Westlife Biography

The Westlife brief is simple. Make records. Then break them. The band holds the Guinness World Record as the most successful new chart act of all time, achieving seven consecutive Number 1's with their first seven singles.

Westlife emerged from a six-piece band named IOU formed by Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan. While performing in a stage version of the musical Grease in Ireland, the boys were spotted by pop impresario Louis Walsh.

On the look-out for the next Boyzone, Walsh took the boys on and groomed them as a hit-making machine. Immediately cut to three members, the band were initially called Westside, before changing to Westlife to avoid confusion, and possible legal problems, with a US group.

With Nicky Byrne and Bryan McFadden joining the group, the five-piece's first single - 'Swear It Again' - went straight to number one in 1999, swiftly followed by 'If I Let You Go' and 'Flying Without Wings'.

Before long the band had secured their place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the only band to have topped the charts seven times in a row. The records have kept coming ever since - in every sense. Sell-out tours, albums and DVDs have helped keep the awards rolling in with two Brit awards, an MTV Europe award and two Record of the Year awards, among many others.

In March 2004, Bryan left the band to pursue a solo career and, despite critics predicting the end of the road, the group's popularity hasn't been affected. Their latest outing, 'Allow Us To Be Frank' is a collection of the band's favourite classics from the golden Rat Pack era.

In 2005, the group released their 'Face to Face' album, which shot to the top of the charts and earned Westlife a Record of the Year award for the track 'You Raise Me Up'.

Westlife signed a new five-album deal the following year and released their eighth album, 'The Love Album'.

Mark Feehily announced his sexuality in 2005 when he started dating his then boyfriend Kevin McDaid. They got engaged on their five-year anniversary. In 2010, Mark paid tribute to Stephen Gately who was the first boyband member to come out.

The hard-working group released their ninth album, 'Back Home', in 2007. It reached number one in the charts and became one of the best-selling albums of the year.

In 2008, the group marked their tenth year in the music industry with a sold-out concert at Croke Park in Dublin, which 83,000 fans attended.

The same year, they were declared Ireland's ninth richest celebrities aged under 30 and 13th in general. As a band they were worth 36 million Euros.

They made a surprise appearance on 'The X-Factor' and performed 'Flying Without Wings' with JLS on 13 December 2008.

Westlife took a one-year break following their anniversary concert and released their tenth album, 'Where We Are' in November 2009.

In 2010, the group released their eleventh studio album, 'Gravity'. 'Safe', the first single released from the album, reached number ten in the UK charts.

Wayne Hector, who has worked with Westlife in the past, said: "We've always thought the reason Westlife songs have been so successful is because it's about situations that everybody goes through."

On 14 March 2011, the band announced they had left Simon Cowell after 13 years due to his decision not to release a second single from the their most recent album.

Byrne expanded and stated that Cowell had been great in 1998 but the development of 'American Idol' and 'The X-Factor' had left the band feeling "unloved."

On 19 October 2011, Westlife announced they would be releasing their second greatest hits album on 21 November 2011.

They also revealed that their nine-date tour in 2012 would be a farewell tour as they will be splitting up.

In a statement, the band said: "The decision is entirely amicable and after spending all of our adult life together so far, we want to have a well-earned break and look at new ventures."