When Westlife shot to fame in the late ’90s their squeaky-clean image seemed to be wholly genuine, apart from Bryan McFadden’s unedifying tryst with an exotic dancer on his stag do, which later derailed his marriage to Kerry Katona.
After Brian left in acrimoniously in 2004, Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily carried on unscathed as a four-piece and released 12 studio albums, sold over 55 million records worldwide and even had their own perfume and chocolate bar.
Now they are back on stage again and have won rave reviews with two sold-out shows Royal Albert Hall ahead of their 25th anniversary tour in 2026.
Energised by the positive reception, the group have vowed to perform into their 80s. But could there be more pragmatic reasons behind the band’s return to the stage, other than providing a delightful slice of nostalgia to fans?
Indeed, their path back to the limelight has been touched by the curse that seems to plague so many boybands.
Nicky has previously admitted that none of them are ‘absolutely minted’ and they have been ‘foolish with money’.
Shane’s financial woes saw the singer filing for bankruptcy over £18million of debt due to failed property developments. He was further engulfed by controversy after a hospice charity complained about the donations it received from the singer’s wedding guests – saying it had expected attendees to contribute more generously.
So, after thirty years of fame without the bulging bank accounts to match, a lucrative tour is certainly in everyone’s interest. Here, we reveal the storms weathered by Westlife during their 25 years of boyband fame.
Westlife is one of Ireland’s most successful bands, with the group recently returning to the stage for their 25th Anniversary World Tour
The boyband soared to fame in 1998 after being formed in Dublin, with the original line-up also featuring Brian McFadden be he left acrimoniously in 2004 (Seen as a five-piece in 2000)
Shane Filan
One minute he had £8million in the bank, the next – by his own admission – he was scrabbling around his spare for change in the bottom of his wardrobe, just trying to find enough cash to feed his family the following week.
As the bills rolled in and the bank continued to call, demanding the £18million he’d borrowed for a series of ill-fated property developments back, former Westlife star Shane Filan had no choice but to file for bankruptcy.
He lost his cars, his helicopter and his beautiful house that he built for his family. But the most painful thing he had to part with was his wife Gillian’s platinum and diamond wedding ring, which was valued at £33,000 – although he did eventually manage to buy it back for an undisclosed amount.
Shane’s problems didn’t happen overnight though. They first started when Brian quit the band in 2004, prompting him to question how much longer he and remaining members Nicky, Kian and Mark would last for.
Deciding to invest his cash, rather than leave it sitting the bank, he teamed up with his brother Finbarr and began buying greenfield sites in Ireland to build homes, offices, a nursing home and a creche.
But planning permission issues held his projects up, and before he knew it, the housing market had crashed spectacularly, leaving him saddled with millions in debt and a collection of relatively worthless fields.
Too embarrassed to confide in his bandmates, he kept his turmoil a secret. And it was just days after their farewell gig in front of 80,000 fans that he was made bankrupt.
One minute Shane Filan had £8million in the bank, the next he was scrabbling around his spare change drawer, just trying to find enough cash to feed his family the following week
In a further scandal, Shane and his wife Gillian received donations from some of their wedding guests for the North-West Hospice (Seen with Gillian at their wedding in 2003)
Shane was ordered to sell off everything he owned with a value of £500 or more, and was to hand over half his income for three years.
A row over money also cast a shadow over the happy occasion of Shane’s 2003 wedding to his wife Gillian, after the couple requested that guests donate to the North West Hospice in Sligo in lieu of wedding presents.
The hospice later complained that fewer than 50 of the 350 wedding guests had donated, and it had received just £10,000, despite expecting between £25,000 and £50,000.
Shane and Gillian, who furiously insisted that their guests had been under no obligation to donate, and that they had made no promises to the hospice.
‘We gave no guarantee to the North-West Hospice as to any minimum amount that they could expect, and we are surprised and shocked that they would decide to go public with the amounts received and even give indications as to who the donations came from,’ they said in a statement at the time.
Brian McFadden
He shocked fans when he quit boyband Westlife back in 2004 at the height of the group’s popularity.
Westlife carried on as a quartet made up of Nicky, Shane Filan, Markus Feehily and Kian Egan and continue to perform together to this day.
In Nicky’s podcast Nicky Byrne HQ, he will sit down with top celebrities and public figures to discuss their lives, careers, and the highs and lows that shaped them.
In a special first episode, Nicky and Brian two will have an open conversation about Brian’s departure and its impact on both their lives and careers.
After leaving Westlife, Brian released his debut solo album Irish Son in November 2004 which featured the number one single Real To Me.
Brian McFadden shocked fans when he quit boyband Westlife back in 2004 at the height of the group’s popularity (Seen in 2024)
Westlife carried on as a quartet made up of Nicky, Shane Filan, Markus Feehily and Kian Egan and continue to perform together to this day (Seen as a five-piece with Brian in 2003)
He later parted ways with his record label and has released four more solo albums over the years, the most recent Otis came out in 2019.
Back in 2013, Brian insisted he had no regrets about leaving Westlife but was sorry he missed out on the financial windfall of the band who continued to enjoy great success after his departure.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said: ‘I’d never admit to myself that I regretted leaving, but four years later when my UK record label didn’t want to put out my second solo album, it made me think maybe I should have just stayed in the band.
‘But then I’d just have been staying for the money and I never did this for the money.
‘I probably had financial regrets. We didn’t even know what we used to earn in Westlife. The accountants just kept adding up. I’m glad I’m not that millionaire any more. This way, you work harder and enjoy it more.
‘The pleasure I have had since leaving keeps me alive, though it’s been a rollercoaster.
‘One minute I’ll have a number one single, then I’ll have a single that doesn’t even make the Top 40, then I’ll think I’m finished and then I come back a couple of years later. In Westlife, we went through a stage where we thought we were invincible. We didn’t realise how lucky we were.’
Mark Feehily
Last year, Mark Feehily announced his temporary departure from the Irish boyband, just days before they were set to embark on their first ever tour of America.
Prolonged ill-health resulted in the singer withdrawing from the band in a bid to recover after being diagnosed with sepsis.
In June, Mark’s absence from the coming shows was announced. In a lengthy post, Westlife penned: ‘To our amazing fans, We would like to take this opportunity to share some very important news with you all.
‘We are thrilled to announce the launch of our 25th Anniversary celebrations… On the 9th February 2001 we kicked off our first ever tour at the Newcastle Arena. Who would have thought we would still be here 25 years later?
Last year, Mark Feehily announced his temporary departure from the Irish boyband, just days before they were set to embark on their first ever tour of America
‘We have so many exciting plans to share with you very soon which will include new music, an album, special shows and many, many more surprises along the way.
‘Sadly, Mark will be unable to join the celebrations. We hope he can join us back on stage when he is ready and able. He sends his love and positivity to you all as always.’
Last year, when Mark announced his hiatus, he wrote: ‘Hello and much love to you all! It’s Mark here.. Most of you are aware that I have had some health challenges over the past while.
‘It actually all started 3.5 years ago in August 2020 when I had surgery. Within a few days of this surgery I was in severe pain and was rushed into A&E.
‘I eventually ended that awful day in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) where I was informed that due to a complication with the surgery, I had developed severe Sepsis, a life-threatening infection that would require immediate emergency surgery to rectify the problem and basically save my life.’
He added: ‘I spent the next few months in hospital. It was during lockdown. For months, due to strict Covid restrictions, I was not allowed any visitors including my fiancé and my then 10-month-old daughter.
Nicky Bryne, Shane Filan, and Kian Egan performed two unforgettable nights in October 27 and 28 – as they announced Mark would be absent
‘It was physically and mentally a very difficult time, not to mention traumatic having to spend so long in ICU. In late 2021, I became very ill in Newcastle before a concert and ended up back in A&E, this time being told I had pneumonia. I was told I had to go straight home to recover and regrettably miss the rest of the concerts that December.
‘I was referred to a consultant who told me I needed more surgery which I went ahead with in May 2022 meaning I was forced to miss more of The Wild Dreams tour.
‘Three months after that surgery, I tried my best to soldier on for you guys and to go back on tour but unfortunately the physical demands of the concerts and extensive travel were proving too much for me.
‘I developed a very large incisional hernia and I was told that I needed further surgery to fix it. This would be my fourth major surgery since the start of it all, but I had no option.’
Kian Egan
Kian Egan is estimated to be the wealthiest member of Westlife and is reportedly worth around £15million.
However he has previously claimed none of them are ‘minted’ thanks to spending their cash frivolously.
‘We have all lost money,’ he told the Irish Independent. ‘We were all very foolish with money in the early days, we all bought cars and watches – the silly things.
‘I don’t think any of us were lucky. We did very well out of Westlife but everybody lives and spends. In the early days we earned great money, and in the latter days it was all gone.’
Kian Egan is estimated to be the wealthiest member of Westlife and is reportedly worth around £15million (Seen in 2014)
Despite being financially in the best position, Kian’s life hasn’t been completely scandal free as in 2022 he was convicted of a speeding offence.
He plead guilty at Sligo District Court in Ireland to speeding at 89kph in an 80kph speed zone on the N16 at Glencar on 21 June 2021.
Sligo-born Kian – who has just finished touring Asia with Westlife – wasn’t present in court, and so his plea was entered through his solicitor Mr Fergal Kelly before Judge Sandra Murphy.
The popstar was then convicted of the speeding offence and fined €180.
Nicky Byrne
While the star has led a relatively drama-free life for someone in the limelight, his father-in-law is disgraced former Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
Bertie, the father of Nicky’s wife Georgina, resigned as Taoiseach [Ireland’s head of Government] in May 2008, in the wake of revelations made over payments received from property developers.
His party Fianna Fáil had proposed to expel politicians implicated during a tribunal but he resigned before he could be ousted.
In 2012, the long-running Mahon Tribunal found that the former Taoiseach had received at least €209,779 in secret payments while in office and repeatedly lied about this under oath.
Three judges led by Justice Alan Mahon stopped short of finding Ahern guilty of corruption, because they couldn’t prove that he gave favours to any of his cash donors when he was finance minister in the 1990s.
While the star has led a relatively drama-free life for someone in the limelight, his father-in-law is disgraced former Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (Nicky seen with his wife Georgina Ahern in 2005)
Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, pictured earlier this month, attending the funeral for a senior political advisor Dr Martin Mansergh
In 2016, Fianna Fáil announced that it had given Bertie the option of re-joining the party, which he did in February 2023 and his name was recently thrown into the ring for the Irish presidency, although he ultimately did not run.
Nicky previously came out in defence of his father-in-law, telling the Sunday Independent: ‘There’s no big house. There’s no Porsches. There’s no anything like that.
‘It’s not there and if it was, believe you and me, it would have been found.
‘Plenty of people have opinions on Bertie for lots of different reasons but, you know, it’s one of those where he was in power for so long.’
He added: ‘You just have to hold your head high and say “I know him as a person. He’s a lovely guy and he is 100,000 per cent committed – always has been – to Ireland”.’
