BIOGRAPHY
Biography
“We know we can sing. That’s the easy part,” says Shane Filan, one quarter of the most successful boy band of the last decade.
Twelve years, ten albums and 44million sales into their career, Westlife came to a crossroads earlier this year.
Did they stick to the winning formula that had produced 14 No1s
(only three less than The Beatles), or tear themselves away from their
comfort zone, shred the rule book and start again?
The latter, as it happens. And in emphatic style.
The quartet’s eleventh offering, Gravity, sees the Irishmen sail
into uncharted waters, wrestle an unprecedented level of creative
control and most critically of all – start believing in themselves
again.
“It’s a really good album,” insists Nicky Byrne. “It’s one
producer. It’s one sound. Maybe it’s taken us twelve years to get there.
But it doesn’t matter. We’re here now.
“It’s the kind of record we knew we could make and we just needed the right person to deliver it with us.”
And that individual was legendary producer John Shanks. He steered
Take That’s last two collections, was responsible for Bon Jovi’s recent
reinvention and sculpted some of Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion and Sheryl
Crow’s most enduring hits.
As sessions sprang into life this summer, first in London and then
Los Angeles, it quickly became clear that the recording process would be
radically different from anything the lads had ever done before.
Nicky recalls, “From day one John said, ‘I’m not going to be
ringing Shane up and saying I want him in on Wednesday lunchtime and
Kian in on Friday morning.
“’’If I’m going to do this, we’re all going to be in the studio together.’
“That was the first time anyone had ever said that to us. He made us feel like a real band again.”
And injecting that sense of coherence, togetherness and freedom was critical for the group.
They had to confront some painful truths about how much creative steam they were lacking.
Shane admits, “We made some choices over recent years that we
weren’t happy with. We got to a point where we were selling so much, we
didn’t think twice about doing a Rat Pack album or an album of covers of
love songs. They were selling millions, but we eventually realised we
needed some original songs again.
“For us to keep going as a band, for us to remain excited, we had
to write our own material, not just record other people’s songs.”
And collaborating with Shanks saw the lads flex song-writing muscles that had been little-employed over the previous decade.
Nicky explains: “It’s not like it was in the past where we had a
lot of covers. John insisted we get involved. Now we’ve got an album of
twelve tracks and four are co-written.”
Shane reiterates: “It was very natural the way we bonded with John.
He really wanted to get us involved in each song. We really feel like
we’ve made this album together. We were there from the start to the
finish. It feels like we were in the happiest place we have ever been
making an album.”
Yet, one track confronts one of the most painful experiences two of the lads’ had ever gone through.
Kian and Nicky’s respective fathers both passed away over the last
twelve months and they explore their grief in the most personal song the
group have ever recorded.
Too Hard To Say Goodbye is a tender, tear-jerking ballad that many will identify with.
“Myself and Kian lost our dads last year. My dad died of a heart
attack over night and Kian’s dad died over the course of a year” says
Nicky. “We were discussing the loss with John over lunch one day and he
said, ‘Let’s write a song about it’. We had tears in our eyes when we
were putting it together. But it’s one song we’re all really, especially
proud of.”
Elsewhere on the collection can be found the results of a conscious
effort to erase some of the preconceptions that have weighed heavily
around the four piece’s necks for many a year.
Nicky explains, “I’m not boring. I know I’m not boring.
“I’ve never liked the fact we got tarred with the brush that we
were just these four lads who sit on stools, wear suits and sing slow
songs.”
Beautiful Tonight echoes the crisp, euphoric electronic pop of
Erasure, claims Shane, while banger No One’s Gonna Sleep Tonight is
“Westlife does the Black Eyed Peas.”
“We’re twelve years in and all at least thirty years of age,” says
Mark Feehily. “We could all go home now and we’d be alright for the rest
of our lives.
“So, if we are going to make more records we want to do it well otherwise we don’t want to do it at all.”
And Gravity shows these four individuals to be men of their words...
Westlife’s album ‘Gravity’ is out on the 22nd November
History of the Formation of Westlife
Westlife story of its beginnings in 1996 in Sligo, a small town in the north of Ireland. Three teenagers, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily are often active in theater in Ummerhill College. The three teens got the lead role in a drama Grease and their appearance was a great stepping stone. On one night after the show, when they playfully vocal workout, Mary McDonagh suddenly approached them and said "I want you to form a band". After that they started singing the song "take that", a mega-popular band in the mid 90s. When want to be named, Mary gave a very strange name of "6 As 1" (Kian, Shane, Mark and three other young singers). Beginning in 1997, the six of them began performing in theaters in Sligo and a lot of people who directly ngefans with this new group.
6 As 1 Being IOU
their fans in Sligo continues to grow. In August 1997, 6 As 1 appears to bring the songs of Boyzone and Backstreet boys in front of more than 500 people. But they do have one complaint that is not like the name of his band. So they decided to change their band name to IOU. IOU then recorded a single entitled "to get a girl forever". A local TV news show broadcast the event and turned their performances attracted the attention of Louis Walsh, the manager of the group's most successful pop band in Europe, Boyzone.
Shown Together BSB (Backstreet Boys)
the opportunity to be the opening band BSB concert is a big surprise for IOU. BSB fans turned out as many as 9500 people are satisfied with the appearance of IOU. Unfortunately there is one problem, though IOU is good but the sound Shane, Kian and Mark does not really fit with the other three members. Therefore, some changes had to be done.
Replace Again Become Westside
after the decision to break up the IOU, then Shane, Kian and Mark appeared as a trio. But it turns out there are less than three of them sound. They feel there needs to be additional vocals so they sound completely harmonious. Then held auditions in Dublin, Ireland to search for a fourth member. Hundreds of enthusiastic young singers who took part in the audition, including Nicky Byrne and Bryan McFadden. Nicky and Bryan was actually already old friends. They both often dreamed of becoming a member of the band since they were children. They wish they could be elected, but who sought only one person. But luck turned siding with Nicky and Bryan, Nicky and Bryan finally became a new member of the group IOU. To start a new step, they change the name of their band for the third time. Their band name is the Westside (which is a tribute to Sligo, home of Shane, Kian and Mark are located on the Westside of Ireland)
Finally Being Westlife
life Shane, Kian, Mark, Bryan, and Nicky as the Westside did not last long. Because the Westside name has become the name of another band, therefore this hottie fifth were forced to change their band name for the fourth time. This time they chose the name Westlife. In the month of July, 1998, Westlife began performing around the UK with Boyzone and in October, they received an award from the magazine Smash Hits Award as "Best New Tour Act". On 19 April 1999, their single entitled "swear it again" became a best seller. With the release of her second single "if i let you go", boy band Westlife managed to become the first of his two singles topped the charts in the UK. But they are not satisfied until there. Single third, fourth and fifth also managed to sit in first place on the UK charts and was a huge success that the band never felt anywhere in the UK.
History of the Formation of Westlife
Westlife story of its beginnings in 1996 in Sligo, a small town in the north of Ireland. Three teenagers, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily are often active in theater in Ummerhill College. The three teens got the lead role in a drama Grease and their appearance was a great stepping stone. On one night after the show, when they playfully vocal workout, Mary McDonagh suddenly approached them and said "I want you to form a band". After that they started singing the song "take that", a mega-popular band in the mid 90s. When want to be named, Mary gave a very strange name of "6 As 1" (Kian, Shane, Mark and three other young singers). Beginning in 1997, the six of them began performing in theaters in Sligo and a lot of people who directly ngefans with this new group.
6 As 1 Being IOU
their fans in Sligo continues to grow. In August 1997, 6 As 1 appears to bring the songs of Boyzone and Backstreet boys in front of more than 500 people. But they do have one complaint that is not like the name of his band. So they decided to change their band name to IOU. IOU then recorded a single entitled "to get a girl forever". A local TV news show broadcast the event and turned their performances attracted the attention of Louis Walsh, the manager of the group's most successful pop band in Europe, Boyzone.
Shown Together BSB (Backstreet Boys)
the opportunity to be the opening band BSB concert is a big surprise for IOU. BSB fans turned out as many as 9500 people are satisfied with the appearance of IOU. Unfortunately there is one problem, though IOU is good but the sound Shane, Kian and Mark does not really fit with the other three members. Therefore, some changes had to be done.
Replace Again Become Westside
after the decision to break up the IOU, then Shane, Kian and Mark appeared as a trio. But it turns out there are less than three of them sound. They feel there needs to be additional vocals so they sound completely harmonious. Then held auditions in Dublin, Ireland to search for a fourth member. Hundreds of enthusiastic young singers who took part in the audition, including Nicky Byrne and Bryan McFadden. Nicky and Bryan was actually already old friends. They both often dreamed of becoming a member of the band since they were children. They wish they could be elected, but who sought only one person. But luck turned siding with Nicky and Bryan, Nicky and Bryan finally became a new member of the group IOU. To start a new step, they change the name of their band for the third time. Their band name is the Westside (which is a tribute to Sligo, home of Shane, Kian and Mark are located on the Westside of Ireland)
Finally Being Westlife
life Shane, Kian, Mark, Bryan, and Nicky as the Westside did not last long. Because the Westside name has become the name of another band, therefore this hottie fifth were forced to change their band name for the fourth time. This time they chose the name Westlife. In the month of July, 1998, Westlife began performing around the UK with Boyzone and in October, they received an award from the magazine Smash Hits Award as "Best New Tour Act". On 19 April 1999, their single entitled "swear it again" became a best seller. With the release of her second single "if i let you go", boy band Westlife managed to become the first of his two singles topped the charts in the UK. But they are not satisfied until there. Single third, fourth and fifth also managed to sit in first place on the UK charts and was a huge success that the band never felt anywhere in the UK.
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