[음악감상실] Westlife

[鷗浦]

Westlife 노래를 들으시려면 상단중앙에 있는 배경음악은 잠시 꺼주세요~♬

시간이 되시면 저 아래에 있는 더블린 마지막 콘서트는 꼭 감상해보세요! ^^

(Final concert on 23 June 2012 at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, Ireland)

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My Love

An empty street
An empty house
A hole inside my heart
I’m all alone and the rooms are getting smaller

I wonder how, I wonder why
I wonder where they are
The days we had, the songs we sang together
And oh my love
I’m holding on forever
Reaching for a love that seems so far

Chorus :
So I say a little prayer
And hope my dreams will take me there
Where the skies are blue
To see you once again, my love
Overseas from coast to coast
To find the place I love the most
Where the fields are green
To see you once again, my love

I try to read
I go to work
I’m laughing with my friends
But I can’t stop to keep myself from thinking

I wonder how, I wonder why
I wonder where they are
The days we had, the songs we sang together
And oh my love
I’m holding on forever
Reaching for a love that seems so far

Repeat chorus

To hold you in my arms
To promise you my love
To tell you from the heart
You’re all I’m thinking of

I’m reaching for a love that seems so far

Repeat chorus

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Westlife

웨스트라이프(Westlife)는 1998년 7월 3일에 결성된 아일랜드의 팝 음악 그룹이다. 틴 팝에서 시작해서 시간이 흐를수록 발라드에 초점을 맞춘 어른스러운 사운드를 추구하였다.

▲ The band on their 2006 concert tour

멤버는 Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne이다. 그룹의 오리지널 라인업은 Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, Bryan McFadden으로 구성되어 있었다. Shane Filan은 밴드의 보컬 리더이다. Mark Feehily는 Bryan McFadden이 그만두기 전의 보컬 파트를 일부분 나누어 맡았었다.

몇몇의 멤버들은 악기를 연주할 수 있다: Kian Egan(드럼, 기타, 피아노), Bryan McFadden(기타, 피아노) 그리고 Mark Feehily(틴 휘슬, 피아노)가 그들이다.

▲ The band was originally signed by Simon Cowell

모든 히트곡들이 전문 작곡가의 손에서 탄생했지만, 모든 멤버들 또한 작곡을 하고 있다. 사이먼 코웰(Simon Cowell)을 픽업했으며 해체 전까지는 루이스 월시(Louis Walsh)가 관리하였다.

2004년 3월 9일, Bryan McFadden이 자신의 가족과 더 많은 시간을 보낼 필요가 있고, 자신의 솔로앨범에 더 매진하기 위해 그룹을 떠났다. 그리고 구룹 Westlife는 2011년 11월, 앨범 Greatest Hits(한국발매 2011. 11. 22)와 송별 투어를 마지막으로 해체할 것을 선언했다. 그들은 각자 자신의 길을 가기 위해 큰 불화 없이 해체의사를 밝혔고, 1998년부터 14년간 같이 하모니를 만들어내면서 자신들의 꿈을 이루었다고 말했다. - 위키백과

▲ Westlife performing live on Gravity Tour in October 2011 in Hanoi, Vietnam

Westlife were an Irish boy band formed in 1998 and disbanded in 2012. Originally signed by Simon Cowell and managed by Louis Walsh, the group's final line-up consisted of Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan. Brian McFadden was a member from 1998 until his departure in 2004.

Westlife sold over 50 million records worldwide, a total that included studio albums, singles, video release, and compilation albums. The group accumulated 14 number-one singles in the United Kingdom (the third-highest in UK history, tying with Cliff Richard and only behind The Beatles and Elvis Presley) and 26 top ten singles over their 14-year career. In the Guinness World Records, they are the top-selling album group of the 21st century in the UK as of 2010. They are also the most frequent act to win The Record of the Year—the only music award in the UK based on public votes—with four awards. In 2012, the Official Charts Company listed Westlife 34th among the biggest-selling singles artists in British music. Despite their European and Asian success, Westlife didn't manage to break the U.S. market, having only one hit single, "Swear It Again", which peaked in 2000.

Swear It Again

In October 2011, Westlife announced they would split up in 2012 after finishing their Greatest Hits Tour, following the release of Greatest Hits. The boyband's last concerts were held 22 and 23 June 2012 at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, with the first 85,000 capacity concert sold out in record-breaking 5 minutes and the latter screened live in cinemas worldwide.

History

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Origins

The band was originally signed by Simon Cowell. Prior to becoming successful, Egan, Feehily, and Filan along with fellow Sligo men Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron, and Michael Garrett, were part of a six-member pop vocal group called Six as One and was later changed to IOYOU in 1997. Managed by choreographer Mary McDonagh along with two other informal managers, they released a single titled "Together Girl Forever". Walsh, the manager of the 1990s boy-band Boyzone, was contacted by Filan's mother and came to know about the group. However, the group did not meet Cowell's approval for a record deal with BMG, and thus changes were needed. Cowell told Walsh, "You are going to have to fire at least three of them. They have great voices, but they are the ugliest band I have ever seen in my life." Three members of the band were told they would not be part of the new group, and auditions were held in Dublin where Byrne and McFadden were recruited. The new group, formed on 3 July 1998, was renamed Westside but as the name was already taken by another band, it was later changed to Westlife. In Westlife – Our Story, Byrne revealed he was keen to change the name to West High but the others wanted Westlife. McFadden also changed the spelling of his name to Bryan to make it easier to sign autographs. Boyzone singer Ronan Keating was brought in to co-manage the group with Walsh. The band then released an EP titled Swear It Again.

Debut album, Coast to Coast, World of Our Own: 1999–2002

Westlife's first big break came in 1998 when they opened for the Boyzone and Backstreet Boys' concerts in Dublin. Later Act' award at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. In April 1999, the group released their first single, "Swear It Again" which immediately topped the charts in Ireland and in the UK for two weeks. Their second single, "If I Let You Go", was released in August 1999 along with the highly acclaimed "Flying Without Wings" produced by Steve Mac and written by Wayne Hector (their first 'Record of the Year'), released in October the same year, also followed suit. "Flying Without Wings" was also included on the soundtrack of the Warner Brothers film, Pokémon: The Movie 2000. Their first album, simply titled Westlife, was released in November 1999 and peaked at No. 2 in the UK. Ironically, the album was the biggest chart dropper on the top 40 in UK music history when, in its 58th week on the charts it leapt from No. 79 to No. 3 before falling to No. 37 the following week. This is the only album to have five no.1 singles in less than a year.((cn)) In December 1999, the double a side fourth single was released,"I Have A Dream"/"Seasons in the Sun", knocked Cliff Richard's "The Millennium Prayer" off the top spot and earned them the 1999 UK Christmas number-one single. The fifth and last single from the album, "Fool Again", also peaked at #1. Then the group went on a short UK, US and Asian tour in support of their debut album before releasing a second album.

Coast to Coast was released a year later and was another No. 1 UK album beating the Spice Girls' Forever album. It became the country's 4th biggest selling album of 2000. The album was preceded by a duet with Mariah Carey on the Phil Collins' classic "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" and the original song, "My Love" (the song that bagged their second 'Record of the Year' award). Both singles reached No. 1 on the UK charts. With this, Westlife broke an unexpected record of the most consecutive number one singles in the UK, having their first seven singles debut at the top. However, in December 2000, they failed to secure their eighth chart-topper in a row with their UK and Ireland only single "What Makes A Man" when kid's favourite, Bob The Builder's "Can We Fix It", was crowned as the Christmas number-one single of that year. Outside the UK/Ireland territories, they have released "I Lay My Love on You" and "When You're Looking Like That" and gained chart success. In 2001, they launched their first world tour, "Where Dreams Come True Tour", unofficially nicknamed "The No Stools Tour" due to the group's reputation of performing while perched on stools.

World of Our Own

Westlife released World of Our Own, their third album, in November 2001. "Uptown Girl", "Queen of My Heart" and "World of Our Own" were released as singles, all of which peaked at No. 1 in the UK. "Bop Bop Baby" was also released as a single but it peaked at No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart. In 2002, Westlife went on their second world tour, the World of Our Own Tour (In The Round).

▲ Brian McFadden left Westlife for his family and children

Unbreakable, Turn Around, and the departure of McFadden: 2002–04

Brian McFadden left Westlife for his family and children. The group released their eleventh UK No. 1 single, "Unbreakable", in 2002. Amidst rumours of a split, Westlife released their first greatest hits album in November that same year entitled, Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits Vol. 1, which zoomed all the way to No. 1 in the UK. The release was followed by the double a side single, "Tonight/Miss You Nights", which debuted at No. 3 in the UK. At this time, Because Films Inspire... made a TV Documentary titled "Wild Westlife," directed by Iain MacDonald and starred the group itself. It revealed how their musical life was on a daily basis and when they were on tour. In 2003, Westlife went on their third world tour, The Greatest Hits Tour, shrugging off rumours of a split.

Unbreakable

In September 2003, Westlife released "Hey Whatever", which peaked at No. 4 on the UK Charts. Their fourth studio album, Turnaround, was then released in November, earning the group another UK No. 1 album. "Mandy", a cover of the Barry Manilow hit, was released in November 2003. Their version won them their third Record of the Year award in under five years. Their version of Mandy is also considered the single with the highest to leap to the top (from No. 200 to #1) in UK music history. "Obvious" was released as the final single from the album, charting at #3. On 9 March 2004, just three weeks prior to embarking on their fourth world tour, Brian McFadden left the group to spend more time with his family and work on solo projects. On that day, a press conference was held where all the group's members were present and gave emotional individual speeches. McFadden's final public performance as part of Westlife was at Newcastle upon Tyne's Powerhouse nightclub on 27 February 2004. He subsequently began a solo career, deciding to revert the spelling of his first name back to its original 'Brian'. He released his first solo single, "Real To Me" which entered the UK chart at No. 1 and soon after, he released his first solo album Irish Son under Sony Music. McFadden later released more singles, but only with moderate success.

Quintet to quartet, Allow Us to Be Frank, Face to Face, The Love Album, and Back Home: 2004–08

Less than a month after McFadden's departure, the group kicked off their "Turnaround Tour". A live version from the said tour of "Flying Without Wings" was released as an official UK download, earning them the title of the very first UK Downloads #1. In September 2004, they performed on the World Music Awards, where they were recognised as the Best Irish Act of that year. They then released a Rat Pack-inspired album, ...Allow Us to Be Frank, which peaked at No. 3. No singles from this album were released in the UK. "Ain't That a Kick in the Head", accompanied with a music video, was released as a physical single in other European countries. "Smile" and "Fly Me to the Moon", both with music videos as well, were released as digital downloads only. Prior to the album release, Westlife scouted for "the perfect fan" to help promote their album from their one-season special show "She's the One", presented by Kate Thornton. After X Factor-style auditions, they found Joanne Hindley, who recorded "The Way You Look Tonight" with the group. To mark this special collaboration, a special programme was televised, showing auditions and live performances. Performers included Joanne, Westlife members' fathers and glamour model Katie Price, Il Divo and Kevin Spacey. Westlife continued to tour Europe as part of their "The Number Ones Tour", before taking a four-month break. On 4 May 2005, Westlife lost their battle for European trademark from the German trademark "West".

You Raise Me Up

In October 2005, Westlife returned with their comeback single, "You Raise Me Up", which was taken from their Face to Face album. On 5 November 2005, both the album and the single were at No. 1 in the UK at the same time during the second week of the single. It was the first time that Westlife held both the top album and the top single position in the same week.[37][38] "You Raise Me Up" was awarded as their fourth Record of the Year in the UK for 2005. In December of that year, the group released "When You Tell Me That You Love Me", a duet with Diana Ross, as the second single and it debuted at its peak position of #2. Westlife then released a third single, "Amazing", which debuted at No. 4 and marked as the group's lowest-selling single yet. After that, Westlife embarked on the "Face to Face Tour", travelling extensively to the UK, Ireland, Australia and Asia. This tour marked the first time that Westlife travelled to mainland China for a concert. In late 2006, Westlife signed a brand new five-album deal with Sony BMG. Their eighth album, The Love Album, was a "love" concept album which consisted of popular love song covers. The album outsold other compilation albums by Oasis, The Beatles, and U2 in its first week of release and went straight to No. 1. The first single from The Love Album was a cover version of Bette Midler's classic, "The Rose", which became their 14th UK No. 1 single.

The band on their 2006 concert tourThis made Westlife the third act (along with Cliff Richard) in the UK to have the most No. 1 singles, tailing behind Elvis Presley and The Beatles. Westlife then kicked off their eighth world tour, "The Love Tour", in Perth, Australia. The group then went on to other Australian cities before moving on to South Africa, the UK and Ireland.

On 5 November 2007, Westlife released their ninth album, Back Home, which contained nine new original songs along with three cover songs. The album debuted at No. 1 on the UK Music Charts and it was also 2007's fifth biggest selling album in the UK. The first single released from the album was a cover of Michael Bublé's "Home", which peaked at No. 3 in the UK. "I'm Already There", not released as a single, managed to chart in the UK based on downloads alone, following a performance on an The X Factor episode. On 15 December 2007, they had a two-hour show called The Westlife Show where they performed 10 of their songs, some of which were voted online by fans and some from Back Home. It was hosted by Holly Willoughby. This time, Westlife together with Tesco brought out "The Definitive Westlife Quiz" that asked about the whole history of the group. It was watched and participated by thousands of fans worldwide. Months later, "Us Against the World" was announced and released as their second single in UK and Ireland. Before the release of the second single, they embarked on the Back Home Tour on 25 February 2008. This tour marked the first time that the group had travelled and performed in New Zealand, performing four sold-out shows in Auckland, Wellington, New Plymouth and Christchurch. Meanwhile, "Something Right" was released as the second single and "Us Against the World" became the third single in Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Both songs performed well on several music charts.

Music Week revealed on their website that Westlife were the official third top touring act within the years 2005–2008, while they were the seventh top touring act of 2008. Also in 2008, they were declared Ireland's ninth-richest celebrities under 30 years old and thirteenth in general, with 36 million euros as a group. In 2009, they dropped to the sixteenth richest Irish with estimated 8 million euros each.

10 years anniversary and last two studio albums: 2008–11

To mark their tenth year in music, Westlife staged a special 10 Years of Westlife, a sold-out concert at the world's thirty-third biggest and Europe's fourth biggest stadium, Croke Park, on 1 June 2008. Shayne Ward filled in as a support act for the concert, which Egan described to be a "pop extravaganza". Filan confirmed that a corresponding live concert DVD would be released. The group announced that they would be on hiatus for a year after their Back Home Tour and that there would not be an album release in 2008 as they would be spending more time on the production of their tenth album. As promised, the group's official website confirmed on 27 September 2008 the release of a DVD on 24 November 2008 entitled 10 Years of Westlife – Live at Croke Park Stadium which went straight to No. 1 on UK, Ireland, South African, Hong Kong and New Zealand Music DVD charts.

I'm Already There

As the group ended another successful tour, Louis Walsh announced in the show Xpose that 1 July 2008 would be the official start of the longest hiatus of the group. He said that it will be a one-year break, from that day up to 1 July 2009. On 13 December 2008, while on a break, Westlife made an unexpected appearance on X Factor Final Performance Night where they performed "Flying Without Wings" with JLS. After the presentation, Filan and Byrne were interviewed on The Xtra Factor with Ronan Keating and Stephen Gately of Boyzone. As JLS also performed, "I'm Already There", Westlife's version of the song re-entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 63 while a new entry on Ireland Singles Chart at No. 47 due to extensive downloads only. On the last week of January 2009, a DVD entitled The Karaoke Collection was released. It contained some of their music video hits. In the 27 February 2009 issue of Herald Ireland, Louis Walsh revealed that Simon Cowell already picked three new songs which he reckoned to be instant hits. Byrne spread the word on 8 March 2009 that Westlife would come back to music charts when they start recording in June 2009 when he received his VIP Style Awards as the Most Stylish Man on X-pose, TV3. On 18 March 2009, they won the Best Irish Pop Act on the 2009 Meteor Awards for the ninth consecutive time.

Their tenth album, Where We Are, was released on 30 November 2009 in the UK and peaked at No. 2 on both Irish and UK Albums Charts. The new single, "What About Now", was released a few weeks earlier on 23 October 2009, with digital downloads being available the day before. The said single peaked at# 2 on both Irish and UK Singles Chart. Daughtry's original version of the song gained exposure on the audition rounds of The X Factor prior to Westlife's release. They were also part of the Haiti charity single in early 2010 with, "Everybody Hurts", an R.E.M. cover which was organised by Cowell. The tour in support of this album was called, "The Where We Are Tour". The video album for this said tour was released on DVD and Blu-ray format in 29 November 2010. The eleventh album was recorded and processed with songwriter/producer John Shanks in London and Los Angeles and was entirely produced by Shanks. On 19 September 2010, the single "Safe" was heard first on X Factor as a snippet and the group later performed the song on the show on 14 November 2010. The single was released on 14 November 2010. It debuted on the UK Singles Chart on 21 November at No. 10, giving the group their 25th Top 10 single in the United Kingdom. It was also their lowest charting lead single to date in the country. The new album titled Gravity was released on 22 November 2010. It went to No. 1 in Ireland and No. 3 in the UK. In March 2011, they started their eleventh major concert tour, the Gravity Tour. This tour marked the first time the group travelled to Oman, Namibia, Guangzhou and Vietnam for concerts.

Safe

Westlife was named the fourth most hard-working music artist in the UK by PRS in 2010. In August 2011, it was reported in the Irish Examiner that the profits of the band's firm grew five-fold in 2010.

Greatest Hits and split: 2011–12On 14

March 2011, Westlife confirmed that they had left Cowell after 13 years and his record label Syco Music after nine years. The group cited Syco's decision not to release a second single from Gravity as the reason Byrne felt it as another reason of being unloved, "We signed to Simon back in 1998 and he was brilliant, but then came the development of The X Factor and American Idol. Simon became famous himself and his interests went that way rather than on Westlife. We almost felt a little bit unloved with Simon Cowell, if I was to be honest. We had it (full time support) with Simon but he got so busy and would do it at the very last minute and we needed someone who was on it all the time." After going back to RCA Records full-time for a one year album contract, they announced their Greatest Hits album to be released on 21 November 2011. It debuted at number 1 in Ireland and number 4 in the UK. The first and lead single, "Lighthouse" was released on 14 November 2011.

Lighthouse

On 17 October 2011, Irish Daily Mail reported that their former bandmate McFadden would reunite with them for a show, An Evening with Westlife, in support of the greatest hits album. Paddy Power added their bets if McFadden would rejoin the group permanently and the next

world tour after the report was out. Egan later denied it and said: "All the rumours about Brian re-joining Westlife are untrue. We have been a 4 piece for too long now. We love Brian but it's not going to be. That includes any TV performances." With a new compilation album coming out, it was highly speculated Westlife would be doing a new greatest hits tour. According to the The Mirror, a source close to the band revealed plans for them to play either the Aviva Stadium or another Croke Park gig in mid-2012. They were scheduled to headline ChildLine Concert in Dublin on 12 November 2011 and to have another exclusive gig on O2 Blueroom, also in Dublin on 24 November. In September 2011, Stereoboard.com announced the concert tour for 2012 would start in May of that year. But the official site of the band stated: "Despite untrustworthy websites announcing Westlife dates for a 2012 tour, there is no definite tour plan. As soon as there is, the group will make an official announcement. Until then, please disregard any websites claiming they have tickets on sale this Friday." A UK Tour was first officially announced on 18 October, with dates confirmed for May 2012 and it was titled, The Greatest Hits Tour or The Farewell Tour. The said tour was sold-out in minutes. Stereoboard.com added: "After a massive rush, tickets for Westlife's May 2012 tour were snapped-up almost immediately as fans flocked to the Internet to try and get their hands on tickets for the final performances of the legendary Irish boy band." As part of it, ITV commissioned a unique one-off music spectacular that would mark Westlife’s final TV appearance as they took to the stage to sing some of their greatest hits, it was entitled "Westlife: For the Last Time". Another show entitled, "The Westlife Show: Live", was broadcast from Studio One of London Studios on the same channel on 1 November 2011. Then they had a live guesting on The Late Late Show.

On 19 October 2011, Westlife officially announced they were splitting after a Greatest Hits album and a farewell tour.

After 14 years, 26 top ten hits including 14 number one singles, 11 top 5 albums, 7 of which hit the top spot and have collectively sold over 44 million copies around the world, 10 sell out tours and countless memories that we will forever cherish, we today announce our plan to go our separate ways after a greatest hits collection this Christmas and a farewell tour next year. 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 see the greatest hits collection and the farewell tour as the perfect way to celebrate our incredible career along with our fans. We are really looking forward to getting out on the tour and seeing our fans one last time. Over the years Westlife has become so much more to us than just a band. Westlife are a family. 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.

They described the split as an "amicable" one and they wanted a "well-earned break". However, later reports from the Daily Record said there was an "irreparable rift" in the band, but was later denied by a source close to the band saying: "There's no bad blood in the band, they're still great pals. But all good things come to an end and they are all keen to do their own thing." Later, the band also denied it and called the split a "united decision". A more comprehensive story behind the split was discussed by Daily Mail and Daily Star. A second statement was issued through their official site, saying the fans were continuing to be the best support system.

Fans immediately took to social networks to comment on the decision to break up; some fans describe themselves as feeling "devastated", and referred to it as "the day the music died." Some media predicted a possible reunion in the future, but Westlife put an end to that speculation by vowing they would never reunite. A live stream Q&A was announced for 28 October 2011 as a thank you to their fans, but was moved to 3 November due to schedule conflicts.

The band had their final concert on 23 June 2012 at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. The 82,300 capacity show was sold out in 5 minutes. Due to this popular demand, an extra date was added at Croke Park on 22 June 2012. Their last concert was also screened live in more than 200 cinemas worldwide across the UK, Ireland, Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, and South Africa.

Final concert on 23 June 2012 at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, Ireland

Three months after the split, Byrne revealed that members of the group fought with one another more and more often in the latter years leading up to the split and he felt that it was the right time to end their time together.

Musical style

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This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. (July 2012)

Over years of their career, Westlife's music had evolved from teen pop to a pop sound, with an emphasis on ballads. The band identified themselves as a pop band recording pop songs which sometimes comprises ballads and love songs. Westlife is known for their teen pop songs during their early days with slow, mid, and uptempo songs. Albums of theirs known for teen pop sound include, Westlife, Coast to Coast, World of Our Own and Turnaround. As the years progressed they tried different genres such as jazz and big band with their Allow Us to Be Frank album in 2004 and pop-rock in 2009 with their album Where We Are. As they matured, they verged into adult contemporary, most evident on their cover album, The Love Album. Matured pop songs are also found on their LPs, Face to Face and Back Home, and Gravity. Filan answered when he was asked about the radical change in their music: "We’ve definitely changed – our music has evolved, but not drastically. Westlife is never going to drastically change, but I think we can get more exciting, different and more fun for the fans."

During their starting days, the band's musical content was mostly about love and inspirational songs but as they grew older, they took the chance to have songs that were from an individual's everyday experience in life. Most of the group's hits were composed by experienced songwriters, most notably Steve Mac and Wayne Hector.

The group's influences included Michael Jackson, Backstreet Boys, and Boyzone.

Popularity

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Their début album and single coincided with the apogee of boyband popularity, and their success was most apparent in their homeland and the UK. They had 12 worldwide concert tours over their 14-year career.

Over the course of their career, they performed to some highly significant people, including Queen Elizabeth II on 19 May 2011 and then to U.S. president Barack Obama on 23 May 2011. They also gave a private performance for Pope John Paul II in 2001 at the Vatican (the first pop act to top the bill at the church) and for the Sultan of Brunei, an occasion on which they were paid £2.5 million to play a private concert of seven songs. They also performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 2000, and in 2005 with the songs "World of Our Own" and "You Raise Me Up" with Rolf Løvland and Fionnuala Sherry, and in 2009 with "What About Now" and "You Raise Me Up" featuring Ragnhild Hemsing.

What About Now

Despite their success worldwide, Westlife were unable to break into the U.S. market. They had only one hit single in the United States, "Swear It Again", which peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2000. The band made an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live and the U.S. edition of their debut album, Westlife was released, but it didn't meet with success. In 2002, with the two most prominent boy bands in the US, the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, going on hiatus that year, an attempt was made to promote and release a US version of World of Our Own, but was never successful.

"We sent over a CD of World of Our Own with no name on it. They didn't know it was Westlife and every single radio station in the States – all came back and said that this is an absolutely huge hit. They said it was great for radio and people are gonna love it, especially as there's just a slight bit of rock guitar to it. But as soon as we revealed it was Westlife, the radio pluggers all went, 'Whoa, not Westlife – it's a boyband.' And we cannot break that down, no matter what song we come out with. The problem with America is that it's all radio and you've got to break into radio first. And currently radio doesn't want to play boy bands or pop music. If Bono wrote a song with us tomorrow and it was the biggest hit in the world, if Westlife's name is put to it, it won't be a hit in America because radio will not play us."

—Nicky Byrne

"Flying Without Wings" peaked at No.2 in the USA when American Idol Season 2 winner Ruben Studdard recorded and released it as his debut single. In 2003, Westlife went to Nashville to film a TV documentary. While they were there, they gave a live performance of the song "Daytime Friends", originally by country music legend Kenny Rogers.

Flying Without Wings

The band also had "tribute bands" performing their songs like Westlives and That's Life. On the other hand, Westlife also paid tribute to their co-boybands as one of the tour setlists in 2007. Several celebrities like Chris Martin of Coldplay and Alexandra Burke have stated that they're fond of Westlife. Later pop bands such as One Direction, The Wanted, and JLS expressed such adoration for the group over their respective music careers. Some well-known music artists like Ronan Keating, Will Young, Shayne Ward, Ruben Studdard, also have covered their songs.

Collaboration

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The group has recorded studio and live performances with some of the most renowned music acts: Mariah Carey ("Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)"), Lulu ("Back at One"), Joanne Hindley ("The Way You Look Tonight"), Diana Ross ("When You Tell Me That You Love Me"), Donna Summer ("No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)"), and Delta Goodrem ("All Out of Love"). They have also collaborated on "If I Had Words" with The Vards, "I Have A Dream" with Indonesian child-star Sherina, and "My Love" with Amr Diab. These songs were also recorded and included on various albums. In 2002, Westlife re-recorded their hit song "Flying Without Wings" with Cristian Castro and with Korean singer BoA as two separate duets.

'When You Tell Me That You Love Me' with Diana Ross

Westlife has performed live duets with some of the biggest names in the music industry including: Sinéad O'Connor ("Silent Night"), Donny Osmond ("Crazy Horses"), Mariah Carey ("Never Too Far/Hero Medley"), Secret Garden ("You Raise Me Up"), Lionel Richie ("Easy"), Ronan Keating ("The Dance"), Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries ("Little Drummer Boy"), Roy Orbison ("Pretty Woman"), Delta Goodrem ("All Out of Love"), Raymond Quinn ("That's Life"), Leehom Wang ("You Raise Me Up"), Mary Black ("Walking in the Air"), Kevin Spacey ("Fly Me to the Moon"), Do ("Heaven"), Boyzone ("No Matter What"), Various artists "All-Stars" ("That's What Friends Are For"; "Merry Christmas Everybody"; "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday"), and even their fathers ("That's Life"). They also performed as a guest star with previous X Factor contestants such as JLS where they performed their hit ' Flying Without Wings '.

Products and endorsements

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Some of the products that Westlife officially released included books, calendars (from 2001–present), and tour merchandise such as T-shirts, and fragrances. They have had their own webpage for their official merchandises since 2008, available for men and women. They also received sponsorship for their concert tours from Adidas in 2002 and Volkswagen in 2011.

They have official and unofficial books released. The lone book written by the members of Westlife was released on 16 June 2008 by HarperCollins UK Publishing entitled, 'Westlife - Our Story', as part of their 10th year celebration. The book was said to be written by each group member for three months. It contains the life they have had for the past ten years in the business. It also features some private pictures from the lads. On 28 May 2009, they re-released the autobiography, adding their Croke Park experience and for the first time, in a paperback edition. Also at that time, the band released a 3-piece perfume set entitled "X". It leaked on December 2008 and was formally released on November 2009.

In September 2010, they released their second fragrance for women entitled "With Love".

Philanthropy

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While each member of the group has had their own individual humanitarian advocacies and activities, Westlife has been supporting various projects for a charity cause from the start. One of which was when the group had their song "I Have A Dream" remastered to include Indonesian child singer Sherina Munaf for a UNICEF fundraiser in 2000. They were also involved with the Helping For Haiti charity single that was released 8 February 2010 in the UK. Aside from that, the group released their cover version of "Uptown Girl" as a Comic Relief single, which was one of their biggest selling singles to date.

Uptown Girl

On 4 November 2005, they performed together with Christina Aguilera and Diana Ross at Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa for The “Unite of the Stars” Gala Banquet charity concert that supported four charities: the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, Unite Against Hunger, St. Mary’s Hospital and the Topsy Foundation. They also performed live for charity for Sports Relief, Macmillan Cancer Support, Croí, Western Alzheimer’s, O’Dwyer Cheshire Home, Mayo Cancer Support Group, Marie Keating Foundation, Outward Bound Trust, ChildLine, Children in Need, and Sheffield's Children Hospital. They've also participated in Royal British Legion and Galway's Irish Water Safety Campaign by doing an advertisement. They also helped with auctions for the Meningitis Research Foundation, Carlton Celebrity Auction (for Centrepoint (for the homeless), the N.S.P.C.C., and The Samaritans), Zutto charity painting, Pushing The Envelope (for National Literacy Trust) and Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS). They've also visited the Great Osmond Street Hospital for charity.

They've been involved with the following organisations: Free Tibet, Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID), Cancer Research UK, Byrne for Heart Attack and asthma awareness campaigns, Daily Star’s Reclaim Our Streets crusade, Filan for Irish Red Cross (by Sligo Rover's Showgrounds football match), Byrne for Oxfam's East Africa Famine appeal (by Celtic v Manchester United football match), Filan and Byrne for Soccer Aid, JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am, One World Beat, Egan for Strandhill Indonesian Relief Fund (SIRF, in aid of the South Asian tsunami victims), World Food Programme (WFP), Muscle Help Foundation, Feehily for Aware, Byrne for Children’s Hospice South West (by Truro charity football match), Global Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign and Real Man campaign. They were also included as ambassadors for The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC). As part of IPSCC, Feehily signed up for their anti-bullying campaign, "Join the Fight for Children's Rights. - from Wikipedia