Westlife are storming towards another number one album following their performance on Britain's Got Talent. The band, who performed a medley of hits on the ITV semi-final, are currently outselling the rest of the top 75, according to the latest chart figures.
Their album Westlife 25: The Ultimate Collection, released on Friday, coincides with the group's 25-year celebrations. Kian Egan, Shane Filan, and Nicky Byrne reunited with former boss Simon Cowell on stage, singing hits including Swear It Again, Flying Without Wings, World Of Our Own, and Uptown Girl.
A source close to ITV said: "The band came off stage absolutely buzzing and it felt like a real celebration of everything they’ve achieved. The atmosphere in the studio was electric and it was a real love-in backstage too."
Shane Filan flew his family over for the album release and the show, and his children got to meet KSI backstage, who they are huge fans of. The lads also reunited with Simon Cowell afterwards, which felt like a full-circle moment. Simon was there from the very beginning, and seeing Westlife still breaking records and performing to millions was special.
Simon Cowell's Role in Westlife's Success
It was Simon who gave the band their first record contract in 1998. Speaking to the Mirror, Shane, 46, said: "BGT will be the first time we’ve seen Simon in a few years. He was such a huge part of all those songs, all those ballads. He didn’t want us to be the Backstreet Boys or Take That. He wanted us to sing big powerful ballads. And we did seven in a row! We were like, ‘What is going on here?’ But we got seven number ones and Simon was right."
The achievement gave Westlife seven consecutive number one singles, a feat even The Beatles never matched. Kian admits, "At the start we were definitely worried about how many love songs we were releasing. But when we look back on it now we realise that this is the music that stands the test of time, it’s songs like Swear It Again, You Raise Me Up, and Flying Without Wings."
Commitment to Pop Stardom
Nicky Byrne recalled a conversation with Simon at RCA records: "We said, ‘We want this. We don’t want any days off,’ and he laughed and winked at us and said, ‘I’ll hold you to that.’ But we absolutely meant it. There is no such thing as part-time pop stars. When we signed that deal it was almost like singing an imaginary letter to our families where we said, ‘Look I’m going to jump on this ship now and I don’t know when I’ll be back.’ And we committed to it. And it took off beyond our imagination."
This week the band added more dates to their world tour, which will see them head to America, New Zealand, and Australia after kicking off in Dublin. Westlife’s new album 25 – The Ultimate Collection is out now. Final tickets for the UK leg of Westlife 25: The Anniversary World Tour are on sale at LiveNation.co.uk.
