Westlife are back!

Having fallen victim to some of the worst timing in musical history (outside of John Barnes’s rapping on World In Motion, of course), the beloved boyband are back at it again. Westlife‘s last LP, Spectrum, dropped in November 2019. This was meant to be something of a comeback, but unfortunately the pandemic more or less squashed any hopes for an accompanying tour.

The good news is that the group didn’t spend lockdown lazing about. Instead, Westlife got to work on their 12th studio album, Wild Dreams, to be released on November 26th, with Westlife taking to the stage soon thereafter. Five outdoor shows are slated for next summer in advance of a full UK tour leading up to Christmas 2022.

It’s now 23 years since the lads first emerged from Ireland to start their assault on the pop charts, and to date they’ve sold over 55 million records. But with stadiums to sell out next year, they’ll be playing to a fresh generation of fans alongside the older heads. Westlife’s return will seem just as new to some as it may seem nostalgic to others. For this simple reason, now seems an opportune moment to reacquaint ourselves with the members who make up this delightful quartet.

Mark Feehily

Before Westlife was Westlife, they were a sextet going by the name of “IOYOU.” Having met at school in Sligo (a town of about 20,000 people some 140km north of Galway), Mark, Kian Egan and Shane Filan – along with three other mates who didn’t make it to Westlife – put out a single and then promptly disappeared. Soon thereafter, with the addition of Nicky Byrne and Brian McFadden (who left the band in 2004) they became the group that were quite literally everywhere in the 2000s. Mark is one of the band’s main songwriters, and in his downtime he put out two solo albums (as Markus Feehily, his full name), Fire and Christmas. He’s perhaps the purest musician of the bunch, having been at it from a young age (even having been known to turn a tune on the tin whistle in childhood!).

Shane Filan

When Westlife split in 2012, Shane was a man in demand, turning down a reputed five solo deals before signing a multimillion-pound contract with Universal subsidiary London Records. Three solo albums and a ton of touring followed, and he did particularly well in Southeast Asia (where at one point he teased us by revealing that he longs to do a duet with Bryan Adams). Sadly, Shane suffered heartbreak in 2019 when he lost both his parents in the span of just a few months. It will certainly be meaningful for him, given this context, that Westlife’s first 2022 show is booked for his parents’ native Ireland, at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

Kian Egan

While the other band members stayed in music after Westlife’s first parting of the ways, Kian branched out into television, acting as a vocal coach on the Irish version of The Voice and winning Season 13 of the reality show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! These forays into different types of entertainment perhaps reflect the Egan’s childhood somewhat. Like a lot of young artists, Egan struggled a bit to find his calling in the early going. He dabbled in different musical acts, and according to a blog post on Foxy Bingo, he even had a brief stint as a bingo caller in his home town of Sligo. Oddly, this early profession seems to be a good grounding for boyband singers, with Gary Barlow of Take That and Simon Webbe from Blue both having had stints calling the balls as well. Ultimately though, Egan of course found his way into Westlife, and we’re thrilled that he’s now found his way back again.

Nicky Byrne

Nicky didn’t join Westlife until the other three lads were already in place, and his career prior to doing so may come as a particular surprise to some. Byrne was a professional footballer, playing for Leeds United’s youth team before ultimately returning to the League of Ireland. Suffice it to say the man is multi-talented! Like Kian, Nicky put out a single solo LP and then branched into TV when Westlife first split. He also remained active in football, hosting RTE show Football’s Next Star and playing in many Soccer Aid charity matches alongside current pros and football legends. Here’s hoping he doesn’t accidentally land himself a contract mid-comeback!

So those are the lads, and we’ll see them fully back in action before long – and not a moment too soon. All things considered, 2022 makes perfect sense as a comeback date for Westlife. The boyband craze is going through a mini-renaissance, with K-Pop bands such as BTS making inroads into western media alongside American acts like JOAN and Brockhampton. ABBA’s recent single I Still Have Faith In You hitting 10 million YouTube views within a week of release also shows that the public is ready and willing to hear new music from old favorites.

Westlife should be able to capitalize on the trend in a major way.