Post by shayne on Dec 17, 2006 19:28:16 GMT 8
Flying Without Brian… - 14 December 2006
By Aoife Kelly
Westlife reveal why they are in a World of Their Own
In the past decade the clean-shaven and cherubic Westlife lads have become stalwart veterans of the pop world and one of Ireland’s most successful acts.
With 14 British number ones, they’ve had the most number one singles (behind only Elvis and The Beatles), they’ve sold out 95 Irish concerts and have just released their eighth studio album prior to a whopping eight-date stint at The Point in April.
The chart-topping sensation’s longevity has surprised everyone – not least themselves – and they’re now negotiating uncharted territory the likes of which other bands, never mind boybands, can only dream of.
Even their idols The Backstreet Boys, for whom they opened at The Point in 1998, didn’t last as long, splitting after seven years due to dwindling sales. Take That and their Irish forerunners Boyzone managed just six years each.
Westlife’s latest offering, The Love Album, is a collection of 11 power ballads. It was the last record on their current deal, but they’ve just signed a new contract which will see them through another five albums.
“We never really put a time frame on it even though everyone, Louis [Walsh] included, probably thought, well, we might get a greatest hits album out and that would be it,” says Nicky.
“When we got the Greatest Hits 1 it was 2003 and it was like, ‘This is where Boyzone finished up, This is where Take That finished up.’ We felt we had so much more to give and the record label thought so as well and we just went back into studio and kept recording.”
The only time they really wondered whether the game was up was in 2004 when Brian McFadden announced he was leaving Westlife to spend more time with his family.
“That was a big kick in the arse to be honest, because we didn’t see it coming and the media went on his side and everyone was saying it was like when Robbie left Take That and Geri left the Spice Girls and the bands crumbled,” reveals Nicky.
But it turned out that Brian’s sudden and dramatic departure had little impact on Westlife’s profile. In fact, they went on to achieve some of their greatest success. Later that year they released their Rat Pack inspired album, Allow Us To Be Frank, and last year they released their hugely successful Face To Face album and the single, You Raise Me Up.
Both the album and the single went to number one in the British charts; the first time the band held both top album and single position in the same week.
“I think it was nice in the years in the after-math [of Brian’s departure] to stick two fingers up at everybody who didn’t believe it, including media, including whatever. That was nice,” grins Nicky.
Despite their success, they still feel there’s more to achieve. Having just conquered Australia they’ve practically conquered the world – except for the notoriously difficult-to-break US market.
They’ve worked with Mariah Carey, Diana Ross, Lulu, Donna Summer and Donny Osmond and on other occasions they’ve sung with Sinead O’Connor, Dolores O’Riordan, and even actor Kevin Spacey, who is said to be a very talented swing singer.
On The Love Album, at Louis Walsh’s suggestion, they did a duet with Brian McFadden’s girlfriend, Delta Goodrem, on the old Air Supply Hit All Out Of Love.
Nicky admits they were surprised, “Our initial reaction was, ‘What’s Brian going to think? He used to be in the band and now we’re singing with his girlfriend – is that going to be a problem?’ We rung Brian up and asked him what he thought. He said, ‘Yeah, I think it’s a great idea! Why not?’”
The band still keep in touch with Brian. There is no animosity between them, although they rarely get to meet up these days. And when they do they don’t dwell on the past or analyze each other’s personal lives.
“What we both miss about each other is the laugh we used to have together,” says Mark of his former bandmate. “Sometimes we just get really drunk and have a laugh, you know, whether it’s in a casino or a nightclub.”
Both Mark and Nicky can sympathize with the difficulties Brian is having in his personal and professional lives at the moment.
“He’s a good guy. We always said it – we never fell out with him. He really has a heart of gold and he’s having a difficult time of it lately,” Nicky reveals. “Brian had to do what he had to do for himself so we would never hold that against Brian. Unfortunately at the time we were angry for lots of different reasons. Three weeks away from a world tour, we were like ‘was our dream over?’ The press seemed to think so. There was a lot of anger there for a while but never physically to him in a room or anything. But it was like ‘F**k him anyway!’ You know? But we’ve got over that and now people ask us would we take him back and the answer to that, unfortunately, is no. We’re in a different place now. We’re not the Westlife we were when Brian was in it,” Nicky says.
Mark adds, “To be honest, equally the way we are saying we don’t think it would be right for him to be in the band again, he wouldn’t think it would be right to join us again.”
On top of their successful careers, the Westlife boys have found much happiness in their personal lives too. Shane and Nicky married their long-term girlfriends Gillian Walsh and Georgina Ahern in 2003.
Shane and Gillian had their first baby Nicole in July last year while Nicky and Georgina recently announced that they are expecting their first baby next year. Meanwhile Kian Egan has set up home with ex-Hollyoaks babe Jodi Albert in Sligo and Mark is going strong with boyfriend Kevin McDaid, formerly of boyband V.
It’s been a great year for Mark since coming out and he is genuinely touched by the support he has received from fans and the public.
“It’s all been positive. I haven’t had one single negative response, comment, reaction, nothing. I think that’s important for everyone to know,” Mark reveals.
Over the years the lads have taken stick about being in a boyband and even though they’ve had two bottles thrown at them Nicky insists it’s mostly just good-natured banter.
“I think Boyzone carved the way for us,” he reveals. “They seemed to get an awful lot of stick at the time. I remember one time in the very early days we were doing a photoshoot on an open top bus and a guy pulled out of a side street in a white van, looked up at us and just shouted, ‘Arse bandits!’ and it was like something out of The Commitments,” recalls Nicky.
“We pissed ourselves laughing. It was hilarious,” says Mark.
Nicky adds, “Even now in pubs lads will come up and try and have a laugh with you, and take the piss in a way that they’re not trying to belittle you or anything.”
But it does bother the Westlife boys to be considered role models for younger fans.
“I live my life the way I want to live it,” says Nicky, “I don’t not do things because I’m in Westlife. I just don’t do those things anyway in my own life. I don’t do drags, I never have done. I do drink and if I get particularly drunk I’m not worried about a 12-year-old reading it. I’m not. I’m not 12, I’m 28.”
Mark agrees, “There is an element of a role model in us for our fans but we’re pop singers, we’re not parents. They have parents to teach them right and wrong. I think it’s too much to ask of anyone to be a parent figure to millions of people, to all of our fans.”
The Love Album is out now. Westlife will perform at The Point Theatre, Dublin on 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28 April
Credit/Source: Star Time /
By Aoife Kelly
Westlife reveal why they are in a World of Their Own
In the past decade the clean-shaven and cherubic Westlife lads have become stalwart veterans of the pop world and one of Ireland’s most successful acts.
With 14 British number ones, they’ve had the most number one singles (behind only Elvis and The Beatles), they’ve sold out 95 Irish concerts and have just released their eighth studio album prior to a whopping eight-date stint at The Point in April.
The chart-topping sensation’s longevity has surprised everyone – not least themselves – and they’re now negotiating uncharted territory the likes of which other bands, never mind boybands, can only dream of.
Even their idols The Backstreet Boys, for whom they opened at The Point in 1998, didn’t last as long, splitting after seven years due to dwindling sales. Take That and their Irish forerunners Boyzone managed just six years each.
Westlife’s latest offering, The Love Album, is a collection of 11 power ballads. It was the last record on their current deal, but they’ve just signed a new contract which will see them through another five albums.
“We never really put a time frame on it even though everyone, Louis [Walsh] included, probably thought, well, we might get a greatest hits album out and that would be it,” says Nicky.
“When we got the Greatest Hits 1 it was 2003 and it was like, ‘This is where Boyzone finished up, This is where Take That finished up.’ We felt we had so much more to give and the record label thought so as well and we just went back into studio and kept recording.”
The only time they really wondered whether the game was up was in 2004 when Brian McFadden announced he was leaving Westlife to spend more time with his family.
“That was a big kick in the arse to be honest, because we didn’t see it coming and the media went on his side and everyone was saying it was like when Robbie left Take That and Geri left the Spice Girls and the bands crumbled,” reveals Nicky.
But it turned out that Brian’s sudden and dramatic departure had little impact on Westlife’s profile. In fact, they went on to achieve some of their greatest success. Later that year they released their Rat Pack inspired album, Allow Us To Be Frank, and last year they released their hugely successful Face To Face album and the single, You Raise Me Up.
Both the album and the single went to number one in the British charts; the first time the band held both top album and single position in the same week.
“I think it was nice in the years in the after-math [of Brian’s departure] to stick two fingers up at everybody who didn’t believe it, including media, including whatever. That was nice,” grins Nicky.
Despite their success, they still feel there’s more to achieve. Having just conquered Australia they’ve practically conquered the world – except for the notoriously difficult-to-break US market.
They’ve worked with Mariah Carey, Diana Ross, Lulu, Donna Summer and Donny Osmond and on other occasions they’ve sung with Sinead O’Connor, Dolores O’Riordan, and even actor Kevin Spacey, who is said to be a very talented swing singer.
On The Love Album, at Louis Walsh’s suggestion, they did a duet with Brian McFadden’s girlfriend, Delta Goodrem, on the old Air Supply Hit All Out Of Love.
Nicky admits they were surprised, “Our initial reaction was, ‘What’s Brian going to think? He used to be in the band and now we’re singing with his girlfriend – is that going to be a problem?’ We rung Brian up and asked him what he thought. He said, ‘Yeah, I think it’s a great idea! Why not?’”
The band still keep in touch with Brian. There is no animosity between them, although they rarely get to meet up these days. And when they do they don’t dwell on the past or analyze each other’s personal lives.
“What we both miss about each other is the laugh we used to have together,” says Mark of his former bandmate. “Sometimes we just get really drunk and have a laugh, you know, whether it’s in a casino or a nightclub.”
Both Mark and Nicky can sympathize with the difficulties Brian is having in his personal and professional lives at the moment.
“He’s a good guy. We always said it – we never fell out with him. He really has a heart of gold and he’s having a difficult time of it lately,” Nicky reveals. “Brian had to do what he had to do for himself so we would never hold that against Brian. Unfortunately at the time we were angry for lots of different reasons. Three weeks away from a world tour, we were like ‘was our dream over?’ The press seemed to think so. There was a lot of anger there for a while but never physically to him in a room or anything. But it was like ‘F**k him anyway!’ You know? But we’ve got over that and now people ask us would we take him back and the answer to that, unfortunately, is no. We’re in a different place now. We’re not the Westlife we were when Brian was in it,” Nicky says.
Mark adds, “To be honest, equally the way we are saying we don’t think it would be right for him to be in the band again, he wouldn’t think it would be right to join us again.”
On top of their successful careers, the Westlife boys have found much happiness in their personal lives too. Shane and Nicky married their long-term girlfriends Gillian Walsh and Georgina Ahern in 2003.
Shane and Gillian had their first baby Nicole in July last year while Nicky and Georgina recently announced that they are expecting their first baby next year. Meanwhile Kian Egan has set up home with ex-Hollyoaks babe Jodi Albert in Sligo and Mark is going strong with boyfriend Kevin McDaid, formerly of boyband V.
It’s been a great year for Mark since coming out and he is genuinely touched by the support he has received from fans and the public.
“It’s all been positive. I haven’t had one single negative response, comment, reaction, nothing. I think that’s important for everyone to know,” Mark reveals.
Over the years the lads have taken stick about being in a boyband and even though they’ve had two bottles thrown at them Nicky insists it’s mostly just good-natured banter.
“I think Boyzone carved the way for us,” he reveals. “They seemed to get an awful lot of stick at the time. I remember one time in the very early days we were doing a photoshoot on an open top bus and a guy pulled out of a side street in a white van, looked up at us and just shouted, ‘Arse bandits!’ and it was like something out of The Commitments,” recalls Nicky.
“We pissed ourselves laughing. It was hilarious,” says Mark.
Nicky adds, “Even now in pubs lads will come up and try and have a laugh with you, and take the piss in a way that they’re not trying to belittle you or anything.”
But it does bother the Westlife boys to be considered role models for younger fans.
“I live my life the way I want to live it,” says Nicky, “I don’t not do things because I’m in Westlife. I just don’t do those things anyway in my own life. I don’t do drags, I never have done. I do drink and if I get particularly drunk I’m not worried about a 12-year-old reading it. I’m not. I’m not 12, I’m 28.”
Mark agrees, “There is an element of a role model in us for our fans but we’re pop singers, we’re not parents. They have parents to teach them right and wrong. I think it’s too much to ask of anyone to be a parent figure to millions of people, to all of our fans.”
The Love Album is out now. Westlife will perform at The Point Theatre, Dublin on 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28 April
Credit/Source: Star Time /