The X Factor (2006–2007) during their tenure on
The X Factor The MacDonald Brothers auditioned for
The X Factor in 2006 in
Glasgow, Scotland singing "
Don't Worry Baby" originally by
The Beach Boys, and the judges comments were positive, with
Sharon Osbourne saying "You made that song not sound Californian, you made it sound Scottish ..." and
Louis Walsh added "Which Was Good!". The band received three positive votes from the judges
Simon Cowell, Osbourne and Walsh. Throughout the show, the boys were mentored and coached by Walsh. The brothers were the ninth contestant eliminated, with
Leona Lewis being the eventual winner. The Macdonald Brothers signed a
recording contract with
Syco Records, along with
Sony Music Entertainment. Following this they signed with Scottish Independent label "The Music Kitchen" who released their debut album. In 2007, The Macdonald Brothers toured the United Kingdom as part of
The X Factor Live Tour. They closed the first half of the show with their most popular performances from the show, "Shang A Lang", "Cant Take My Eyes Off You" and "500 Miles". Following the conclusion of the tour, The MacDonald Brothers joined Irish boy band
Westlife as the opening act for their
Love Tour for the Scottish dates in Glasgow and
Aberdeen.
The MacDonald Brothers (2007–2008) After
The X Factor, the band recorded their debut album,
The MacDonald Brothers, which was released on 2 April 2007, produced by
Stuart Wood of Scottish super group
The Bay City Rollers. The album entered the
UK Album Charts at No. 18. The album also charted at No. 1 on the Scottish Albums Chart outselling the likes of
Kings of Leon and
The Proclaimers on their week of release in Scotland. The album consisted mainly of
covers including "
Real Gone Kid", "Shang-A-Lang", "
When You Say Nothing at All" and "
Bye Bye Baby" and "
500 Miles".
The MacDonald Brothers album made chart history in their native Scotland, becoming the first album to reach number one on the
Scottish Albums Chart which was released through an independent Scottish record label, The Music Kitchen. It entered the Scottish album charts at No. 2, just being pipped to the post by the "
Stereophonics" on the week of release.
The Great Big Scottish Songbook was released on 26 May 2008 by
EMI Records, and featured The MacDonald Brothers tracks as well as some of Scotland's most well known artists including
KT Tunstall,
The Proclaimers,
Simple Minds and
Runrig. In 2008, The MacDonald Brothers again joined Irish boy band Westlife on the Scottish leg of their UK Tour. "Runaway (Do You Love Me)" was released as a download single, which was written by
Elton John who later offered the song to The MacDonald Brothers following his decision not to record it himself. He later "gifted" the track to the duo for recording and release on their second album,
The World Outside. Their third studio album,
With Love was released on 18 February 2008, as a limited edition album for mothers day. It featured predominately love songs including "Wonderful Tonight" and "Unchained Melody." The limited copies of the album sold out within the first two weeks. The same year, they released their fourth studio album entitled
Young Celts was released on 13 October 2008 which saw the duo return to their Scottish roots featuring tracks such as "Loch Lomond" and "Flower of Scotland," as well as some well known covers such as "So Young," by the Corrs. "You Can Always Come Home Son" was released as a download single. The album, distributed only in Scotland peaked at number eight on the
Scottish Albums Chart.
Strumming To Your Beat and The Macs (2010–2024) The MacDonald Brothers recorded a Christmas album entitled
Merry Christmas in the summer of 2010 which featured nineteen songs including Christmas songs such as "
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", "
Last Christmas" and "
Merry Christmas Everyone". Originally,
Merry Christmas was recorded to go on sale exclusively during their "X-MAS" tour which ran through November and December 2010, however, the album was eventually released through digital download format only. In 2010, the duo were invited once again for the third time to serve as support acts for Irish boy band
Westlife during their Scottish dates at the
Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) and again in 2011 where they supported Westlife at Cawdor Castle in
Inverness alongside Irish girlband
Wonderland. The band travelled to
Nashville to record the album and worked with some of Nashvilles biggest recording producers. ==Artistry==