Just     Westlife

Shane was born on the 5th July 1979 to Peter and Mae Filan. He grew up in Sligo, a busy commercial town in the northwest of Ireland.

 

He is the youngest of seven children, and has three brothers and three sisters: Finbarr, Peter Jr, Yvonne, Liam, Denise and Mairead.

 

In Sligo his parents owned a diner named Carlton Café, and it was located on Castle Street and from a very early age, Shane used to work there as a waiter.

 

Shane attended Summerhill College, a Catholic school along with Kian Egan and Mark Feehily .

 

They all participated in a school production of Grease when they were about 12, and The Hawkswell Theatre became a significant part of their careers.

 

Shane was a fan of Michael Jackson as a child, so much so that he claimed the singer inspired him to pursue his career in music.

 

Before joining Westlife, Shane was in a band called I.O.U, along with Kian Egan and Mark Feehily.

 

Shane partly wrote Together Girl Forever, an IOU song.

 

Eventually after three members of IOU were dropped, and the boys were taken under the guidance of Louis Walsh, Nicky Byrne and Brian McFadden joined the band, and thus Westside was born.

 

However, the band name was then changed to Westlife because there were already a number of bands called Westside, where upon Shane found himself the lead singer in Westlife, along with Mark Feehily.

 

Their debut album called "Westlife",was released in November 1999.

 

Shane and Westlife, have received twenty eight platinum discs, and sold a staggering 40 million records.

 

On the 20th October 2011, Westlife announced that they were to split up at the end of their Farewell Tour.

 

After that, Shane showed interest in

becoming a solo music artist, and in December 2011, the press said that Shane was very close to sealing a solo deal, as several UK record labels were battling with each other to sign the singer.

 

Shane and his manager, Louis Walsh, were in talks with several London record companies that month.

 

Showbiz writer, Paul Martin was told by a music source, that there were four, maybe five labels  that wanted to sign Shane.

 

Shane had a really good idea of what kind of Album he wanted to make, pretty much from the start, and along with Louis, had been in meeting after meeting.

 

In the end things turned out great for Shane, as he had his choice of record deals.

 

In March 2012, Shane said that he would be signing a contract in a few weeks, and he also admitted that his nerves were starting to show at the thought of going it alone , and so did not want to rush into things.

 

In December 2012, it was announced that Shane had got a recording contract with Universal Music Entertainment. He also spent time in Nashville with some well known pop singers in order to boost his solo career.

 

On April 9th 2013,the official website for Shane was launched,including a countdown to reveal news about his solo career.

 

So, on 12th April the official website opened with an apology for keeping the fans waiting.It also included an announcement from Shane to say that he had signed a record deal with London Records, which is part of Universal Music Entertainment Group.

 

Shane also said that he had spent a year in the UK, and US, both writing and recording songs.

 

Shane also said that there would be a forthcoming single and an album later in the year.One of the things Shane said about the whole thing was....

 

"One of the things that pleases me the most about the record is that I've been given the opportunity to write my own songs, and I'm so excited for people to hear them!"