Nicky Byrne reunites with Westlife mates, tour planned
LONDON: Nicky Byrne, who represented Ireland at the Eurovision song contest in Stockholm, has announced that he will reunite with his bandmates Westlife.
A tour is being planned and they intend to record new music - breaking a six-year hiatus.
Westlife were formed in 1998, by Louis Walsh. Weslife were made up of Kian Egan, Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily, Brian McFadden and Shane Filan.
McFadden left the band in 2004 and has not been associated with the band since. Walsh is no stranger to Eurovision circles seeing as he has sat on the panels of various Late Late Show: Eurosong Specials, as well as being the former manager of Brendan Murray’s band; Hometown and Jedward.
In the UK, Westlife scored 14 number one singles and seven number one albums.
They were known for hits such as “Flying Without Wings”, “Fool Again”, “You Raise Me Up” and “Unbreakable”. Their final album, Gravity, was released in 2010.
The planned reunion coincides with 20th anniversary of the group. Louis Walsh will be managing them again, along with Sonny Takharm. The comeback single will be released next month and is rumoured to be written by Ed Sheeran.
Meanwhile, McFadden, 38, has insisted that he has “no reason” to stay friends with his former bandmates.
He said, “I haven’t been invited to join (a reunion) but I would never get back with the group – it’s been too long. I left 14 years ago and although I might have been tempted to do it in the past, the band has done too many albums and changed too much.
“I haven’t seen (them) in years. We don’t talk and we have our own lives. I know nothing about them any more.”