Westlife to part ways in 2012

The Irish boy band put an end to their dreamlike musical journey.

Irish pop act Westlife will split up following a farewell tour next year in order to pursue new ventures, the band said in a press statement on October 19. The split will put an end to a 14-year career that has featured 14 British number one singles.

The group consisting of Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan have sold over 44 million albums worldwide and saw seven out of their total 11 albums hit the top spot in Britain. The band’s fifth member, Bryan McFadden,  left in 2004, but the band continued on as a foursome, releasing six more albums. However now, the quartet plans to part ways after releasing their greatest hits record this Christmas and farewell tour next year, reports contactmusic.com.

A source close to the group denied speculation of a rift, saying, “There’s no bad blood in the band, they’re still great pals. But all good things come to an end and they are all keen to do their own thing,” IANS quoted the source as saying.

“The decision is entirely amicable and after spending all of our adult life together so far, we want to have a well-earned break and look at new ventures,” Westlife said in a statement on their website westlife.com. “We never imagined when we started out in 1998 that 14 years later we would still be recording, touring and having hits together. It has been a dream come true for all of us.”

Westlife — which failed to emulate their British success in the US — will perform in a nine-day farewell tour next year, which is due to end in Glasgow in May and which currently features no shows in their hometown Ireland. The final tour will see the band showcase all of their 14 number one hits, including “Flying without Wings” and “Swear it Again”.

(With additional information from Reuters and IANS)

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2011.