It’s difficult losing your parents... but they’ll be in my heart when we finally play Wembley
Westlife’s Shane Filan tells MARION MCMULLEN why the band’s upcoming show will have such a special meaning to him
TAKING to the stage at Wembley Stadium will be an emotional experience for Westlife singer Shane Filan.
The sell-out concert on August 6 was originally cancelled because of the pandemic and then his parents Mae and Peter passed away during lockdown, within a few months of each other. Mae from lung cancer and Peter from pancreatic cancer.
Shane says: “It’s still very hard and, even when you say it now, it puts a lump in your throat and your stomach goes funny, but my mum and dad got to see the Westlife comeback. They got to see the 2019 show and they were both at Croke Park on my 40th birthday and it was incredible.
“Soon after that my mum died and my dad died nine months later, but I had told my mum and dad about playing Wembley. They had a smile on their face when I told them and my dad was still around when we put the date on sale. That was enough for me.
“They are not going to be there, but they will be there in my heart, looking down on me, and I’m going to sing just as if they were there.
“It is difficult losing your parents, but I get to celebrate them and sing all these songs that are linked with memories of my parents. I’ll be singing some of their favourites and I’ll be thinking of them. I’ll always be thinking of them and holding them close to me.”
Shane grew up in Sligo in Ireland the youngest of seven children and his mother played a big part in bringing Westlife to the attention of former X Factor judge Louis Walsh.
“She was very determined is the best way to describe my mum,” smiles Shane. “She was incredible and back in the beginning she was ringing Louis and trying to get in contact with him.
“This was something like 23 years ago and Louis was [saying] ‘Yeah, I’ll meet them and talk to them, but I can’t promise you anything’. He was busy managing Boyzone at the time, but we met him and then we were supporting the Backstreet Boys and – 22 years later – we are playing Wembley Stadium. It’s an amazing journey, an amazing story, and my mum was a massive part of the very start of all that.”
Shane and fellow bandmates Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily are on the road until December with their Wild Dreams Tour and their sold-out Wembley date next month will be shown in cinemas across the country.
“We put Wembley Stadium on sale about two years ago and we are finally doing it,” says Shane. “It’s probably the biggest UK gig you can do – one of the most famous stadiums in the world – and all our careers we wanted to tick that box. We’ve had to wait 22 years, so this is going to be one helluva gig that’s for sure.
“It’s pretty cool that fans in Europe, the UK and Ireland can go into cinemas, have their popcorn and watch Westlife,” adds Shane. “It will be the biggest audience we’ve ever played to...
“We are absolutely buzzing.” The band have notched up 14 UK number ones to date, with hits like Flying Without Wings and You Raise Me Up. They went off to work on solo projects in 2012, but Shane says they have come back stronger than ever and the come back album, Spectrum, saw them topping the charts again.
Father-of-three Shane has just turned 43 and says the break was good for the band. “We all grew individually as people, started families, and kind of focused on life and got away from the Westlife madness.” he says.
“We all did our things and we all enjoyed it and were successful in our own right but we are Westlife boys and always will be, no matter what we do in life.
“We have so many plans for the future, what we want to achieve as a band, but Wembley is definitely one of them.”
He adds: “We put it on sale, the gig sold out and then the pandemic hit. It started with a lot of excitement and then the whole world was turned upside down. We didn’t know when this thing was going to slow down and there were times when I thought ‘will there ever be gigs again? Will it ever come back?’
“The fans have been waiting a long time and it’s hopefully going to be worth the wait.”
We’ve had to wait 22 years so this is going to be one helluva gig that’s for sure. Shane Filan on Westlife’s Wembley gig