Blessed
Life (April 2006)
©
Typed by Angela
DESPITE
PASSING THEIR 'SELL BY DATE'
THE
'Boyband' label doesn't seem to fit Westlife these days.
The
teenyboppers are all grown up. They are opinionated. Two are married. Shane is a
dad.
Add
to that 34 million album sales, six multi-platinum albums, 13 number ones and a
stack of awards, and it's hard to believe it's just seven years since they were
the fresh-faced new boyband on the block.
Even
their mentor Louis Walsh only gives boy bands a five year life-span.
But
somehow Westlife continue to rewrite the rules. Every
other boyband that went before them, from Five to NSYNC, Boyzone to Take That, danced one too many a step past their
peak once members hit the 24-year mark.
There's
no denying that this is 1 of the most successful bands ever, despite critics
putting every year down as their last.
The
death knell was sounded again when the famous five became the fab four with the departure of Brian McFadden. But after yet
another sell-out run at the Point, the Westlife bandwagon shown no signs of running out of
steam.
So
what is it that has seen them continue to dominate the charts? Is it the safe
choice of music, the boys themselves or the magical Midas touch of Louis Walsh?
It's
half six, three hours before stage time o the final night of their latest sellout run in
Ever
the professionals, Westlife have already been inside
the venue for hours. Nicky bounds into the green room. The life and soul of the
band, he is the giddy one out of the bunch. At 27 he acts more like 17.
So
what's the secret to all that success?
"No
one can make you sing what you don't want to sing. Yeah, we stick to songs that
have done well, we are not ashamed to say it, but you make it your own and we
sing it the way we want to sing it," he says.
"We
don't have 100 per cent control in the band because we don't write the material,
but we have 95 per cent control of things. The touring is what we get more
involved in - the clothes and what goes on on-stage.
Fun
Guy
"We
tried writing songs over the years, I think when Mark has more time he will have
bands come and record his music. Unfortunately though, we are not John Lennon,"
he laughs. "If we were, we would be ten times richer than we are, which is a shame, but we are not ashamed to say it."
Nicky
is a fun guy who shines with modesty. Hard to believe for someone on
"Because
you are in a boyband, and because we are in a pop band
as such, people have preconceptions of what you are like. We are just normal
lads, normal 26 and 27-year old lads," he says.
"
Nicky
also puts the continued success of Westlife down to
lack of bitching and backstabbing in the camp.
"We
are great friends and we have a laugh on the road - and we are honest with each
other," he explains.
"In
the pop industry there's a lot of back stabbing, and a lot of slyness that goes
on. Once that doesn't exist between the four of us, then we can go on, and we
will continue to last.
"I
think U2 are the heroes of that, they are who we look up to. There are no
secrets with them, there is no one getting secret deals in the background, which
can happen - look at Take That and Blue.
"We
always said from day one that if there's solo deals just say it out, don't keep
it quiet. We have nothing to hide."
Speaking
of solo deals, was it a shock when Brian McFadden chose to ruthlessly pursue his
own career shortly after quitting the band?
"Three
weeks before the opening show he came and said 'I don't want to do this
anymore'," says Nicky, recalling the bombshell that dropped as they prepared for
their last world tour.
"We
tried to talk him out of it for three or four days but, to be honest, we
couldn't waste any more time on it. We said 'if you want to go, go now, we don't
want to make this a 'Brian McFadden Farewell Tour'. Not only that, but we could
have fallen out with him on tour.
Solo
career
"At
the time when he left he said he wanted to spend time with his family, and then
for a solo career to come so soon afterwards it shocked us, of course it did,
but we never fell out with him over it.
"When
all the press started writing then about his personal life I said 'Brian, just
go away, bury your head in the sand'. And when all the magazines were printing
'The Real Story', I advised him to let the press die down. I did feel really
sorry for him - he is a good kid, and very talented."
I'm
eager to see Kian and Mark when they appear in the
green room. I want to offer my congratulations as both have recently been
engaged, according to reports.
Mark
(25) is the quietest Westlifer and is much taller than
I imagined - a little like a gentle giant. But the rumours that he is to marry
his boyfriend are false he assures me.
"There
is no truth in that whatsoever, I am still just having fun," he confides. "It
has been such a happy year for us, probably the best yet."
Kian
(25) is in the green room with his new Maltese puppy when I meet him. The dog,
it seems, is man's best friend while he's on tour.
"I
haven't seen my girlfriend [Jodi Albert of Hollyoaks
fame] in two weeks," he sighs "Sometimes we see each other every day for three
weeks, it is hard but we are with each other now for three years so we are well
used to it."
So
surely he is engaged?
"Despite
what you read, no, I am not engaged, not yet, apart from whatever everyone reads
in the papers," he reveals. "I don't think we have much intensions of being
engaged for another few years, we are both so busy. I think we would prefer to
wait and relax till the time is right to enjoy being married."
Listening
to the boys talk about the last 12 months, you feel their seventh year has been
their best yet.
Shane
proudly tells me: "It's been a great year for us, we have stepped up our show -
it's more energetic and a bit raunchier! It's a great show to watch and Louis
thinks it's the best so far - and he would point out the worst.
"The
album 'Face to Face' is the biggest ever and 'You Raise Me Up' is our biggest
single ever worldwide.
"At
the time we were very nervous when Brian left - we knew we had four months
touring ahead of us. But the rest of us wanted to continue on. We worked on 'The
Rat Pack' album and this album that was so successful. Luckily, we had a good
year.
"But
every year there is always that question, 'what if'?'. What if the album does
bad? Thank God that hasn't happened. We are enjoying it
more than we ever did. We have our partners, our houses, and we are more relaxed
in our life.
"My
baby Nicole gives me another thing to live for, another thing to be happy for
and be proud of. We want to be here in five years time. We have broken the rules
every year - people kept saying that this would be our last year every year and
here we still are, we keep breaking the rules."
Maybe
it's down to their loyal fanbase, some of who get a
little too fanatical, according to Shane.
Mad
things
"Fans
send us mad things at signings. Mark got a turnip once in a box with a ribbon
tied round it. What was that about?" he laughs.
"Nicky
got weighing scales - he isn’t fat whatsoever! We get mad stuff. We got used
tampons once at a signing in
Westlife
are also blessed with the support of the dynamic duo of the pop world, Louis
Walsh and Simon Cowell.
"Simon
isn't scary at all, but he is a shrewd businessman," says Shane. "He plays a
good role on American Idol and we knew him before he was portrayed as this scary
person. It's good to have people like him around, you need that. You need to
have honest people as opposed to 'yes' people around.
Walsh
and Cowell also carved out Westlife's latest record deal, said to be worth 5 million
Euro to each of them.
Credit/Source:
Angela
/
Sunday
World