Shane Filan

Shane Filan

Shane Steven Filan (born 5 July 1979) is a member of the Irish pop band Westlife. Filan is one of the four (formerly five) original Westlife members, along with other current members Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Nicky Byrne.

Biography

Filan was was born on July 5, 1979 to Peter and Mae Filan, and grew up in Sligo, a large town in the northwest of Ireland. The youngest of seven children, he has three brothers and three sisters: Finbarr, Peter Jr, Yvonne, Liam, Denise and Mairead. His parents owned a diner in Sligo named Carlton Cafe located on Castle Street and Shane used to work there as a waiter from a very early age.

Filan attended Summerhill College, a Catholic school, with Kian Egan and Mark Feehily. All three of them participated in a school production of Grease when they were about 12. The Hawkswell Theatre became a significant part of their careers, and as a big fan of Michael Jackson, Filan taught himself how to moonwalk.

Musical career

Main article: Westlife

Before Westlife, Egan and Feehily were with Filan in a band known as I.O.U. with other Sligonians Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron and Michael "Miggles" Garrett. In 1997, he attended an audition for a new Irish boyband, where he was spotted by Boyzone manager Louis Walsh, and Walsh approached him to join his new venture, Westlife. The three Sligonans joined the band along with Brian McFadden.

Filan is along with Mark Feehily the main lead singer (first voice) in Westlife. Their first album was released in November, 1999, titled Westlife. With Westlife, Byrne has had 14 UK number ones and six number one albums in the UK, and sold 36 million records worldwide.

Filan has also co-written a few songs, along with the other band members, including:

• Fragile Heart
• Bop Bop Baby (Became a hit single and made it into #5 in U.K. singles charts)
• I Wanna Grow Old With You
• Don't Say It's Too Late
• Love Crime
• How Does It Feel
• Crying Girl
• Reason For Living
• Miss You When I'm Dreaming

He has also written songs for other artists, (together with his former bandmate McFadden:

• Listen Girl sung by John Ostberg
• Let Me Be the One sung by Simon Casey (the song written by only Shane himself)
• Sei Parte Ormai Di Me sung by Il Divo

Personal life

He is married to Gillian Walsh (Kian's cousin).

Shane married his childhood sweetheart, Gillian Walsh on Sunday December 28, 2003 at Ballintubber Abbey.Followed by a lavish reception at Ashford Castle, Ireland.

Shane's wife Gillian gave birth to their first daughter child on 23 July 2005, a daughter whom they named Nicole Rose Filan. Nicole weighed 5lbs 7ozs and was born at Sligo General Hospital. Nicole is said to have been the same weight as her father when he was born.

Shane likes to play golf in his spare time, but loves horses much more. He and his family own more than 70 of them, and used to compete at horse tournaments. All of Shane's horses are named Carlton something (e.g. Carlton Flight, Carlton Clover). He also bought Gillian a dark brown horse named Sylvester. A massive Manchester United fan, Filan and bandmate Nicky Byrne proudly wore their Man Utd scarfs as they were half time guests at Old Trafford for the game between United and Bolton Wanderers on 17/03/07.

He and his eldest brother, Finbarr, have a company called Shafin Developments Ltd.. They are hoping to expand its portfolio with the proposed construction of 63 luxury apartments at the rear of Lisroyan House, Knappagh Road, Sligo.

Quotes

• "I'm young, free and single. So if there's anyone out there! Seriously it is very hard to have girlfriends as we are away so much - that's the reality of it and it's going to be worse before it gets better." (Shane on having girlfriends in the business after splitting with the former Miss Universe Alicia Machado).
• "I felt weird - I was dead paranoid about it. I thought, 'Is everyone staring at me, is it obvious?'" (Shane on having to wear make-up).
• "I used to have a toy cat called Kitty. It wasn't a pink cat but it wasn't a black cat either if you know what I mean. It was something a girl would definitely have had. I'd hide him under the bed when my friends came round."
• "I was caught speeding past a hospital doing 47 mph in a 30 mph zone. There were four of us in the car and it was just after I passed my test. We were on our way to the Irish trials for rugby and we were late so on the bigger roads I was probably going a lot faster. Luckily the cop loved rugby so he let me off although he wasn't too happy with my dodgy number plate."
• "I went away for a three-day rugby tournament and I forgot all my boxer shorts. We were in the middle of nowhere and I had to wear the same pair day in, day in, day out, even during the matches. They smelt after a while!"

External links

• Official Website
• Shane Filan NL