Six as One, IOYOU and Westlife (1997–2012) Before Westlife, Egan, and Feehily were with Filan in a band known as
Six as One and, later on,
IOYOU, with other Sligonians Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron, and Michael "Miggles" Garrett. Filan co-wrote the
IOYOU song "Together Girl Forever." For six months, Shane's mother, Mae Filan, tried to phone
Boyzone manager
Louis Walsh, eventually succeeding in talking to him about her son's band. Three of the members were dropped and the other three, Filan, Egan, and Feehily, joined in finding two more singers for the band. The members that joined were
Nicky Byrne and
Brian McFadden, forming
Westside. The name of the band was subsequently changed to
Westlife as there were already several bands with the name
Westside. Their first album was released in November 1999, titled
Westlife. With Westlife, Filan has received twenty-eight platinum discs and sold 55 million records worldwide. In his 2014 book
My Side of Life, he revealed that in 2001, he had been the first member of Westlife to be offered a solo record deal, but that he had rejected it, as he was scared of going solo.
Solo career, You and Me (2012–2014) On 20 October 2011, Westlife announced that they had decided to split and go their separate ways at the end of their 2012 Farewell Tour. In December 2011, press reports announced Filan was close to signing a solo deal with one of several potential competing UK record labels. Filan and his manager Louis Walsh, had been in talks with several of the labels at the time. "There's four, possibly five labels so far who have made it clear that they want to sign Shane," said a music source to showbiz writer Paul Martin. In a March 2012 interview with Paul Martin, Filan said he would be signing within the next few weeks. "It's exciting but, of course, I'll be nervous. It's only natural when you're coming out of a band after 14 years, you don't know where your life's going to take you [...] In 2013, Filan announced he had officially signed a record deal with UMG subsidiary
London Records worth 20 million British pounds. UMG had previously offered him a solo deal in 2001; the first member of
Westlife to have received such an offer, but turned it down. For the new deal, Filan stated that he had spent the past 12 months in both US and UK writing songs and recording, and that a forthcoming single and an album would be released later in the year. On 10 May 2013, he announced that his first single would be released, along with three other tracks, later revealed in July to be "Everything to Me", and "Everytime", "Today's Not Yesterday" and "Once", respectively. The release date was announced as 25 August. On 10 September 2013, Filan released
About You, the second single from his album
You and Me, followed by the album shortly after.
Right Here (2015) After the Westlife split, bankruptcy, the
You and Me Tour, and his debut autobiography
My Side of Life, Filan announced on 13 March 2015 that he was working on his second studio album,
Right Here. The album was released on 25 September 2015, reaching No. 1 on the Irish Album Charts during its first week.
Love Always (2017–2018) On 25 August 2017, Filan released his third studio album
Love Always. and announced his next tour, the
Love Always Tour 2017. Previously, in April 2010, an unreleased solo song by Filan called "
Beautiful in White" leaked on the Internet, but was incorrectly credited as being recorded by
Shayne Ward instead of Filan. During this time, Filan also sang a duet with Irish country singer
Nathan Carter. The album reached No. 5 in the UK Album Charts, making it his highest-charting album in the United Kingdom. In 2018, Filan also had success in Asia, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea.
Beautiful in White was particularly successful in Asia.
Westlife reunion with new single, album, and tour (2018–present) On 3 October 2018 Westlife announced their reunion as a four-member group. In 2019 four singles were released, penned by Ed Sheeran. The group embarked on a hugely successful 50-date tour called "
The 20 Tour", in honour of Westlife's 20th anniversary since the release of their first single in 1999. On 15 November their 13th studio album,
Spectrum, was released. ==Personal life==