''Westlife'' is the debut studio album by Irish

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

. The album was released on 1 November 1999 through

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

. The album spawned the five UK number-one hit singles "

Swear It Again "Swear It Again" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife. It was released on 19 April 1999 in the United Kingdom and on 25 February 2000 in the United States as the first single from their debut album, ''Westlife'' (1999). The song peaked at number ...

", "

If I Let You Go "If I Let You Go" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife. It was released in the United Kingdom on 9 August 1999 as the second single from their self-titled debut album (1999). It became the second number-one hit, spending 11 weeks on the UK Sing ...

", "

Flying Without Wings "Flying Without Wings" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife, released on 18 October 1999 as the third single from their self-titled debut studio album (1999). It is the band's fourth-best-selling single on both paid-for and combined sales in th ...

", the double A-side "

I Have a Dream "I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called ...

"/"

Seasons in the Sun "Seasons in the Sun" is an English-language adaptation of the 1961 Belgian song "Le Moribond" (in English "The Dying Man") by singer-songwriter Jacques Brel with lyrics rewritten in 1963 by American singer-poet Rod McKuen, portraying a dying ...

", and "

Fool Again "Fool Again" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife. It was released on 27 March 2000 as the fifth and last single from their Westlife (album), self-titled debut album (1999). The song debuted and peaked at number two in the band's native Ireland, ...

Background and release

Westlife signed to

in November 1998 and immediately flew to Stockholm to commence recording their debut album. Their lead single "

" was released in April 1999. Two further singles followed and the album was released in November 1999. The album's standard edition features 17 tracks, while the band said they had recorded 22 songs for their debut album. For North America, Westlife signed to

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

after auditioning for the label's founder,

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...

. Westlife released "Swear It Again" as their debut there on 7 March 2000. The album was released on 4 April 2000 with an altered track listing that included the new song, "My Private Movie". A documentary video album related to the release, entitled "The Westlife Story", was released in October 2000, peaking at number 15 on the UK Visual Chart. The release, available in VHS and DVD, tells the story of how the five members became Westlife, the recording of their first album, and includes their then 4 music videeos. On 26 June, 2000, the DVD was re-released, containing all their then 6 music videos, and on 18 November 2002, it was included in the five disc box set entitled ''Westlife: The Complete Story''.

Commercial performance

Due to all five singles from the album peaking at number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in less than a year, Westlife created a chart history record that remains unbroken to date. Despite this, however, the album entered and peaked at number two, being beaten only by an extra 1,000 copies of '' Steptacular'' by Steps. The album was the biggest chart dropper on the top 40 in UK music history when, in its 58th week on the charts it leapt from No. 79 to No. 3 before falling to No. 37 the following week. Despite the history, the album successfully managed to peak at No. 1 in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in the year 2001 after premiering at No. 6 at the Scottish Charts in 1999. The album became the eighth best-selling album of 1999 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and ended up being certified 5× Platinum. The album went on to spend seventy-four weeks in the UK Top 100. In 2000, the album was released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and debuted at number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Top Heatseekers and peaked at 129 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album also peaked at number 1 in Ireland and 15 in Australia. ''Westlife'' also remains the best-selling international album ever in Indonesia and Philippines, receiving 20× platinum certifications for over 1 million copies sold in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and 25× Platinum certifications for over 500,000 units sold in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Track listing

Notes * "Swear It Again" is also referred to as "Swear It All Over Again" according to music repertoires. * "No No" is also referred to as "No No I Don't Need Nobody" or "No No (I Don't Need Nobody)" according to music repertoires. * "I Don't Wanna Fight" is also referred to as "I Don't Want to Fight" according to music repertoires. * "Miss You" is also referred to as "I Miss You" according to music repertoires. * "Can't Lose What You Never Had" is also referred to as "Can't Lose What U Never Had" according to music repertoires.

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westlife (Album) 1999 debut albums Westlife albums Sony Music albums RCA Records albums Sony BMG albums Albums produced by Steve Mac Albums produced by Cutfather Albums produced by David Kreuger Albums produced by Per Magnusson Albums produced by Rami Yacoub Albums recorded at Cheiron Studios