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.
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.
The lineup
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!.
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.
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 seven 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. Their
eagerly-awaited debut album was released in the UK in November 1999 and
has acheived triple platinum status. Winning Record of the Year 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 latest album, Coast To Coast went triple platinum
in Ireland after only one day of release, and their seventh single
release, My Love, gave them a place in chart history as they became
the only band in UK chart history to have their first seven singles debut
at number 1. Their Christmas single, What Makes a Man, narrowly
missed the number 1 spot, going in the charts at number 2, however their
charity release of Uptown Girl for Comic Relief put the band back
at the top of the charts. Their next single, Queen Of My Heart,
has proved to be another success for the lads as it also went to #1, this was followed by the lead track of latest album World of our own which was another no.1 for the lads and the latest single Bop Bop Baby is out now and is expected to be another # 1.
With soulful harmonies, angelic voices, drop-dead good looks, and
the strong management team of Louis Walsh and Ronan Keating behind them,
their plans to break the USA in 2002 mean that Westlife look set to enjoy
chart success well into the new millennium!
