act according to documents. Bluenet is equally owned by the five members of the band. The company had net liabilities of £2,953 by the end of the financial year. Its current assets were made up £89,491 owed by debtors and £63,618 in cash. But, money is definitely not a problem for Westlife. Shance recently spent £20,000 on a brand new Gucci wardrobe.

4/1/01

Westlife continues its world domination. "Coast to Coast" achieved a major chart jump in Germany, climbing from #43 to #19. [thanks to Stephan of a-teensweb.de].

Meanwhile, "Uptown Girl" falls from #3 to #5 in the UK, while Hear'Say dominates at #1 for the 3rd straight week. "I Lay My Love on You" is still holding on to #2 on MTV Asia. And "My Love" is still at #4 in Latin America. That's 3 songs on 4 continents...and all in the top 10. Impressive isn't it? Plus, "What Makes a Man" was #10 in Taiwan last week (which would have made it 4 songs on 4 continents). This week it is replaced by "I Lay My Love on You" also at #10.

BBC is giving away 5 Westlife watches. The thing is that it ends midday on April 2. So if you're fast enough, you can still get in an entry.

3/28/01

To clarify on some questions I received about the AOL UK contest:

(1) The contest is only open to UK residents (2) The contest is on AOL UK's proprietary service (i.e. you must be a subscriber to AOL UK). It is not accessible through http://www.aol.co.uk.

Westlife's main "rival", 5ive, went to Dublin on Tuesday for a secret 3 week recording session. Abs and Sean went to the Westlife concert on Wednesday night at The Point. Afterwards, they joined Westlife at an after show party at Lillies Bordello.

click here for all the Westlife news from March 2001

click here for all the Westlife news from February 2001

click here for all the Westlife news from January 2001