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WestlifeWestlife is an Irish boy band. Its current members are Shane Filan, Kian Egan, Nicky Bryne, and Mark Feehily. Bryan McFadden left the band on March 9 2004 to devote more of his time to his family life with the British TV personality and former Atomic Kitten member Kerry Katona, although he has subsequently separated from her and changed the spelling of his first name to 'Brian'. The band has proven very successful in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, with twelve number-one singles between the years 1999 and 2003, as follows: Not every single of theirs have gone to No. 1 in the UK: - "What Makes a Man" (2000) #2
- "Bop Bop Baby" (2002) #5
- "Tonight/Miss You Nights" (2003) #3
- "Hey Whatever" (2003) #4
- "Obvious" (2004) #3
The band have also won ITV's Record of the Year competition on a record three occasions, with "Flying Without Wings", "My Love", and "Mandy". Westlife has not managed success in America, although their debut single, "Swear It Again" was a minor hit on mainstream radio and MTV. Its video made MTV's TRL briefly, and it managed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 2000, going up to No. 20 on the chart. Their debut American album was also released in 2000, and although they have not released another one there since, that has not stopped thousands of Americans from becoming Westlife fans. And beyond Europe and the USA, Westlife's fan base is truly global, including Canada, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Australia. Like most other boy bands, Westlife is primarily marketed to teenage girls, but they have a large following among gay men (approximately 20% of Westlife fans are male), and they have performed numerous times at gay venues in the UK. Accordingly, there are widely circulated rumours about the sexual orientation of Westlife member Mark Feehily, who has kept his love-life private, and says the gay rumors "don't bother me in the slightest". But it doesn't imply that Feehily is indeed a homosexual. Although the band has enjoyed unprecedented success in the UK singles chart, many detractors argue it has been achieved by releasing bland unmemorable ballads and cover versions into a declining singles market. Discography - 1999 "Westlife" #2 UK, #129 US
- 2000 "Coast to Coast" #1 UK
- 2001 "World of Our Own" #1 UK
- 2002 "Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits - Vol. 1" #1 UK
- 2003 "Turnaround" #1 UK
- 2004 "Allow Us To Be Frank" #3 UK
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