Ciencias Naturales

Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012 after their farewell tour. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden (left the band in 2004). The group is the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one. Westlife have sold over 44 million records worldwidewhich includes studio albums, singles, video release, and compilation albums.[1] Despite the group's worldwide success, they only have one hit single in the United States, "Swear It Again", which peaked in 2000 on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 20. The band were originally signed bySimon Cowell and are managed by Louis Walsh. The group have accumulated 14 number-one singles in the United Kingdom, thethird-highest in UK history, tying with Cliff Richard. The group had also broken a few records, including "Music artist with most consecutive number 1's in the UK", which consists of their first seven singles and only behind The Beatles and Elvis Presley. The Official Charts Company credited Westlife as the second biggest-selling artist and biggest-selling band of the decade.[2] The band have 14UK number ones and 25 top ten singles, consisting of 20.2 million records and videos in the UK across their 14-year career - 6.8 million singles, 11.9 million albums and 1.5 million videos.[3]
On 1 June 2008, Westlife marked their tenth anniversary with a concert in Croke Park, Dublin which had more than 83,000 fans attending the special occasion. Music Week revealed on their website thatWestlife are the official third top touring act within the years 2005–2008, while they were seventh top touring act of 2008.[4] Also in 2008, they were declared Ireland's ninth-richest celebrities under 30 years old and thirteenth in general with 36 million euros as a group. In 2009, they dropped as sixteenth richest Irish with estimated 8 million euros each. They were named as the fourth mosthard-working music artist in UK by PRS in 2010.[5] In August 2011, it was reported in the Irish Examiner that the profits of the band's firm grew five-fold in 2010.[6] On 19 October 2011, Westlife announced they were to split after their Greatest Hits was released on the 21st of November 2011 it debuted in Ireland at number1 for 1 week and debuted and peaked at number 4 in the UK and a farewell tour inSpring 2012.[7]
Contents  [hide]  * 1 Origins * 2 Releases * 2.1 Dreams Come True: World Of Our Own: 1999–2002 * 2.2 Unbreakable: Departure of Brian: 2002–04 * 2.3 Quintet to quartet: Back Home: 2004–08 * 2.4 10 years: Last two studio albums: 2008–11 * 2.5 Greatest Hits and split: 2011–12 * 3 Longevity * 4 Artistry * 4.1 Vocal ability * 4.2 Instruments* 4.3 Songwriting * 4.4 Music and image * 5 Popularity and influence * 6 US Market * 7 Collaborations * 8 Products and endorsements * 9 Philanthropy * 10 Discography * 11 Awards, nominations, records and achievements * 12 Tours * 13 See also * 14 References * 15 External links |
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[edit]Origins

The band was originallysigned by Simon Cowell
Prior to becoming successful, Egan, Feehily and Filan along with fellow Sligo men Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron and Michael Garrett, were part of a six-member pop vocal group called Six as One and was later changed to IOYOU in the year 1997. Managed by choreographer Mary McDonagh along with two other informal managers, they released a single titled "Together GirlForever". Walsh, the manager of the 1990s boy-band Boyzone, was contacted by Filan's mother and came to know about the group. However, the group did not meet Cowell's approval for a record deal with BMG, and thus changes were needed. Cowell told Walsh, "You are going to have to fire at least three of them. They have great voices, but they are the ugliest band I have ever seen in my life."[8] Three...