Shane Filan
Shane Filan
Shane Steven Filanis an Irish singer and songwriter. He was one of the lead singers and frontman of Irish boy band Westlife until the group disbanded in 2012. After Westlife disbanded, Filan released his debut solo album, You and Me, in 2013...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionPop Singer
Date of Birth5 July 1979
CitySligo, Ireland
CountryIreland
children worry guarantees
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.
song writing thinking
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.
thinking people house
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.
unique thinking years
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.
decision splits honest
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.
song strong thinking
I think that lyrically, 'Safe' is a very positive song: it's very strong; it's about keeping somebody safe and protecting people. I think everybody anywhere in the world can relate to it. I think everybody wants to feel safe; everybody wants to feel protected.
good-life you-only-live-once
You only live once, so live a good life!
moving eight albums
My whole world changed when Michael Jackson brought out the Bad album when I was about eight or nine. He took over my whole life and from then on I wanted to be Michael Jackson. I watched his videos for hours and learned how to dance like him. I would push back the chairs in the room and learn his dance moves. I even taught myself to moonwalk.
knew material
I knew I was going to lose my house in Ireland and all the other properties. It's all gone. But my house was the one material thing that was very important to me.
song writing nashville
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.
song writing nashville
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.
kids opposites voice
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.'
heart singing break
I'd like to keep singing - whether that's small or big. To stop singing for a living would break my heart.
school work-out bigs
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.