[Blog #7] They end after 14 years

These past few weeks I've been listening to Westlife non-stop. They’ve been my favorite boy band since I was in Grade 6 and that was way back in 1998. So for my 7th blog, I decided to make an entry about them.

Westlife is an Irish pop band that was formed on July 3, 1998. The group’s original lineup comprised Nicky Bryne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden. Shane and Mark are the band’s lead vocalists. Westlife had 14 UK number ones and was the first act in British history to have four number one singles in a year. The band was also the only act to have number ones with their first seven singles and to date they have gone on to sell over 40 million albums worldwide. They were signed on by Simon Cowell and are currently managed by Louis Walsh. In the year 2004, Brian McFadden left the group and after less than a month of his departure from the group, the group kicked off their "Turnaround Tour".

In 2008, they are declared as Ireland’s 9th richest celebrities less than 30 years old and 13th in general. They garnered 14 number one singles in the United Kingdom, the third-highest in UK history, tying with Cliff Richard and tailing behind Elvis Presley and The Beatles. The band has also won numerous awards such as the “Best Irish Pop Act” at the annual Ireland Meteor Awards and ITV “Record of the Year” award in the UK. The band has also broken a few top records, including music artist with most consecutive number 1′s in the UK and the biggest selling arena act in the UK.

Despite their success in some parts of the world, Westlife have been unable to break into the US market. Their debut single and music video "Swear It Again", released in the US in 2000, was a hit on mainstream radio and the band even made an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live. The song was No. 75 on the Billboard Hot 100 year end chart of 2000. A US edition of their debut album, Westlife was also released. In 2002, they attempted to release and promote their World of Our Own US version but didn’t continue instead, they decided to concentrate their promotions to other foreign countries where they had larger fan base.

So in conclusion, Westlife had great achievements and successful concerts for 14 years in the music business. Last Wednesday, Westlife dropped a bomb that shocked me and every fan in the world. After having their successful Gravity Asian Tour 2011, the band announced that they were going to split and will search for new ventures by themselves. I was really shocked that I cried too much when I heard the news. It’s really heart breaking since I've been supporting since 6th Grade.

Here is their song "Flying Without Wings" that became an instant hit in UK and in other countries in the world.

And this is their new and last music video before officially splitting up next year.

So what do you guys think about them?