Top 25 Shane Filan Quotes

I will definitely start in small venues, as I want to find my feet as a performer; the first shows that Westlife did was ten dates at Wembley, which was just crazy. We didn’t have a clue what we were doing because it was so big.

I can say 100% that Westlife is not breaking up.

I’ve been a solo artist for a year now, and I think I should start thinking about the future now. Every spare time I get, I want to be in the studio and work on music for 2015. It’s a lot of work.

When you look at bands like Take That, who have come back bigger than ever, you can see there will always be a market for good pop bands.

It’s a big deal to bring your family on the road, you know? I’d love to do it sometime, but you have to work out schools and all that.

Everybody, every tradesman that worked for Shafin or built my house got fully paid, well paid. Everybody got paid. I would like that to be said if I could because I haven’t said it before, and it’s important. People kind of think we left all these plumbers or electricians without getting paid.

I think Westlife is very unique: we have a certain sound; we do our thing our way, and we don’t try to change too much. I think that’s what the fans love about us. We keep giving the fans what they want every year. The style of music never really changes too much.

I didn’t really like ‘You Raise Me Up’ at the time we recorded it; now it’s my favourite Westlife song.

I worry about putting food on the table, paying for my kids needs, their college fees in years to come. It’s about earning enough to have a living to be able to look after your children.

I have three children to take care; I have a wife. My job is to take care of them, and I can say it’s a pretty cool job to have.

Why me? Why did this happen? How could I be in Westlife and then have nothing to show for it financially at the end of it? But it’s like, why not me? That’s just life. It’s tough. There’s a lot more problems in the world. There are a lot of people who would wish to God they had my problem instead of having a sick child.

I put all my eggs in one basket and invested in property. I didn’t do anything internationally – it was all in Ireland.

The adrenaline of performing on stage to a crowd – there’s nothing like it.

If I’m honest, I thought Westlife would keep going for longer than it did – we all did – but it sort of came to a natural end. When we decided we were going to split, I thought, ‘If I’m going to sing, I’m going to have to do it solo.’ Also, financially I was broke, so the decision was ultimately made for me.

My mum and dad ran a family cafe in Sligo for 35 years and worked long hours. We grew up in a very hard-working family and had a lovely atmosphere, as we lived above the restaurant. It definitely made me want to work hard, whatever I chose to do. As the baby of seven kids, I was definitely a bit spoilt.

You shouldn’t end a band like Westlife and not be financially secure to some extent, but I wasn’t at all – it was the complete opposite. But you look at stuff then, ‘Well, what do I have? I don’t have money but I have a great marriage, three healthy kids, and I have my voice. I’ll just start again.’

For Westlife, the music will never stop as long as our fans are around inspiring us to keep on making beautiful music together.

Capitol Records were very keen for me to write and see how I got on; I think that is what defined my sound. The first session I had was with two young up-and-coming writers, Nick Atkinson and Tom Wilding, and I went into a session a bit nervous because I hadn’t written that many songs before.

After Westlife, I was in a scared place, you know; you’ve three children, and I worry about providing for them, and I had no guarantees going forward about the future.

Working on solo material is something I had always dreamed of doing, and I’m incredibly happy with the results. ‘Everything To Me’ is a very personal song to me lyrically; it is such an upbeat and optimistic record, perfect for the summer. I can’t wait for people to hear it!

When I had money, I felt pressure, whether it was to invest it or do good with it, and I couldn’t let it fizzle out. It was like I needed to prove to myself that I could look after it, only I did the opposite, but you have to take a chance in life.

You’re only as good as your last album.

When your child is looking up at you, and you are putting them to bed at night, and they are just lying there, you have to remind yourself that’s what it’s all about.

I didn’t want to be a solo Westlife – covers and ballads – and the reason I signed with Capitol Records was because they wanted me to write songs myself. It was pretty scary, but they put me in a studio in Nashville with some new songwriters, and the results were pretty good.

Westlife earnt millions. We were on the ‘Irish Times’ Rich List. And then… I’m not!