WESTLIFE
UNBREAKABLE:
THE GREATEST HITS BIOGRAPHY
W – World
of Our Own, the last album, sold more than 5 Million copies !
E – Eighteen Million Albums Sold Worldwide. Oh, and Seven Million singles !!
S – 7 consecutive
No.1 singles, breaking the Spice Girls previous world record
!
T – Ten UK
No 1 Singles !!
L – LIVE:
15 countries. 64 dates. Broke all box office records across Europe!
I –
Ireland: One Third of the Irish population saw Westlife in concert in 2002 !
F – Fans !! The Biggest Online artist fanbase in the World !!
E – Earls Court, London. 5 back to back nights. SOLD OUT
!
Crowned
undisputed kings of the pop band universe, and with 3 years of amazing success
and 18 million albums and 7 million singles under their collective belts,
Westlife are back with ´Unbreakable: The Greatest Hits´ - an incredible album
with all the hits back to back, plus 6 brand new songs recorded especially for
the album, which will be released on November 11th 2002..
The first
single will be the epic new ballad and title track ´Unbreakable´, to be
released on Nov 4th 2002.
Westlife
spent most of 2002 on the road visiting more than 15 countries on their 64 date European and UK tour, which broke all box office and
sales records. (And they still found time to pick up a 2002 BRIT Awards as Best
Pop Act along the way !)
Which other
band could play 13 shows back to back at the Odessey in Belfast, a hugely
impressive 5 back to back nights at London´s Earls Court, AND a record-breaking
11 sold–out nights at Dublin´s The Point !? .
Altogether
Westlife have played live to over 3 million people worldwide - proving without
doubt that with great songs, performed by great singers, Westlife have the
public voting with their feet !
And there´s more to come with the 2003 Unbreakable Tour already selling
fast!
From the
Emerald Isle to global pop superstars in just 40 months, Westlife are
huge on
every continent breaking all records in 25 countries - from Sweden
through
South Africa to Singapore - in Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, New
Zealand and
Indonesia. Westlife are unstoppable and loved by fans the world
over. ( And for the few unconverted , even the most determined
Westlife detractor cannot fail to be impressed by the sheer magnitude of this
band´s achievements…let the facts speak for themselves!!) .
Not bad for
5 guys hailing from the small town of Sligo in Ireland (Shane, Mark and Kian)
and two Dubliners Nicky and Bryan, eh??? !!
But where
did it all begin, this amazing coming together of talent, passion,
unstoppable
determination, hard work and commitment?
”WESTLIFE “
Before
Westlife even existed, Mark, Kian and Shane were at school together in Sligo,
on the west coast of Ireland. Having all appeared in a production of Grease,
they formed
a band
called ´I.O.You´ but although they released one single, their name
summed up
their commercial fortunes ! Enter pop impressario, Louis Walsh,
who was
an old friend of Shane´s family. After agreeing to manage the band
alongside
Ronan Keating, he brought in two new faces - Dubliners Nicky Byrne
and Bryan
McFadden. The bond between Mark, Shane, Nicky, Kian and Bryan was
instant
and everlasting, some would say Unbreakable, and Westlife came into
being -
the greatest boyband in the world was born !
Westlife´s
flight to the top began immediately with their nomination for the
prestigious
Smash Hits award, ´Best New Tour Act´, which they promptly won
in 1998.
Only a few months previously Mark had been working in a Photo-lab
and
delivering Pizza, Kian had worked as an assistant in a fashion shop,
Shane
worked in a hardware store, Bryan as a security guard and bingo
caller,
whilst Nicky had just been signed as a promising goalkeeper by Leeds
United. A
far cry from the private jets, sell out shows and fame and fans
that
beckoned and West ´life´ from this point forwards was never going to be
the same
again.
One thing
that has remained true throughout the incredible Westlife adventure is their
unfaltering work ethic and genuine love of what they do. Seasons may come and
go, people may come and go, bands may come and go, but Westlife have always
done it with a smile. They love their fans and love what they do – and that´s
what makes them so good at it.
From the
very outset Westlife set themselves amazing goals and have continued to
reach
every one. After three consecutive Number 1 singles - ´Swear It Again´, ´If I
Let You Go´ and ´ Flying Without Wings´ - their self-titled debut album was
released towards the end of 1999, reaching Number 2. Then they enjoyed a
further two Number 1´s with ´I Have A Dream / Seasons In The Sun´, and ´Fool
Again´.
“COAST TO
COAST “
´My Love´ and then ´Against All Odds´ (with Mariah Carey). continued
their string of Number Ones, and was taken from their second album, ´Coast To
Coast´ , which sold more than 7 million copies worldwide, and also reached pole
position in the UK ( selling 2 million copies in the UK alone) towards the
close of 2000. A week before Christmas that year, Westlife were pipped at the
pop post for the first time when the ´What Makes A Man´ single charted at
Number 2 behind Bob The Builder.
Their
dedication, talent and hard work helped them to further cram their
collective
mantelpiece, winning ´Best UK & Ireland Act´ in November 2000 at
the MTV
Europe Awards, plus a triumphant two year winning run on ITV´s
Record Of
The Year in 1999 and 2000 with ´Flying Without Wings´ In an industry awash with
accolades, these are the biggest - the ones everyone wants to win. In 2001,
Westlife´s debut tour became the biggest-selling arena extravaganza to date. There
were 11 adrenaline-packed, sold-out nights at Dublin´s The Point - a record.
“WORLD OF
OUR OWN”
Westlife
then returned to the top of the charts in 2001 with their superb take on Billy
Joel´s ´Uptown Girl´. ´Uptown Girl´ became their biggest hit to date (selling
the magic million) and raised millions for the 2001 Comic Relief campaign.
It´s not hard to understand why Westlife are so successful. They have a
unique
sound , from beautiful ballads - ´Queen Of My Heart´ - to blistering up-tempo
smashes - ´World Of Our Own´ and ´Bop Bop Baby´ – all contained on 2001´s
Number One Multi-Platinum album ´World Of Our Own´ .
For this
group, making music is very much a team effort and, working
alongside
their long-term collaborators Steve Mac and Wayne Hector, Westlife
have
emerged as a fully functioning creative pop group, graduating to singer
songwriters
as well as spectacular performers. The ´World Of Our Own´ album
saw the
boys increasing their share of the creative pie by penning 5 of its
18 songs, ( and reaping a further Number One hit with ´Queen Of My
Heart´.)
"There´s
never anyone who can do anything on their own," says
Nicky.
"Everyone needs help. People talk of manufactured bands, but a
football
team is put together through trials and hard work and Westlife play
in the
premier league."
´Unbreakable
- The Greatest Hits Volume 1´ is true testament to an amazing
band. It
charts the history of how 5 boys have come so far, climbed so high
and truly
lived their dreams. ´Unbreakable´ marks this incredible story of
songs and
is the ultimate rule book for boy bands to follow. Pretenders to
the
throne can only hope to emulate a tenth of this success, record half of
these
hits and have a fraction of the fans that Westlife have won to date.
Westlife
have set the standard.
Success is
hard to sum up but to put it into perspective Westlife´s Nicky
hits the
nail on the head, "I always had that dream that I wanted to be
successful.
No matter how long Westlife lasts, I can bring my kids up
knowing I
was in a band once and we were the best. Nobody can take that away
from me. We
write our own songs. We all play instruments, we work hard and
play hard
and people can say whatever they want about Westlife. But we know
we are
the best at what we do."
5 boys.
Bryan McFadden, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Nicky Byrne.
One band.
Westlife.
Unbreakable.
Westlife
UK
Discography
Single/Album
Title Release Date Highest UK Chart Position
Single
Swear It Again 19/04/99 1
Single If I
Let You Go 09/08/99 1
Single
Flying Without Wings 18/10/99 1
Album
Westlife 01/11/99 2
Single I
Have A Dream/ 13/12/99 1
Seasons In
the Sun
Single Fool
Again 27/03/00 1
Single
Against All Odds 18/09/00 1
(Duet with
Mariah Carey)
Single My
Love 30/10/00 1
Album Coast to Coast 06/11/00 1
Single What
Makes A Man 18/12/00 2
Single
Uptown Girl 05/03/01 1
Single
Queen of My Heart 05/11/01 1
Album World
Of Our Own 12/11/01 1
Single
World Of Our Own 18/2/02 1
Single Bop
Bop Baby 20/5/02 5
Single
Unbreakable 04/11/02 tbc
Album
Unbreakable 11/11/02 tbc
“UNBREAKABLE
– GREATEST HITS”: 11 NOVEMBER