Akhir tahun 90-an dan awal 2000-an merupakan tahun-tahun gemilang boyband asal Irlandia ini. Publik Indonesia mengenal Shane Fillan, Bryan McFaden, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan dan Nicky Byrne untuk pertama kali lewat lagu Swear it again. Bahkan mereka pernah tampil di acara pentas musik di sebuah televisi swasta ketika pertama kali menelurkan album.
Tak dinyana, album perdana langsung mendapat respon luar biasa di kawasan Asia. Lagu-lagu cover version alias lawas hits mereka bawakan dengan luar biasa. I have a dream yang merupakan hits milik grup ABBA menjadi “lagu anyar”. Bahkan anak-anak mampu menyenandungkan lagu tersebut dengan fasih. More than words-nya Extreme maupun Season In the sun yang legendaris itupun pun menjadi hits luar biasa. Diantara lagu-lagu cover version, lagu-lagu baru pun mampu merebut hati penggemarnya. If I let you go, Fool Again, dan Flying Without Wings menjadi rentetan lagu hits yang ada di album perdana mereka. Menjadikan Westlife sejajar dengan “almarhum” Boyzone, Take That, dan Spice Girl yang memecahkan rekor pencetak hits nomor satu lebih dari lima dalam satu album.
Westlife pun menjadi Boyband internasional yang identik dengan lagu-lagu cover version. Itu dua belas tahun yang lalu. Sekarang dengan hengkangnya Bryan, dan berlalunya masa keemasannya, juga bertambahnya umur mereka, Westlife malah makin solid menjadi grup vokal yang patut disegani. Penggemar setia mereka tetap menanti album-album mereka. Lagu-lagu lawas yang diaransemen ulang dengan cita rasa Westlife tetap menjadi trade mark mereka.
Harus diakui, Westlife telah menjelma dari hanya sekedar boyband yang mengandalkan lagu-lagu lawas dan beberapa hits anyar dengan syair standar, menjadi grup vokal berkharisma dengan kualitas vokal yang jempolan. Entah harus dibilang ironis atau apa, namun album-album Westlife ketika para anggotanya tidak lagi remaja dan menyesaki sampul-sampul majalah abg, malah sangat enak dinikmati.
Dalam kurun dua belas tahun, Westlife merilis banyak album dan singles yang merajai tangga lagu. Walau gagal menembus pasar Amrik, ke-populeran Westlife makin menjadi jadi di Eropa dan Asia. Sempat dikabarkan bubar dan timpang ketika Bryan hengkang, kemudian Mark mengakui dirinya sebagai gay, namun ternyata mereka makin solid.
Westlife sekarang bukan "boy" band lagi, ke tiga personilnya sudah berumah tangga dan punya keturunan, namun musikalitas mereka makin matang. Memang, mendaur ulang lagu lama masih andalan mereka. Tapi lagu lama yang disenandungkan empat pria ini pasti punya nuansa beda.
Untuk merunut sejarah panjang Westlife, Ithonx meringkasnya dari wikipedia:
Formation (1998-1999)
Prior to becoming successful, Egan, Feehily and Filan along with fellow Sligonians 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. 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, IOYOU did not meet Cowell's approval for a record deal with BMG, and thus changes were needed. Three members of IOYOU 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 re-named 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. Brian 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, though only in Asia.
Departure of Brian (2002-2004)
The group released their eleventh UK #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 zoomed all the way to #1 in the UK. The release was followed by the double a side single, "
Tonight/Miss You Nights", which debuted at #3 in the UK. At this era, Because Films Inspire... made a TV Documentary titled as "Wild Westlife" directed by Iain MacDonald and starred by the group itself. It reveals how was their musical life on a daily basis and when on tour. In 2003, Westlife went on to their third world tour,
The Greatest Hits Tour, shrugging off rumours of a split.
In September 2003, Westlife released "Hey Whatever", which peaked at #4 on the UK Charts. Their fourth studio album, Turnaround, was then released in November, earning the group another UK #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 as the highest single leaper to the top (from #200 to #1) in the 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, Bryan 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. Bryan'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 #1 and soon after, he released his first solo album, "Irish Son" under Sony Music. He went on to release more singles with moderate succes
Where We Are (2009-2010)
Walsh has revealed that after a year's break with their friends and family Westlife will return to hit the charts once more in June when they work on their tenth studio album. Walsh also said that while he met up with Cowell they jointly managed to mastermind Westlife's comeback. At the time three songs had already been chosen which he believes will be big hits when they are released. Filan told the Irish Mirror that they want to make the next album one of their best.
The new album, Where We Are, was released on 30 November 2009 in the UK and peaked at #2 on both Irish and UK Albums Chart. 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. The tour in support of this album is called "The Where We Are Tour". They were also part of the Haiti charity single in early 2010, "Everybody Hurts", an R.E.M. cover which was organized by Cowell.
Next Album and Tour (2010-present)
Various reports are spreading that the band and their management have decided not to release a second single from Where We Are. According to these reports, a new album will be released in the last quarter of 2010 and the group saying they wanted it to be a sexy album.[58] Egan confirmed on their arena tour that there will indeed be a new album in 2010. Feehily, Byrne and Egan hinted on their Twitter accounts that a new recording will be done on August 2010 and a music video on September 2010.
Collaborations
Westlife is signed to the management of major record label Sony Music. Louis Walsh, Simon Cowell, Sonny Takhar, Tim Byrne comprise some of Westlife's management and production team.
Aside from Steve Mac and Wayne Hector, the group has the opportunities to work for their original songs with many well-known songwriters/producers including Savan Kotecha, Rami Yacoub, Per Magnusson, David Kreuger, Max Martin, Anders Johansson, Josef Larossi, Jorgen Elofsson, Andreas Carlsson, Arnthor Birgisson, Kristian Lundin, Jake Schulze, Diane Warren and most recently Ryan Tedder, Chris Braide, Sam Watters, Louis Biancaniello, Steve Anderson, and John Shanks.
The group had studio recorded and live collaborations in some of the most renowned music acts such as 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)"), Delta Goodrem ("All Out of Love"), and "If I Had Words" with The Vards. "I Have A Dream", with Indonesian childstar Sherina and "My Love" with Amr Diab. These songs were also recorded and included on the various albums. In 2002, Westlife re-recorded their hit song "Flying Without Wings" with Cristian Castro and Korean singer BoA as two separate duets.
Westlife have 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"), JLS ("Flying Without Wings"), 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").
Some of the music video directors who have worked with Westlife are: Cameron Casey, Wayne Isham, Nigel Dick, Stuart Gosling, Phil Griffin, Antti Jokinen, David Mould, Alex Hemming, Philip Andelman, Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini.
Shayne Ward, No Way Out, K-otic, Natural, Six, Totally Spies, D-Side and Lauren Waterworth, Bellefire, The Conway Sisters, V, Twen2y4se7en, Zoo, Kwest, Pop, No Way Out, Sub Bass 5, Traphic, Mark Dakriet, 4th Ba5e, Reel, Peter Andre, Girls Aloud, Eton Road, Gareth Gates, Roxanne, Alsou, The MacDonald Brothers, Billiam, Cushh, The Unconventionals, Dyyce, Lady Nada, Code 5, Annabel Fay, Hope, The Fuel, Wow, Jedward, JLS, and Wonderland have supported the boys on different tours.
Discography
