Shane Filan

He is the son of Peter (1942-2020) and Mae Filan (née McNicholas) (1937-2019), natives of Roscommon and Mayo respectively.

Filan is the youngest of seven siblings; he has three brothers and three sisters.

From a very early age, Filan worked behind the counter of his parents' business - a diner in Sligo called the "Carlton Café".

He attended primary school at a local Catholic school, and secondary school at Summerhill College, with future Westlife bandmates Kian Egan and Mark Feehily.

All three of them participated in a school production of Grease.

The Hawkswell Theatre became a significant part of their careers.

Filan was a fan of Michael Jackson as a child and claimed the singer inspired him to pursue a music career.

Before Westlife, he studied business and accounting.

Before Westlife, Egan, and Feehily were with Filan in a band known as Six as One and, later on, IOYOU, with other Sligonians Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron, and Michael "Miggles" Garrett.

He co-wrote the IOYOU song "Together Girl Forever."

For six months, Shane's mother, Mae Filan, tried to phone Boyzone manager Louis Walsh, eventually succeeding in talking to him about her son's band.

Three of the members were dropped and the other three, Filan, Egan, and Feehily, joined in finding two more singers for the band.

The members that joined were Nicky Byrne and Brian McFadden, forming Westside.

The name of the band was subsequently changed to Westlife as there were already several bands with the name Westside.

Filan, along with Feehily and McFadden, became the co-lead singers of the band.

Shane Steven Filan (born 5 July 1979) is an Irish singer.

Shane Filan was born on 5 July 1979 in Sligo, Ireland.

He is one of the two lead singers of the pop vocal group Westlife, which was formed in 1998, disbanded in 2012, and regrouped in 2018.

Westlife has released thirteen albums, embarked on twelve world tours, and won several awards, becoming one of the most successful musical groups of all time.

Their first album was released in November 1999, titled Westlife.

With Westlife, Filan has received twenty-eight platinum discs and sold 55 million records worldwide.

UMG had previously offered him a solo deal in 2001; the first member of Westlife to have received such an offer, but turned it down.

For the new deal, Filan stated that he had spent the past 12 months in both US and UK writing songs and recording, and that a forthcoming single and an album would be released later in the year.

On 20 October 2011, Westlife announced that they had decided to split and go their separate ways at the end of their 2012 Farewell Tour.

Filan showed interest in being a solo music artist for his daily living.

In December 2011, press reports announced Filan was close to signing a solo deal with one of several potential competing UK record labels.

Filan and his manager Louis Walsh, had been in talks with several of the labels at the time.

"There's four, possibly five labels so far who have made it clear that they want to sign Shane," said a music source to showbiz writer Paul Martin.

In a March 2012 interview with Paul Martin, Filan said he would be signing within the next few weeks.

"It's exciting but, of course, I'll be nervous. It's only natural when you're coming out of a band after 14 years, you don't know where your life's going to take you [...]

Filan has released three solo albums: You and Me (2013), Right Here (2015), and Love Always (2017).

He has appeared sixteen times in the UK Singles Chart with number-one hits, making him one of the most-appeared Irish music artists in British music number-one singles history.

In 2013, Filan announced he had officially signed a record deal with UMG subsidiary London Records worth 20 million British pounds.

On 10 May 2013, he announced that his first single would be released, along with three other tracks, later revealed in July to be "Everything to Me", and "Everytime", "Today's Not Yesterday" and "Once", respectively.

The release date was announced as 25 August.

On 10 September 2013, Filan released About You, the second single from his album You and Me, followed by the album shortly after.

In his 2014 book My Side of Life, he revealed that in 2001, he had been the first member of Westlife to be offered a solo record deal, but that he had rejected it, as he was scared of going solo.

After the Westlife split, bankruptcy, the You and Me Tour, and his debut autobiography My Side of Life, Filan announced on 13 March 2015 that he was working on his second studio album, Right Here.

The album was mostly recorded in London and Denmark, and featured collaborations with Cutfather (The Saturdays, JLS), Jez Ashurst (Will Young, Gabrielle Aplin), Jon Maguire (Union J), Tre Jean-Marie (MNEK, Jason Derulo), and Girls Aloud.

The album was released on 25 September 2015, reaching #1 on the Irish Album Charts during its first week.