Friday, February 8, 2008

Scorpions

Scorpions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scorpions

Background information
Origin Hanover, Germany
Genre(s) Hard rock, heavy metal
Years active 1969 - present
Label(s) Rhino, RCA, Mercury, EMI, Atlantic, WEA, BMG
Website Official website
Members
Klaus Meine
Matthias Jabs
Rudolf Schenker
James Kottak
Paweł Mąciwoda
Former members
See: List of former members

Scorpions are a heavy metal band from Hanover, Germany, perhaps best known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and their singles "Wind of Change", "No One Like You", "Still Loving You". The band has sold over 75 million albums worldwide.[1]

Contents

History

Formation and early history (1965-1973)

Rudolf Schenker, the band's rhythm guitarist, launched the band in 1965. At first, the band had beat influences and Schenker himself did the vocals. Things began to come together in 1969 when Schenker's younger brother Michael and vocalist Klaus Meine joined the band. In 1972, the group recorded and released their debut album Lonesome Crow, with Lothar Heimberg on bass and Wolfgang Dziony on drums. During the Lonesome Crow tour, Scorpions opened for upcoming British band UFO. At the end of the tour, the members of UFO offered guitarist Michael Schenker the lead guitar job; an offer which he soon accepted. Uli Roth, a friend of the Schenker brothers, was then called in temporarily to finish off the tour.

The departure of Michael Schenker led to the break up of the Scorpions. In 1973, Uli Roth, who had helped the Scorpions complete the Lonesome Crow tour, was offered the role as lead guitarist, but turned the band down, preferring instead to remain in the band Dawn Road.

Rudolf eventually decided that he wanted to work with Roth, but did not want to resurrect the last Scorpions lineup. He attended some of Dawn Road's rehearsals and ultimately decided to join the band, which consisted of Roth, Francis Buchholz (bass), Achim Kirschning (keyboards) and Jurgen Rosenthal (drums). Roth and Buchholz persuaded Rudolf Schenker to invite Klaus Meine to join, which he soon did. While there were more members of Dawn Road than Scorpions in the band, they decided to use the Scorpions name because it was well-known in the German hard rock scene and an album had been released under that name. [1]

Rise to popularity (1974-1978)

In 1974 the new line-up of Scorpions released Fly to the Rainbow. The album proved to be more successful than Lonesome Crow and songs such as "Speedy's Coming" and the title track began to establish the band's sound. Achim Kirschning decided to leave after the recordings. Soon after, Jürgen Rosenthal had to leave as he was being drafted into the army, joined German progressive rock band called Eloy in 1976 and recorded three albums with them. He was replaced by a Belgian drummer, Rudy Lenners.

Speedy's Coming


In 1975 the band hit their stride with the release of In Trance, which marked the beginning of Scorpions' long collaboration with German producer Dieter Dierks. The album was a huge step forward for Scorpions and firmly established their hard rock formula, while at the same time garnering a substantial fan base, both at home and abroad. Cuts such as "Dark Lady", "Robot Man" and the title track are still considered classics by fans today.

In 1976, Scorpions released Virgin Killer. The album's cover was designed by their record company RCA, Hamburg office, and featured a nude prepubescent girl covered by broken glass. That brought the band considerable criticism and was ultimately pulled or replaced in several countries. In spite of the controversy - even lead singer Klaus Meine expressed shock - the album garnered significant praise from critics and fans alike. The following year, Rudy Lenners resigned due to health reasons and was replaced by Herman Rarebell.

For the follow-up Taken by Force, RCA Records, the band's label, made a determined effort to promote the album in stores and on the radio. The album's single, "Steamrock Fever", was added to some of RCA's radio promotional records. RCA also supervised the album cover design avoiding any controversy by including introduction-type photographs that included the names of each member under individual photos. Roth was not happy with the commercial direction the band was taking. Although he performed on the band's Japan tour, he departed to form his own band, Electric Sun prior to the release of the resultant double live album Tokyo Tapes. Tokyo Tapes was released in the US and Europe six months after its Japanese release. By that time in mid 1978, after auditioning around 140 guitarists, Scorpions recruited new guitarist Matthias Jabs.

Commercial success (1979-1990)

Following the addition of Jabs, Scorpions left RCA for Mercury Records to record their next album. Just weeks after being evicted from UFO for his alcohol abuse, Michael Schenker also returned to the group for a short period during the recordings of the album, giving the band three guitarists (though Schenker's contributions to the final release was limited to only three songs). The result was Lovedrive, an album which some critics consider to be the pinnacle of their career[2]. Containing such fan favorites as "Loving You Sunday Morning", "Holiday" and the instrumental "Coast to Coast", the "Scorpions formula" of hard rock songs mixed in with melodic ballads was firmly cemented. The album's provocative artwork was named "Best album sleeve of 1979" by Playboy magazine but was ultimately changed for American release. Lovedrive peaked at #55 on the US charts proving that Scorpions were gathering an international following. After the completion and release of the album, the band decided to retain Michael in the band, thus forcing Matthias Jabs to leave. But after a few weeks of the tour, Michael, still coping with alcoholism, kept missing a few gigs (at one point collapsing on stage) and Matthias Jabs was brought back to fill in for him on those occasions when he couldn't perform. In April 1979, during their tour in France, Matthias Jabs was brought in permanently to replace Michael Schenker.

In 1980, the band released Animal Magnetism, again with a provocative cover showing a girl kneeling in front of a man. While Animal Magnetism contained classics such as "The Zoo" and "Make It Real", it was a critical disappointment when compared with Lovedrive. Soon after the album's release, Meine began experiencing throat problems. He required surgery on his vocal cords and there were doubts as to whether he would ever sing again.

While Meine made a full recovery, the band began working on their next album, Blackout in 1982. Don Dokken was brought in to provide guide and backing vocals so that Meine could let his vocal cords completely heal. [2] Meine eventually healed completely and was able to finish the album. Blackout was released in 1982 and quickly became the band's best selling to date, eventually going platinum. Meine's voice showed no signs of weakness and critical response to the album was good. Blackout spawned three hit singles: "Dynamite," "Blackout" and "No One Like You".

It was not until 1984 and the release of Love at First Sting that the band finally cemented their status as rock superstars. Propelled by the single "Rock You Like a Hurricane", Love at First Sting went up the charts and went double platinum in the USA a few months after its release. However, Scorpions did manage to stir up controversy once again with their provocative album cover. This time it was a boy kissing a girl and at the same time planting a tattoo on her naked thigh. Some shops refused to sell the album, mimicking a gag from the satire movie This Is Spinal Tap that came out the same year. MTV gave the album's videos "Rock You Like a Hurricane", "Bad Boys Running Wild", "Big City Nights", and the power ballad "Still Loving You" significant airtime, greatly contributing to the album's success. The channel even supplied Scorpions with the nickname "The Ambassadors of Rock".

The band toured extensively behind Love at First Sting and decided to record and release their second live album, World Wide Live in 1985. Recorded over a year-long world tour and released at the height of their popularity, the album was another success for the band, peaking at #17 on the charts.

After their extensive world tours, the band finally returned to the studio to record Savage Amusement. Released in 1988, four years after their previous studio album, Savage Amusement represented a more polished pop sound similar to the style Def Leppard had found success with. The album sold well, but was considered somewhat of a critical disappointment. British heavy rock magazine Kerrang! did award the album 5 K's out of 5 though.

The Scorpions' logo

The Scorpions' logo

On the Savage Amusement tour in 1988, Scorpions became only the second Western group to play in the Soviet Union (the first being Uriah Heep in December 1987), with a performance in Leningrad. The following year the band returned to perform at the Moscow Music Peace Festival. As a result, Scorpions developed a strong Russian fan base and still return regularly to perform throughout the area. [3]

Wishing to distance themselves from the Savage Amusement style, the band separated from their long-time producer and "Sixth Scorpion," Dieter Dierks, replacing him with Keith Olsen when they returned to the studio in 1990. Crazy World was released that same year and displayed a less polished sound. The album was a hit, propelled in large part by the massive success of the ballad "Wind of Change". The song muses on the socio-political changes that were occurring in Eastern Europe and in other parts of the world at the end of the Cold War. On July 21, 1990 they joined many other guests for Roger Waters' massive performance of The Wall in Berlin. Scorpions performed both versions of "In the Flesh" from The Wall. After the Crazy World tour Francis Buchholz, the band's long-serving bassist, left the group.

Later days (1993-present)

In 1993 Scorpions released Face the Heat. Bass playing was handled by Ralph Rieckermann. For the recording process, Scorpions brought in producer Bruce Fairbairn. The album's sound was more metallic than melodic and divided the band's fan base somewhat. Many "headbangers" responded positively to the album while many long time fans were put off. Neither the hard-rock single "Alien Nation" nor the ballad "Under The Same Sun" came close to matching the success of "Wind of Change". Face the Heat was a moderate success.

In 1995, a new live album, Live Bites, was produced. The disc documented live performances from their Savage Amusement Tour in 1988, all the way through the Face the Heat Tour in 1994. While the album had a much cleaner sound in comparison to their best-selling live album, World Wide Live, it was not as successful.

Prior to recording their 13th studio album, 1996's Pure Instinct, drummer Herman Rarebell left the band to set up a recording label. Curt Cress took charge of the drumsticks for the album before Kentucky-born James Kottak took over permanently. Many feel Pure Instinct is a response to the complaints levied against Face the Heat. The album had many ballads. Still, the album's singles "Wild Child" and the soothing ballad "You and I" both enjoyed moderate success.

1999 saw the release of Eye II Eye and a significant change in the band's style, mixing in elements of pop and techno. While the album was slickly produced, fans were unsure what to make of the band, responding negatively to almost everything from pop-soul backup singers to the electronic drums present on several songs. The video to the album's first European single, "To Be No. 1", featured a Monica Lewinsky look-alike which did little to improve its popularity.

The following year, Scorpions had a fairly successful collaboration with the Berlin Philharmonic that resulted in a 10-song album named Moment of Glory. The album went a long way towards rebuilding the band's reputation after the harsh criticism of Eye II Eye. Still, critics accused them of following on the coattails of Metallica's similar collaboration (S&M) with the San Francisco Symphony which had been released the previous year. However, the orchestra had first approached Scorpions with the idea back in 1995.

Scorpions in 2007

Scorpions in 2007

In 2001, Scorpions released Acoustica, a live unplugged album featuring acoustic reworkings of the band's biggest hits, plus new tracks. While appreciated by fans, the lack of a new studio album was frustrating to some, and Acoustica did little to return the band to the spotlight.

In 2004, the band released Unbreakable, an album that was hailed by critics as a long awaited return to form. The album was the heaviest the band had released since Face the Heat, and fans responded well to tracks such as "New Generation", "Love 'em or Leave 'em" and "Deep and Dark". Whether a result of poor promotion by the band's label or the long time between studio releases, Unbreakable received little airplay and did not chart. Scorpions toured extensively behind the album, and played as special guests with Judas Priest during the 2005 British tour.

In early 2006, Scorpions released the DVD 1 Night in Vienna that included 14 live tracks and a complete rockumentary. In LA, the band spent about 4 months in the studio with producers James Michael and Desmond Child working on their new concept album titled Humanity - Hour I, which was released in the second half of May 2007 [4]. A "Humanity World Tour" has already started. Tour dates are available on the band's official site the-scorpions.com.

In 2007, the band saw 2 of their signature tracks featured in the popular video game series, "Guitar Hero." "No One Like You" was featured on the "Rocks the 80's" version of the game while "Rock You Like A Hurricane" was released on "Guitar Hero 3:Legends of Rock."

On May 14 2007, Scorpions released Humanity - Hour I in Europe. Humanity - Hour I became available in the U.S. on August 28, 2007 on New Door Records, entering the Billboard charts at number #63.

In a September 2007 podcast interview, Meine said the new album wasn't so much a "concept album" as it was a collection of songs with a common theme. "We didn't want to make another record with songs about boys chasing girls. I mean, come on, give me a break," Meine said. [3]

When asked if the band plans to release a Humanity - Hour II, Meine replied:

That is what everybody is asking. There might be. Who knows? Right now we are at the beginning of the world tour. It is exciting to play the new songs and they go very well with the classics. It is exciting that there is a whole new audience out there. There are many longtime fans but there are a lot of young kids. We just played in London and in Paris and there were young kids rocking out to songs that were written way before they were born. It is amazing. I don’t want to think about Hour II right now because Hour I is so exciting. It is very inspiring to see how much the audience enjoys this new music.

— Klaus Meine[4]

Band members

Current members of the Scorpions

  • Klaus Meine - lead vocals, backing vocals, rhythm guitar, percussion (1970-1981, 1981-present)
  • Matthias Jabs - lead & rhythm guitars, 6 & 12 string acoustic guitars, slide guitar, fatbody jazz guitar, talk box, voice box (1978-1979, 1979-present)
  • Rudolf Schenker - rhythm & lead guitars, 6 & 12 string acoustic guitars, sitar, ebo, backing vocals (1965-present) rhythm & lead guitars, lead vocals (1965-1970, 1970-present)
  • Paweł Mąciwoda - bass (2003-present)
  • James Kottak - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1996-present)

Former members

  • Francis Buchholz - bass (1973-1983, 1984-1992, 1994)
  • Herman Rarebell - drums, percussion (1977-1983, 1984-1995)
  • Ralph Rieckermann - bass (1993-2000, 2000-2003)
  • Lothar Heimberg - bass (1965-1973)
  • Wolfgang Dziony - drums, percussion (1965-1973)
  • Joe Wyman - drums, percussion (1973)
  • Ulrich Roth - lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Polar Nights", "Fly to the Rainbow", "Dark Lady" (1973-1978)
  • Michael Schenker - lead & rhythm guitars (1970-1973,1979)
  • Rudy Lenners - drums, percussion (1975-1977)
  • Jürgen Rosenthal - drums, percussion (1973-1975)
  • Ken Taylor - bass (2000)
  • Curt Cress - drums, percussion (1996)
  • Jimmy Bain - bass (1983-1984)
  • Neil Murray - bass (1983-1984)
  • Bobby Rondinelli - drums, percussion (1983-1984)
  • Barry Sparks - bass (2003)
  • Ingo Powitzer - bass (2003)
  • Don Dokken - lead vocals, backing vocals (1981)


Discography

Albums

Monday, February 4, 2008

Westlife

Westlife

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Westlife

Background information
Origin Sligo/Dublin, Ireland
Genre(s) Pop, adult contemporary
Years active 1998–present
Label(s) Sony BMG, RCA
Website www.westlife.com
Members
Nicky Byrne
Kian Egan
Mark Feehily
Shane Filan
Former members
Brian (Bryan) McFadden

Westlife is an Irish pop music group that formed in July 1998. They were signed by Simon Cowell and managed by Louis Walsh. In recent years, Westlife's sound has evolved from boy band "teen pop" sound into a more adult contemporary music (ACM) sound, with an emphasis on ballads.

Westlife has had 14 number one singles in the United Kingdom between the years 1999 and 2006 from their 9 albums done, the third-highest such total in UK history, behind Elvis Presley and The Beatles, and tied with Cliff Richard.

They are the first UK act with 4 number 1's in a year. They are also the first number 1 song in the UK download chart: Flying Without Wings, live from Stockholm Globe Arena.

They have 25+ UK multi-platinum albums and have sold more than 40 million records worldwide.[1][2]

Westlife was awarded as the Best Irish Pop Act, a public voting category, at the annual Ireland Meteor Awards for the seventh consecutive year on 2 February 2007 which they are the only act that has done it. They are also the only artist/group to win 'Record of the Year' in the UK four times.

Contents

Formation

Pre-formation

Westlife was formed in July 1998, with the members Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, and Brian McFadden.

The group's roots are in Sligo in the north west of Ireland, where Egan, Feehily, and Filan were in a six-member vocal group named IOYOU (sometimes IOU), with fellow Sligonians Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron and Michael "Miggles" Garrett. IOYOU were groomed and managed by choreographer Mary McDonagh and two other informal managers.[3]. IOYOU released a single called "Together Girl Forever" with the song "Everlasting Love".

The band was then 'discovered' by Louis Walsh, the manager of 1990s boy band Boyzone - he was actually contacted by Filan's mother. However IOYOU did not meet Simon Cowell's approval for a record deal with BMG, so changes were needed. Two members of IOYOU were given the sack, and auditions were held in Dublin. The band recruited Byrne and McFadden. A third original member, Michael Garrett, was dropped. The group was re-named Westside soon afterwards but as the name was already taken by another band, it was changed to Westlife. Boyzone singer Ronan Keating was brought in to co-manage the band with Walsh.

Shane Filan, Mark Feehily and Bryan McFadden shared most of the lead vocals. Some of the boys can play instruments (Kian and Bryan play the guitar and the piano) and all five of them are songwriters, although most of their hits have been composed by outside songwriters. The group's musical influences include boy bands such as Boyzone, Take That, Backstreet Boys and Boyz II Men.[4][5]

Original group

Big break

Westlife's first big break came in 1998 when they opened for the Boyzone in Dublin. Later that year, they won Best New Tour Act at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party.[6]

In March 1999, their first single, "Swear It Again", was released, and went straight to the top of the charts in Ireland and the UK.[7] The band's success was to be confirmed when their second single, "If I Let You Go", entered the charts at number 1 in August 1999, followed by "Flying Without Wings" in October, which repeated the feat.[7] This version was included in the soundtrack for the Warner Brothers film, Pokemon 2000. They had the honour of having the Christmas number-one single of 1999.[8] when their double-A-side single, "I Have A Dream"/"Seasons In The Sun" knocked Cliff Richard's "The Millennium Prayer" off the top spot.[9] The single held this position for the subsequent week, making Westlife the first number one act of the new millennium.

Swear It Again




Their first album, simply titled Westlife, was released in November 1999 and was also a big hit, peaking at #2. The album included the four #1 singles, and the follow-up "Fool Again" which also reached the top spot in April 2000.[10] After the intital success, they then went on a UK tour performing at Newcastle Metro Radio Arena before releasing the second album.

Coast to Coast

Westlife's next album was quickly recorded, and released in November 2000. Coast to Coast was a #1 hit in the UK, becoming the country's 4th biggest selling album of the year and Westlife's biggest selling album to date.

Westlife took on a signing tour around the UK called "Coast To Coast". The album was preceded by a duet with Mariah Carey on the Phil Collins classic "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" and the ballad "My Love". Both singles reached #1 in the UK charts.[13][14] With this, Westlife broke an unexpected record, having their first seven singles debut at the top of the UK charts. In December 2000, however, that run was broken when they failed to secure their eighth chart-topper in a row when kid's favourite Bob The Builder's "Can We Fix It" was crowned Christmas number-one single.

In 2001, the boys launched their first world tour, Where Dreams Come True Tour 2001, unofficially nicknamed "The No Stools Tour", because of the band's reputation of performing perched on stools.

My Love





World of Our Own

Westlife released their third album in November 2001 called World of Our Own, which featured several singles that eventually became Number 1 hits including "Uptown Girl", "Queen of My Heart" and "World of Our Own".

This album also featured the original version of "Evergreen", which was then covered by Gareth Gates and Will Young for Pop Idol.[20][21] When Will Young was declared the winner of the television contest, the song subsequently went on to become his first number one single, sending another "Westlife" song to the top spot.

Westlife took this album and went on their second tour, World Of Our Own: In The Round Tour 2002.[6] The tour was taken all over the UK and Europe.

Queen of My Heart




Greatest Hits

November 2002 saw Westlife release their Greatest Hits album, Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits Vol. 1, amidst rumours of a split because of homophobic behaviour towards each other. They released their first single from this album in October 2002, Unbreakable.[22] This was followed by the double a-side single "Tonight/Miss You Nights" which debuted at no.3. in the U.K.[23]

In 2003, Westlife went on to their third tour, The Greatest Hits Tour 2003 and still shrugged off rumours of a split.[24]

Westlife's number one off theUnbreakable



Turnaround

In September 2003, Westlife released "Hey Whatever", which made it to Number 4 in the UK Charts.[25] In November 2003 came Westlife's fourth studio album Turnaround, which made number 1 on the UK charts and won them Record of the Year for the third time in five years. Along with the number 1 album was their twelfth number 1 single. "Mandy" (a cover of Barry Manilow's ballad) was released in November 2003.[26] "Obvious" was also released on the album and charted at number 3 in February 2004.[27]

Hey whatever




Departure of Brian McFadden

On 9 March 2004, just three weeks before Westlife were due to embark on their fourth European tour, Turnaround Tour 2004, Bryan McFadden left the band. He subsequently started a solo career, changing the spelling of his first name back to its original 'Brian'. Brian McFadden entered the chart at number one with his first solo single, "Real To Me".[30] He went on to release more singles, but to only moderate success.

New group

Allow Us to Be Frank

Less than a month after McFadden's departure, the boys kicked off their fourth arena Turnaround tour. They released a live version of Flying Without Wings as an official UK download. They released their come-back album Allow Us to Be Frank later in the year, a Rat Pack-inspired album and debuted at its peak position at Number Three. Westlife did not release a single from this album even though they shot many music videos. They did, however, release more official UK downloads, including Ain't That A Kick In The Head and Smile.

Before the album release, Westlife travelled up and down the UK to find "the perfect fan" to help promote their album. After X Factor style auditions, they found Joanne Hindley (who later appeared on X Factor).[6] They recorded "The Way You Look Tonight". To celebrate their first ever fan to appear on a Westlife song they televised it, showing auditions and live performances. Their performances included Joanne, their fathers and glamour model Katie Price. They also performed alone.

Westlife continued to tour Europe with their No.1's Tour launched in 2005 before taking a 4 months break from work.[31]

Face to Face

In 2005, after a four-months break, they came back with "You Raise Me Up", a cover of a Secret Garden song, which was the first single off their sixth studio album Face to Face. On 6 November 2005, both the album and the single ("You Raise Me Up") were at Number 1 in the UK charts at the same time. It was the first time the band had held both top album and single position in the same week.[32][33]

In December 2005, Westlife released the second single off their album, "When You Tell Me That You Love Me", which was a duet with Diana Ross who had previously sung the song alone.[34] Westlife then released their third single "Amazing" which debuted at no.4.[35]

As a tradition of Westlife, they launched their 2006 tour, titled Face to Face Tour. They travelled extensively including UK, Ireland, Australia and in Asia: Manila, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This tour marked the first time Westlife have travelled to mainland China for a concert.[36][37]

When You Tell Me That You Love Me




The Love Album

In late 2006, Westlife signed a brand new five album deal with Sony/BMG. Their 8th studio album, The Love Album, consists all of covers of love songs.

The first single from The Love Album was a cover version of Bette Midler's classic "The Rose" Produced by:Quiz & Larossi, which became their 14th UK number one single.[38] This made Westlife the third act (along with Cliff Richard) in the UK chart history to have most number one singles, only behind Elvis Presley (21, 18 of them different songs) and The Beatles (17). Plans for the release of Total Eclipse of the Heart and that a video were being made were scrapped. In February, the band announced that they would no longer be releasing Bonnie Tyler's song "Total Eclipse of the Heart", produced by Jim Steinman, nor any other singles from the album.

Westlife kicked off their eight tour called The Love Tour on 21 February 2007 in Perth, Australia.[39] The tour took in other cities in Australia, before moving on to South Africa, the UK and Ireland, ending in Dublin on 3 May. The band played its last major concert of 2007 at Carlisle on Sunday 12 August at Bitts Park in Carlisle, England.

Total eclipse of the heart ??




Back Home

Westlife's 9th studio album Back Home was released on Monday, 5 November 2007 and contains nine new and original songs and three cover songs. The album sold more than a million only in UK alone for just 3 months to date and held as 2007's #5 Biggest selling album in UK. In the album, the band worked with producers including Steve Mac, Quiz & Larossi, Jorgen Elofsson and Maratone. The album debuted at number 1 on the UK Music Charts.[41]

Mark Feehily in the music video.

Mark Feehily in the music video.

On 29 October 2007, Westlife released the first single from the album, a cover of "Home" by Michael Bublé and it debuted at number 3 in the UK Chart.[42][43] Westlife plans to release "Us Against The World" as the second single off Back Home in February 25, 2008, the day their Back Home Tour will embark.

I'm Already There, not officially a single, charted in the UK Top 75 on downloads alone, following a performance on the X Factor.

There's also a rumor that "Something Right" will also be a forthcoming single by an announcement held in Sweden[44] and Greece.[45]

Approaching 10 years

Despite celebrating 10 years in 2008, they are planning to take a year out of the spotlight following their Back Home Tour.[46] Fans began to panic over news the guys are taking a year long break after their upcoming tour. "The fans are all not sure because that's what Boyzone said and whatever but we're just going to take a lot longer to make this 10th album. This is a big tour coming up and then we're actually taking a year off after that. It's a big one for us and a big one for the fans. So it's not like we're taking a year off- we're taking a year away from releasing an album in November because we've done the nine albums in nine years,” Mark confirmed while talking to Female First.co.uk.[47]

On 2 November 2007, during an interview on Irish TV show The Late Late Show (as well as being wished Happy Decade by fellow artists Backstreet Boys), Westlife made a number of announcements, including details of a 10 Years Of Westlife concert at Croke Park in Dublin on 1 June 2008.[48] Croke Park is the fourth biggest stadium in Europe which holds 82,300 people[49] making the concert Westlife's biggest performance to date. Kian described the upcoming performance to be a pop extravaganza. Shane confirmed that the band will not be releasing a new album in 2008 but they will release a corresponding live concert DVD. It was confirmed on 22 November that Shayne Ward will be the support act at the Croke Park concert.[50]

Duets

Westlife has performed duets with some of the biggest names of the music industry, including Mariah Carey, Donny Osmond, Lulu, Donna Summer, The Vards, Sherina, Secret Garden, Diana Ross, Amr Diab, Lionel Richie, Christian Castro, Ronan Keating and Delta Goodrem.[51][52][53][54][55][56] Claudia Schiffer and Vinnie Jones have also starred in their music videos.[6][57] Westlife also collaborated with Asian-music sensation BoA with the song "Flying Without Wings", which appeared on her mini-album, Shine We Are!.

US market

Westlife have, however, failed to capture the imagination of the United States market. Initially, their debut single and music video "Swear It Again", released in the US in 2000, was a hit on mainstream radio and MTV with a succeeded guesting on MTV's Total Request Live. After that, the said song reached #20 and became #75 year-ender hit of 2000 of Billboard Hot 100.[58] Their debut American album was also released in 2000, however they have not yet released another album in the USA.[59] In 2002, an attempt to promote and release an American version of Westlife's "World Of Our Own" album was cut short with the band deciding to concentrate promotion in foreign markets where they have a larger fan base, a curious decision as the two most prominent boy bands in the US, Backstreet Boys and N' Sync were taking breaks at that time.
The Westlife hit song "Flying Without Wings" peaked at #2 in the US when American Idol winner Ruben Studdard released it after winning season 2 of the show.[60] The band have stated in interviews that they were disappointed when they heard Ruben had released the song in the US because that song was such a huge hit in the UK and they were planning on eventually bringing that song to American audiences. In 2003 they went to Nashville to film a TV documentary and recorded a song originally performed by country music legend Kenny Rogers, "Daytime Friends", which won them much critical praise.[6]

Discography

For a further discography of Westlife, see Westlife discography.

Albums

Year Album U.K. UK certificate
1999 Westlife 2 4xPlatinum
2000 Coast to Coast 1 5xPlatinum
2001 World Of Our Own 1 4xPlatinum
2002 Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits Vol. 1 1 4xPlatinum
2003 Turnaround 1 2xPlatinum
2004 Allow Us to Be Frank 3 2xPlatinum
2005 Face to Face 1 4xPlatinum
2006 The Love Album 1 3xPlatinum
2007 Back Home 1 3xPlatinum

UK Number 1 Singles

Number of #1 Release date Title From the album Weeks at #1
1 April 12, 1999 "Swear It Again" Westlife 2
2 August 9, 1999 "If I Let You Go" Westlife 1
3 October 18, 1999 "Flying Without Wings" Westlife 1
4 December 6, 1999 "I Have a Dream / Seasons in the Sun" Westlife 4
5 March 17, 2000 "Fool Again" Westlife 1
6 September 18, 2000 "Against All Odds" (with Mariah Carey) Coast to Coast 2
7 October 31, 2000 "My Love" Coast to Coast 1
8 February 26, 2001 "Uptown Girl" Coast to Coast 1
9 November 5, 2001 "Queen of My Heart" World of Our Own 1
10 February 18, 2002 "World of Our Own" World of Our Own 1
11 October 28, 2002 "Unbreakable" Unbreakable: The Greatest Hits Vol I 1
12 November 10, 2003 "Mandy" Turnaround 1
13 October 24, 2005 "You Raise Me Up" Face to Face 2
14 November 6, 2006 "The Rose" The Love Album 1

Record-breakers

Most Consecutive Number 1's
Westlife with 7. Their 8th official single, "What Makes A Man", only reached #2 December 2000.
Most entries at number 1
Westlife, From May 1999 to November 2006, Westlife entered the chart at No. 1 on 14 occasions.
Most Entries at Number 1 by a Debuting Act
On 11 Nov 2000, Westlife became the first act to have their first seven singles enter the chart at number 1s when "My Love" reached no.1.
Group with Most Consecutive Top 3 and Top 5 Hits in UK
Westlife have 22 consecutive Top 10 hits from "Swear It Again" in 1999 to "Home" in 2007. Actually all of their released UK singles in 9 years in a row, surpassing the 8 years in a row from Elvis Presley.[citation needed]
Fastest selling UK act to have top 5 single hits
Biggest selling UK arena tour act