Westlife is an
Irish pop band that was formed on July 3rd, 1998. They were signed on by
Simon Cowell and are currently managed by
Louis Walsh. Over the years, Westlife's music has evolved from
teen pop to an
adult contemporary sound, with an emphasis on ballads.
The group's original lineup comprised
Nicky Byrne,
Kian Egan,
Mark Feehily,
Shane Filan, and
Brian McFadden. Filan and Feehily are the band's lead
vocalists. All of the band members are
songwriters, although most of their hits have been composed by external writers. 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".
Westlife have had 14 UK no.1's and were the first act in UK history to have 4 number 1s in a year. Not only that, they were the only band to have no.1's with their first 7 singles. All the rest of their hits have got to the top 10, if not the top 5.