Boyzone singer Ronan Keating was brought in to co-manage the band with Walsh.
Westlife is primarily marketed to teenage girls, but they also have a large following of male fans and have performed numerous times at gay venues in the UK.
Bryan McFadden left the band on 9 March 2004 to devote more of his time to his family life with the British TV personality and former Atomic Kitten member Kerry Katona, although he has subsequently separated from her and reverted the spelling of his first name back to its original 'Brian'.
The original Westlife hit most known to American audiences is "Flying Without Wings", since it was later a success for American Idol winner Ruben Studdard.
Westlife have not managed success in the United States.
Westlife's fan base is global: they have had success all over the world, especially Scandinavia and South East Asia, but also elsewhere in Europe, Canada, Latin America, South Africa and Australia.
Shane is the group's lead singer, using a commercial pop style, and does some songwriting.
The bands' origins are in Sligo in northwest Ireland, where Filan, Egan, and Feehily were in a six-member vocal group named IOU, which put out a single called "Together Girl Forever".
Westlife has collaborated with the Asian successful band, BoA, to record a Korean cover of Westlife's hit Flying Without Wings. The song was featured on BoA's mini album Shine We Are.
Westlife holds the record of the most successful debut in the British Singles Chart: Their first 7 singles entered #1: Swear It Again, If I Let You Go, Flying Without Wings, I Have A Dream / Seasons In The Sun, Fool Again, Against All Odds, and My Love.
Westlife's co-manager was Ronan Keating, Boyzone's vocalist and a solo artist by his own.
Westlife had covered many songs by famous artists, including Sarah McLachlan, Billy Joel, ABBA, Phil Collins and Cliff Richard.
Westlife have made world records in their past years for the most no. one singles in a row.
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