Pop sensations westlife have rubbished reports of a split and insist they'll celebrate their 10th anniversary with a huge gig for 80,000 fans in Croke Park next year.

The chart-topper's manager, Louis Walsh, rubbished reports the band is disappearing for a year and insisted Croke Park is just one of their plans for 2008.

The lads will also be releasing their Greatest hits volume 2 album at the end of next year. "After they preform in Croke Park they are able to take a break that's going to be longer than usual", explained Louis.

"We're releasing their Greatest hits Volume 2 rather than recording a new album so they wont have to rush back into the studio, but that's the extent of their "split". They're getting more time off, that's all.

"We're definitely going ahead with a concert in Croke Parks probably July", Added the Westlife boss.

Then their was stuff about Gary Barlow being booed because he slagged Westlife off.

"It was near the end of the show and all of Take that were doing their individual party pieces-they all did a solodance and performance", Said a concert-goer.

"When it came to Gary Barlow's turn he said: "I can't dance- I should have been in Westlife!".

"Instead of cheering him, the crowd started booing. I don't think he expected that", added a fan.

"He tried to turn it around saying "I should have been in Westlife- I would have been the best in Westlife", but the crowd were having none of it.

"I don't think he'll try to slag off Westlife again in Belfast!".

Credit/Source: Irish Star / Thanx Jessica for typing it up

Westlife fans will be pleased to hear the band have announced an arena tour of the UK next spring.

The Irish four-piece are due to play hits from their new album Back Home as well as old favourites on their nine-date Back Home Tour 2008, which kicks off on February 29 in Liverpool.

The boys, whose latest single Home is out on October 29, will play the O2 Arena and venues around the country as they showcase the new album.

The band, whose Love Tour visited Australia, South Africa and their home city of Dublin this year, have had a record-breaking 14 No 1 hits and eight multi-platinum selling albums.

To buy tickets for the Back Home Tour 2008, which are set to go on sale at 9am on Friday October 19, call 0870 400 0688 or buy online at www.LiveNation.co.uk

Tour dates in full:

February
29 Liverpool Echo Arena, Liverpool

March
1 O2 Arena, London
4 Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
8 CIA, Cardiff
12 NEC, Birmingham
15 MEN Arena, Manchester
20 SECC, Glasgow
24 Nottingham Arena
25 Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield

Credit/Source: http://musicnews.virginmedia.com

They are often painted as a clean cut band but Westlife insist they are like any other group of young men and are "just normal".

While many famous faces are falling off the wagon and going to rehab, Westlife are going from strength to strength and are soon to release their ninth album, Back Home.

Shane Filan says their attitude is all down to their family life.

"We don't want to let our mums and dads down," he says. "It's the way we are brought up. That's why I haven't fallen off the wagon."

"I don't think we look at ourselves as a pop band," Nicky adds. "We don't do drugs, we don't go out every night of the week - we are just normal people - as normal as any other bunch of lads. We have been painted as a bit more clean cut. We've got good manners, but we're not angels by any means."

He adds: "A lot of people have a few drinks and they're in rehab. It's almost cool to be in rehab."

Credit/Source: http://musicnews.virginmedia.com

Westlife have recorded a quick video message for their fans - click here to watch it.

Credit/Source: www.westlife.com

They have had hits in most countries across the world - clocking up a staggering 38 million album sales - but the one place Westlife haven't completely cracked is the US market.

However, the boys still have that goal on their radar.

"We have nobody over there pushing for us but we also didn't have the songs recently," Nicky confessed. "If there's ever an advantage of getting old in Westlife, it's the America market. For us to go any earlier we are really just a typical boy band to them. They don't know the history.

"If we went on Oprah Winfrey or Jay Leno with a cracking song that market can easily open up."

Shane revealed that they are thinking that the time will be right when they create their next album in two years' time.

"I think we would but not at the moment," he added. "Probably in a couple of years when we've got a good enough album to it because of our plans for next year to have a year off. After that year off we plan to come back and make the best album we have ever made. Basically try and take on everyone."

Credit/Source: www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk

WESTLIFE look like they are Flying with Wings for once.

The Irish crooners’ single, Home, is out on October 29 and here I’ve got exclusive shots from the video.

Their ninth album, Back Home, will probably rocket to No1 when it hits shops on bonfire night.

The band are also today announcing a 2008 tour and I’ve got 20 pairs of tickets to give away.


Video ... shots look slick

Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday. The dates are:

29th February Liverpool Echo Arena 0844 8000 400
1st March O2 Arena 0871 984 0002
4th March Newcastle Metro Radio Arena 0870 707 8000
8th March Cardiff CIA 02920 224 488
12th March Birmingham NEC 0870 909 4133
15th March Manchester MEN Arena 0870 190 8000
20th March Glasgow SECC 0870 040 4000
24th March Nottingham Arena 0870 121 0123
25th March Sheffield Hallam FM Arena 0114 256 5656

Check our livenation.co.uk/westlifesun to buy tickets.

TICKETS will be as scarce as a Westlife chart failure - but enter my contest and you could win one of 20 pairs I have to give away.

For information on how to enter, buy todays paper and check out Bizarre.

Credit/Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Irish boy band WESTLIFE insist BRITNEY SPEARS won't stop their new album from reaching number one in the U.K. charts - because fans are no longer interested in her music.

The group is to release their new LP Back Home on 29 October (07) - the week after Spears' comeback album Blackout on 22 October (07).

But the Flying Without Wings hitmakers aren't worried about the competition.

Singer Nicky Byrne says, "I would be surprised if Britney keeps us off number one, I don't think the interest in Britney's music is as big as it used to be.

"It's more about her personal life. I'm sure it's a good album but I think she's lost her core fan base."

Credit/Source: www.contactmusic.com

Watch the full video now - and listen to their special announcement only on www.gm.tv

Click Here To Watch Both Parts Of The Webchat

Credit/Source: www.gm.tv

Westlife will be announcing their 2008 UK tour dates tomorrow. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday 19th October, but Westlife fans will get the chance to buy theirs before anyone else via an exclusive pre-sale.

The sale will start at 9am tomorrow (Tuesday 16th October) so check back here at www.westlife.com then for more details, and if you’re on the mailing list, keep an eye on your inbox.

Credit/Source: www.westlife.com

WHEN girls who were in their early teens in the late Nineties are entering their twilight years, what CDs or mp3 files will they continue to dust down;listen to? Which songs will trigger those delicious instant memories of carefree summers, of painfully intense friendships, of unrequited crushes, of the joy of first love;the pain of first loss?

It's a fairly safe bet that the repertoire of Westlife will feature strongly, because the power ballads the band has specialised in very wisely targeted perhaps the only segment of the population that still buys single records.

The group's singalong anthems have hit the spot for almost a decade now - covers such as Mandy, The Rose, You Raise Me Up, plus original songs like Fool Again, the hugely underrated Flying Without Wings, easily the finest song recorded by an Irish boyband.

Their original fans are now well into their 20s, but their appeal is ageless, there are plenty of women in their 40s, older, who religiously make a date every year at the Point to see the lads in action.

Yesterday, the four members of Westlife announced they were taking a year off after their next tour is complete - but a year is a long time in the fickle music business, once they also notice how pleasant it is to have more time with wives, girlfriend, boyfriend, families, it would be understandable if the break in momentum proved terminal.

If that is so, they can look back on a career that has been dazzling in its achievements and, predictably, ridiculed at home.

If West-life had been a rock act, their 14 UK No.1s, four Record of the Year wins, 36 million albums sales, seven sold-out tours would have earned them as much respect as U2.

Because the mostly male music critics write about music made by men for men, they have been dismissed.

Yet Ireland should be proud of Westlife for all sorts of reasons. They might seem dull occasionally, but they are unfailingly polite, enthusiastic. They have never caused any scandal nor, importantly, have they ever given any hint they are slumming it just to make money while their own musical tastes lie elsewhere.

Even if their songs occasionally are saccharine, they at least introduce tweenies to the joy that music brings; many a girl whose first record purchase was Swear It Again no doubt finds her tastes have long since progressed to Radiohead or The Zutons, but there is no shame in liking a bit of cheese alongside prime rib.

Yes, Westlife have made some gauche missteps, such as Nicky Byrne and Georgina Ahern's Hello! wedding in a French chateau, the misguided bid to cash in on the swing revival with Allow Us To be Frank - but that was balanced by Shane Filan's refreshingly democratic uncommercial nuptials and by Mark Feehily's dignified and confident coming out.

Yet the greatest proof of their grit and almost puritanical work ethic was the way they refused to allow Brian McFadden's departure in 2004 break them in the way Robbie Williams' split left Take That to implode shortly afterwards.

I first saw the lads perform at a showcase gig in the PoD in 1999 and, thanks to a sponsorship deal with a phone company that my wife had organised for them, I got to meet them too.

They were charm personified, enthusiastic, grateful, talented and, unlike many of their ilk, they did not have that pathetic desperation for fame that makes The X Factor and today's multiple reality shows so difficult to watch.

Instead, they had two of the most distinctive voices in pop music and a fabulously grounded attitude to the music business.

All of this is not to say that I have never been critical of Westlife myself, though I have never fallen short in my admiration for what they have achieved.

In a world of fast turnarounds, they have enjoyed an unprecedented longevity.

This is because they come good families who no doubt have always reminded them that the world is littered with talents unlucky enough to remain undiscovered - with discovered talents unequal to the demands of fame.

So whether this really is just a hiatus, or the end of the road, it still seems an appropriate time to say well done to Westlife and, indeed, to their manager, Louis Walsh.

They may never get the respect they deserve but they should at least know by now that the begrudgery says more about their detractors than it does about them.

Credit/Source: Daily Mail (London) / Thanx Gitta

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