13 surprising facts about Westlife you might not know
Get to know the band a little better!
It's safe to say that Westlife have had an incredible career ever since they released their debut single 'Swear It Again' back in April 1999. The much-loved Irish band have amassed legions of loyal fans across the world, in addition to releasing 12 studio albums and winning two BRIT Awards.
But how much do you know about the band? To help you brush up on your Westlife knowledge, we've put together a list of interesting facts that you may not know...
1) Westlife went through a number of name changes
Before they were called Westlife, they'd settled on Westside but another band had that name so they were forced to change. But that's not the only time they've switched things around.
When performing together before Nicky Byrne and Brian McFadden joined, the rest of the band called themselves IOYOU. Even further back, Kian Egan, Shane Filan and Mark Feehily were in a pop band with three other local lads and named themselves Six Of One.
2) Westlife won a total of 14 Smash Hits awards
Don't pretend you don't remember the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party! The highlight of any pop fan's calendar, awards were dished out for Best Song, Best Group and Most Fanciable Male. An interesting Westlife fact is that they won 14 Smash Hits awards, including Best Single, Best Non-British Band and Best International Act.
3) Westlife had their own chocolate bar
One of our favourite Westlife facts and a full on throwback - they teamed up with Cadbury to bring out their own chocolate bar. Released in 2001, the bar was transformed to feature the name of each member carved into it. What more could anyone want?
4) Westlife's three biggest selling singles are cover versions
If you can guess which ones then you're a die-hard Westlife fan, for sure. If not, let us tell you. Westlife's best selling singles are: 'Uptown Girl', 'I Have A Dream/Seasons In The Sun' and 'You Raise Me Up'.
WATCH: Westlife - 'Seasons In The Sun'
5) Shane has six siblings
Shane is the youngest of seven children, so perhaps his singing ability was as a result of needing to be heard over all the noise at home. His dad Peter and mum Mae owned a diner in Sligo where Shane worked during the summer holidays and before becoming a full time boyband member, Shane was training to be an accountant.
6) Brian McFadden changed the spelling of his name
If you've ever seen Brian McFadden's name spent with a 'y' and felt confused, you're not the only one. Brian was born with an 'I' is his name but when he joined Westlife, he found it easier to sign autographs with a 'y' in his name instead. Odd, right? After he left Westlife, Brian changed his name back to the original spelling. Strange but true!
7) Brian was a contestant on Dancing On Ice
Speaking of Brian, he's gone on to do many things since leaving Westlife including performing on Dancing On Ice. Many Westlife fans still hold Brian dear to their hearts and were delighted to see him partake in the hit TV show.
Brian put on his skates for the show in 2019 and was paired with Alex Murphy. Brian came fourth in the series behind Saara Aalto, Love Island's Wes Nelson and ultimate winner James Jordan.
8) Mark is quite the foodie!
Mark famously owns a catering van! When he was speaking about his slight change in career back in 2015, he called it a 'side project' and said: "It's a street food van. We bought an old Citroen H working van. We refurbished it and catered it out with all the stuff you need inside it, so we're available to do bar mitzvahs and weddings."
Mark was selling crepes and coffee - an ideal combination!
9) Kian used to be a kissogram!
Can you imagine? Before he found fame with Westlife, one of Kian's jobs was as a kissogram in Ireland for birthday parties, girls nights out and hen dos.
Speaking about it, Kian said: "I was 16 at the time... I had quite a good body. The routine was, you'd go in at 10 o'clock and they'd all be drunk. The whole thing only took a few minutes. It was just a matter of peeling off, reading a poem and giving the girl a peck on the cheek."
Apparently he only wore a pair of see-through trousers, a tiny pair of boxers and a bow tie!
10) Kian's wife was also a pop star
After he left the world of stripping behind and joined Westlife, it wasn't long before Kian met his future wife. But did you know Jodi Albert was a poster in her own right? Like all true pop loves, boyband member meets girlband member and they live happily ever after. Jodi was in two bands, the most successful being Girl Thing - check out their music video below and see if you can spot the future Mrs Egan.
WATCH: Girl Thing - 'Last One Standing'
11) Nicky was a professional footballer before Westlife
Nicky Byrne played for Home Farm and St Kevin's Boys, both in North Dublin. Nicky then signed for Leeds United as a goalkeeper in 1995 and played as part of their FA Youth Cup winning team two years later. Nicky later returned to Dublin to play for Shelbourne, Cobh Rangers and St Francis FC.
12) All members of Westlife have children
All the members of Westlife are married or with a partner and they all have children. Shane has three children with his wife, whilst Nicky is also a dad of three. Brian has three daughters, and Kian has three sons. Mark and his partner had baby Layla with a surrogate in 2019.
13) Westlife released their own perfume range
Not content with selling millions of records, performing to crowds all around the world and having their own chocolate bar, Westlife also released their own fragrance range. The band came out with two perfumes, which were called 'With Love' and 'Westlife'.
Now take a look at Westlife's incredible career so far:
1998: Westlife is born
Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan knew each other from school, forming a pop group with fellow students Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron, and Michael Garrett called Six As One in 1997, soon changing their name to IOYOU. When Mark's mum Mae Filan got in touch with Louis Walsh, who managed Boyzone, and he took them on - but when they got shot down by Simon Cowell, Louis fired Derrick, Graham and Michael, and held auditions to replace them.
They recruited Nicky Byrne and Brian McFadden, and officially became Westside in July 1998 - quickly changing to Westlife when they discovered a band already called Westside.
They signed a £4 million deal with RCA Records, and they were the opening act for both Boyzone and Backstreet Boys, with Ronan Keating of Boyzone co-managing the group with Louis. They recorded their first EP, 'Swear It Again', in 1999, which went to Number 1 in the UK
1999: Debut album and follow-up
The band's self-titled debut album 'Westlife' was released in November 1999, containing singles 'Flying Without Wings', 'Seasons in the Sun' and 'More Than Words', topping the charts in Ireland and going to Number 2 in the UK.
The band released their second album 'Coast to Coast' a year later, spawning singles 'Against All Odds', 'What Makes a Man' and 'When You're Looking Like That'. It went to Number 1 in the UK and Ireland, beating Spice Girls' 'Forever', and the boys embarked on their 'Where Dreams Come True Tour' in 2001.
2001: Third album and BRIT Awards
Westlife's third album 'World of Our Own' was released just one year later, containing singles 'Uptown Girl', 'Evergreen' and the album's titular song. It went to Number 1 in the UK and Ireland, and they sold over 12 million records in just three years. Westlife won Best Pop Act at the BRIT Awards in both 2001 and 2002.
Their 'Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits Vol. 1' was released in 2002, also going to Number 1 in both the UK and Ireland and Westlife then went on 'The Greatest Hits Tour' in 2003. They released their fourth album 'Turnaround' later that year, spawning singles 'Hey Whatever', 'Mandy' and 'Obvious' - it went to Number 1 in the UK and Ireland.
2004: Bryan McFadden's departure
Bryan announced that he was leaving the group in March 2004 to spend more time with his family, as he had two young daughters with then-wife Kerry Katona (pictured). He also reverted back to using the spelling Brian. His departure came three weeks before the band went on their 'Turnaround Tour', with Brian watching in the audience.
The remaining members carried on without him, releasing fifth album '...Allow Us To Be Frank' in 2004 which was a Rat Pack tribute album and contained many covers by Frank Sinatra, going to Number 3 in the UK. They released sixth album 'Face to Face' in 2005, containing 'You Raise Me Up', seventh album 'The Love Album' in 2006, which contained covers of famous love songs and eighth album 'Back Home' in 2007.
2008: 10th anniversary of Westlife and hiatus
To celebrate their 10-year anniversary, Westlife put on a show called '10 Years of Westlife' at Croke Park in Dublin in June 2008. In July, Louis announced that the group would be taking a hiatus for one year until July 2009.
They released 10th album 'Where We Are' in November 2009, and they won a Guinness World Record as the top selling album group of the 21st century. Westlife took part in the 2010 charity single 'Everybody Hurts' to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake, along with Rod Stewart, Mariah Carey, Take That and Kylie Minogue among many others. Their eleventh album 'Gravity' was released in November 2010, going to Number 1 in Ireland and Number 3 in the UK.
2011: Split and 'The Farewell Tour'
In March 2011, Westlife split from Simon Cowell's label Syco, and released their album 'Greatest Hits' in November 2011, and despite rumours that Brian could reunite with the band for an interview, this never happened. Westlife announced their 'The Greatest Hits Tour' or 'The Farewell Tour' on 18th October 2011, and announced their split a day later.
The statement read, '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. We would like to thank our fans who have been with us on this amazing journey and are part of our family too. We never imagined when we started out in 1998 that 14 years later we would still be recording, touring and having hits together. It has been a dream come true for all of us. Kian, Mark, Nicky and Shane.'
2012 - 2017: Solo ventures and reunion rumours
After the group's split, all four went onto solo endeavours. Shane released three solo albums: 'You and Me' (2013), 'Right Here' (2015) and 'Love Always' (2017). Mark released his debut solo album 'Fire' in October 2015, performing as an opening act for Mariah Carey and Wet Wet Wet. He released his second solo album 'Christmas' in December 2017.
Kian released debut solo album 'Home' (2014), became a coach on The Voice of Ireland and won I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2013. Nicky released his solo album 'Sunlight' in 2016 and represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in the same year, sadly failing to advance to the final. He also took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2012.
Throughout the years between 2011 and 2017, there were many rumours about Westlife reuniting, and whilst they initially said they would never get back together, each member started to hint that they'd like to reunite as the years went on.
2018: Reunion at last
Westlife announced that they were getting back together in October 2018, revealing that they were going on tour and bringing out new music. Brian confirmed in an interview with Closer magazine that he would not be taking part.
The band released their first single as 'Westlife 2.0' in January 2019 - 'Hello My Love', which was co-written by Ed Sheeran. They performed it at the National Television Awards in 2019, and released the album 'Spectrum' in November 2019, which went to Number 1 in the UK and Ireland. Ed also co-wrote four other tracks on the album including 'Better Man'. They went on 'The Twenty Tour' in 2019.
2020: Stadiums in the Summer Tour
Westlife were set to embark on their 'Stadiums in the Summer Tour' in June 2020, visiting 21 venues around Europe including Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Cardiff City Stadium and Wembley Stadium among others. Sadly, it was cancelled due to Government advice around the Coronavirus pandemic.
2021: New record label and Wembley shows
Westlife broke the news on St Patrick's Day that they had signed a deal with Warner Music UK label East West Records, having left EMI Records earlier in the year.
They also added a second Wembley show date - going on to perform at the venue on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd August 2021.
2022: 'The Wild Dreams Tour'
The band released their 'Wild Dreams' album on 26th November 2021, going on to hit the road on a sell-out UK and Ireland tour. The lads performed all of their greatest hits 'Swear It Again', 'Flying Without Wings' and 'World of our Own' as well as tracks from 'Wild Dreams'. They performed gigs in Dublin's Aviva Stadium and two shows in Belfast's SSE Arena.
2024: North and South American tour dates
Westlife will be performing a series of tour dates in March 2024, visiting Canada, the United States, Mexico and Brazil.
Mark Feehily won't be joining the band on tour, having been forced to 'stand down' from Westlife touring due to health issues.
Read more:
Westlife through the years: All the biggest moments from their career
Westlife: Everything you need to know
Boyzone: their rise to fame and success