THE STORY SO FAR....... |
The story begins a long, long time ago in a town named Sligo in the West of Ireland. Three guys named Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan had performed in the school musical Grease together, and after their success on stage, had decided to form a band, called 6 as 1, and later changing their name to I.O.YOU. |
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Mark,Kian and Shane pictured with Derek,Graham and Micheal |
The groups released a single "Together Girl Forever" in Ireland, and after limited success, Shane's mother, Mae, contacted the manager of Boyzone, Louis Walsh, to try and persuade him to take a look at the guys and to possibly sign them up. Although Louis was impressed he felt he didn't have the time to manage yet another band. But...luckily for us... he contacted Ronan Keating of Boyzone, who agreed to co-manage the new band with Louis. And so 'Rolo Management' was formed. |
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Westlife With Louis Walsh |
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Westlife with Ronan |
The line-up of I.O.YOU was changed - 3 members (Derek, Graham and Michael) being asked to leave, and auditions were then held in Dublin to find two new members for the group. Nicky Byrne and Bryan McFadden were eventually chosen...Westlife were born! |
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The first magzine article Featuring the lads- September 1998 |
The group (who were originally known as Westside - their name having been changed by Ronan who felt that I.O.YOU was too boyband-esque) first supported the Backstreet Boys in Dublin, and then toured the UK and Ireland with Boyzone in November 1998. They stunned audiences on the Smash Hits Tour around the UK, winning "Best New Tour Act" at the Smash Hits Awards in November 1998. |
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However, the group were obliged to change their name from Westside to Westlife early in 1999 when it was discovered that a number of existing bands shared the same name. Undeterred, Westlife went on to release their first single "Swear it Again" in April 1999 which went straight to the top of the British and Irish charts, becoming the biggest-selling debut single *ever* in Ireland. So far Westlife have released eight singles in the UK, and their double A-side of "I Have a Dream" and "Seasons in the Sun" became the UK Christmas number 1 of 1999. They also recorded Phil Collins “Against all odds” with Mariah Carey. Their debut album was released in the UK in November 1999 and has achieved triple platinum status. |
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Winning Record of the Year 1999 for "Flying Without Wings" and having been nominated for two MTV Awards, Westlife have achieved much acclaim and enjoyed a lot of success. Already in their brief career Westlife have broken records as fast as they have set them - their fifth single release of "Fool Again" gave them a place in chart history and the Guinness book of records, as they became the only band in UK chart history to have their first five singles debut at number 1. |
When they were known as Westside |
Their First Album Cover |
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Their Second Album Cover |
They beat the Spice girls to the number one spot with Coast to Coast as both albums were released the same week. They went 36 hours without sleeping and travelled to 4 cities to do signings to promote the new album. They have made another number one with “My Love” (that makes 7). They also won Record of the Year 2000 with “My Love”. They didn’t get Christmas number one 2000 with a Double A-side of “What Makes A Man” and “My Girl” as Bob the Builder beat them but they came a close second. They have released their version of the Billy Joel song “Uptown Girl” for comic relief 2001 and in true Westlife style they got to number one. They won six awards at the Smash Hits poll winners party 2000, they picked up Best band on planet pop, Best non-British band, Best single with “My Love” and Best album with Coast to Coast. Shane picked up most fanciable male and Kian picked up Best haircut. Shane has won most fanciable male twice as he also won it at the TV hits awards 2000. They won best pop act at the 2001 Brits. They were also nominated for best international group and best international newcomer. During 2001 they have been touring around the world between February and April they were in Britain, Scotland and Ireland the did a record number of gigs at Dublin Point, they named this tour “The No Stools Tour” as they didn’t sit on any stools. They then went on to release their 10th UK single Queen Of My Heart on 5th November 2001 and in true Westlife style it shot straight to number 1. A week after Queen Of My Heart was released Westlife released their 3rd UK studio album World Of Our Own. |
Their eagerly awaited second album Coast to Coast was released in November 2000. |
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Their 3rd Studio Album |
This eagerley waited 3rd album peaked at number one becoming triple platinum. They then released the single World Of Our Own making yes number 1 in its first week! They then released Bop Bop Baby but this time it didn't make number one it charted at number 5. They had Vinnie Jones in their video of the bad guy and they had to rescue a lovely young lady! In April 2002 Westlife's 2nd tour kicked off and it was set in the round as they thought it would be fairer so all the fans could see them on stage and have a good view! Westlife are about to release their new single Unbreakable and im sure it will get number 1 and their Greatest Hit album, they have also announced their greatest hits tour 2003, At this moment they are trying hard to break Amercia they even had to change their image! lets hope it works! |