Westlife's Biography

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It began in a small town called Sligo in the Northwest of Ireland. Shan Filan, Kian Egan, and Mark Feehily were appearing in a production of Grease in their local theater. After the last show, the three attended a party where they began singing a song. Realizing their voices blended well together, they decided to take it a bit further. They got together and formed a band called Six As One, which was made up of Shane, Kian, Mark, Derrick, Graham, and Michael. The new band wanted to do something fun but not too serious, so they decided to do a one-off gig composed of a 30-minute set of cover songs. Their first gig was held at the Southern Hotel in Sligo.

After this gig, they all went back to doing Grease. The only difference was that Six As One sang songs in the intermissions. After summer was over and some of the group had finished their exams, they concentrated on singing once again. The band became extremely popular in Sligo. During this time Mark and Shane wrote a song called "Together Girl Forever", and the grouped changed their name to a catchier IOU. Their popularity grew so much that they became the leading band in Sligo. Their popularity and music attracted two managers who were eager to tie them to a contract, but the restrictions were vastly complicated. Shane didn't like the idea of signing the contract, so it was put on hold. While they were thinking about signing, a small independent record company released "Together Girl Forever" on CD, and it sold well around Sligo.

While all this was happening, Shane's mom had been sending letters and copies of the "Together Girl Forever" CD to Louis Walsh hoping that he would be able to help I.O.You get a better contract. Then in late February 1998, she finally got through. She convinced him that it was worth meeting with the band to see what they were like . The band knew nothing of this until she rang Shane to tell him that Louis wanted to meet with them. At first Shane didn't believe his mom, but after some convincing, he did. The news pleased him and the rest of the band.

The meeting went over well, and finally more news came when Louis told the band that he had got them the support slot at the Backstreet Boys concert in Dublin. They had to prepare three songs for a 15-minute routine, The songs the chose were "Together Girl Forever", "Everlasting Love", and a cover of The Who's "Oinball Wizard". Now all they needed were some outfits, so they went to EJ's  Menswear, a local clothing store, and bought matching tops and trousers to wear on the special night. The show was a hit, and Louis decided then that he wanted to manage them. Bad news came when he told them that he wanted a five-piece group. Somebody had to go, and Derrick was chosen because although he was a superb singer, he looked more mature than the other guys. He was devastated, but there wasn't a lot he could do about it. Everyone was upset about the cosmetic balance of the group.

With the guys now down to five, they began working hard preparing to meet various record companies. They fine-turned their voices and recorded two songs onto a demo tape. This was when Ronan entered the picture. He came along to meet the band, to help Louis choose the songs, and to lend his mind to the groups development. He got along well with them all, so when Louis asked him if he would like to help manage them, he couldn't refuse. With the management set in place, the band had their first meeting with a record company. Unfortunately, it turned out that the man they met wasn't interested in signing the band; he only wanted to sign Kian and Mark. The meeting was a disappointment. It was then decided that they would have to get their act together and sort themselves out. Sadly, another member of the band had to go. This time it was Graham. He was about to turn 22 and this meant he was a lot older than the other guys, He took it better than Derrick though, and put everything into his last gigs so he could go out with a bang.

Since the band only had four members now, auditions were held at the Red Box in Dublin to find a fifth member. Approximately 300 young people auditioned, and among these hopefuls were Nicky Byrne and Bryan McFadden. Nicky had worn a black suit, but Bryan had only worn baggy trousers and looked a bit rough. Nevertheless, they still got to sing and both did very well. Nicky sang "Father and Son". Although he came in too early, he kept his cool and carried on singing. The short list was narrowed down to six then just two-Nicky and Bryan. No one could decide which one to choose, so they were asked to sing acapella. Still, no one could come to decision. In the end, both were chosen to see how they fitted with the band.

Nicky and Bryan hit it off and got along well with everyone else too. After a short stay in Sligo, the group returned to the Red Box in Dublin to perform a showcase for a record company. It was at this point when the biggest upset was announced. The management had always wanted a five-piece band, so yet another band member was dropped. It was Michael. He was totally devastated, and for a long time afterwards, he wouldn't speak to the group. Then one day, he said "Fair plays to you all" and seemed to better understand why they had dropped him. Now that the line-up was complete. IOYOU was ready to try to get a much-wanted record deal and maybe some nationwide success.

The first show to unveil the new look for IOYOU came in July when the group headlined the annual Beat On The Streets road show around Ireland sponsored by 2FM Radio. The open-air concerts were staggered over eight weekends and attracted thousands of teenagers. During these concerts, IOYOU's popularity kept growing until they began building a big fan base. It was during this tour that the group developed their own pre-concert ritual to focus their minds before taking to the stage. It included forming a circle together and praying. Then moments before going onstage each would put one hand into the circle and locked them together, followed by them counting to three in Irish and shouting the band's name. This is a tradition they still maintain today.

It was also around this time that the band got their first tour manager, Anto Bryne(but there is no relation to Nicky). He was told to look after the band with total commitment for at least six years. He had to make sure everything ran smoothly and was to be with the band from the minute they got up to the minute they went to bed.

With a new manager and the success of tour behind them, the band was looking for a record deal. The last A&R man they met was Simon Cowell.He had met the band about four months before but didn't want to sign them because they didn't look right together. W    ince they had a new line-up and a better sound now, he really wanted to sign them. After talking to RCA, Simon got the band their first record deal.

After all the new commotion, the band was to support Boyzone on their UK tour. They had been given four songs to sing which were "Swear It Again", "Flying Without Wings", "Everybody Knows", and "If I Let You Go". IOYOU had also been given a new name, Westside. Louis had come up with the name after seeing it on the side of a garbage truck! The band was now on the road to success and had only just met.

The Boyzone tour started and ended with Westside stealing part of the show.They attracted so much attention from the fans that the RCA offices were sent over 10,000 enquiries about the new band. TV shows and magazines started to take an interest too, and even though the band had only been together for four months, they now had their diaries booked a year in advance. Over the next few weeks, they went back on the road and performed at under 18 clubs and a BBC road show  to make sure that it wasn't just Boyzone fans that liked them. This was very tiring for the band, and by the end of the tour, their tempers had come to a boiling point. On the way to their last gig, Anto told them to quit arguing. Afrer much silence, Kian said that they should all sit back and look at what they had. Everything was in place to be a massive band, and it could all go wrong if they didn't stop arguing. At tnat moment, they realized what he said was true, and they couldn't afford to throw it away.

This gave them the confidence to go on to do the Smash Hits road show. They worked hard on this and came out on top by winning the award for the Best New Act. It was a real achievement, and the deserved it. They gace the award to Louis. and then asked Smash Hits to make five more copies, one for each member of the band.

The real test came on Wednesday, the 3rd of February, when Westside had to sing in frone of cynical music journalists, PR's, and executives from rival record companies at the Cafe de Paris in London. Westside rehearsed their set for hours to perfect it. The show was a hit, and now everyone who was anyone knew about them. It was time to start recording their debut album and do tons of promotion for magazines and for TV. Unfortunately, there were companies in America with the name Westside. SO to avoid any complications, they were re-named Westlife.

Their first single was "Swear It Again". They released it in Ireland first, then in the UK. Around 1,000 fans turned uo to their signing of the single in an HMV store in Dublin. The single managed to go straight to number one, first in Ireland, then in the UK. Next came the singles "If I Let You Go" and "Flying Without Wings", which bath went to number one.

Recently they have released a new single, a double A-side, with the songs "I Have A Dream" and "Seasons In The Sun". The single beat out Sir Cliff Richard and went straight to number one also. Their dream is going on.............

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