Westlife | |
|---|---|
 Westlife (from left-to-right: Feehily, Egan, Byrne, Filan) performing in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Sligo and Dublin, Ireland |
| Genres | Pop |
| Years active | 1998 - 2012; 2018 - |
| Labels | RCA, Syco, Sony, BMG |
| Members | Shane Filan Nicky Byrne Kian Egan |
| Past member(s) | Mark Feehily Brian McFadden |
| Website | www |
Westlife is an Irish boy band who formed in 1998. The group currently consists of Shane Filan, Nicky Bryne, and Kian Egan. Then Bryan McFadden left the band on March 9, 2004 to give more of his time to his family life with the British TV personality and former Atomic Kitten member Kerry Katona, although he has subsequently separated from her and changed the spelling of his first name back to 'Brian'. and Mark Feehily left the band in 2024 due to health issues.
Westlife did not manage success in America, although their debut single, "Swear It Again" was a minor hit on mainstream radio and MTV. Its video made MTV's Total Request Live briefly, and it managed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 2000, going up to No. 20 on the chart. Their debut American album was also released in 2000, but flopped. Beyond Europe and the US, Westlife's fan base is truly global, including Canada, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
Like most other boy bands, Westlife was primarily marketed to teenagers, besides girls there were approximately 20% of Westlife fans are male. They also had a large following among gay men, and performed numerous times at gay venues in the UK.
It was announced in October 2011 that Westlife would split in 2012. They had their last concert in Dublin, Ireland in 2012. Tickets for it sold out in 5 minutes.