Music
Video Diaries
The Video Diaries: Westlife
Key moments in the career of one of the most successful boybands of all time, caught on camera
Turns out good things can come from a school production of Grease. With a little help from some of music’s biggest names – Louis Walsh, Simon Cowell and Ronan Keating to name a few – a high school enthusiasm for performing turned into an extraordinary career for the members of Westlife. Now, over twenty-five years later, the Irish boyband remain one of the defining musical acts of the last few decades, trailing only behind Elvis Presley and the Beatles when it comes to the number of times they’ve topped the UK charts. Even just since their reunion in 2019, the group have performed over 200 shows in 30 shows, released two further studio albums, and topped the UK album charts again for good measure.
As the group prepare to take Westlife 25: The Anniversary World Tour across the UK this autumn, we’re combing back through their huge library of hits to find the moments that made them, caught on camera.
1998 – ‘Flying Without Wings’on The Late Late Show
![[FULL HD] Westlife - Flying Without Wings (Live on The Late Late Show, Ireland 1998)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5iWBQOGz7Ek/0.jpg)
The group’s first ever televised performance sees them take to the stage looking like they’ve been pulled into the studio halfway through their morning commute. Still, it’s hard to deny the potential in this clip from Irish TV show The Late Late Show. The group was growing a following after opening for Boyzone and The Backstreet Boys, but were still a way off from their first official release. Flying Without Wings wouldn’t be released as a single until almost a year later, in October 1999, when it would become their third no.1 UK single.
1999 – ‘Swear It Again’
The music video for Westlife’s first single feels like a pretty bleak way to kick off a career. It sees them performing their hearts out in an empty theatre, facing black and white footage of their recording process, which ends up looking a little like an in memoriam. This was actually the second attempt at a video for Swear It Again – the original version, which Cowell spent £150,000 on, was never released after Cowell declared it a failure.
Swear It Again immediately topped the UK and Irish charts upon release, hanging out in the top spot for two weeks. It was the biggest selling single in the first week by a debut artist.
2000 – ‘My Love’
The music video for ‘My Love’ remains the most watched video on Westlife’s YouTube channel, and it was a big hit in its time too, landing the band their seventh UK no.1 and their second Record Of The Year, as voted for by the UK public. The video sees them stuck in an airport after a cancelled flight, waiting on news. They decide it’ll be ‘quicker walking’, before setting off at an extremely leisurely amble. Which isn’t a problem, because there’s a green screen on hand to teleport them between Irish locations. They end up at the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, to deliver the final chorus.
2001 – ‘Uptown Girl’ on Top of the Pops
No video diary for any 2000s group would be complete without a clip from Top of the Pops. This one sees Westlife perform their cover of Billy Joel’s ‘Uptown Girl’ in some very snazzy orange boiler suits. The group covered the song for their third album, World Of Our Own, with the track also becoming the 2001 Comic Relief charity single. The official music video parodied Joel’s, depicting the group working in a burger bar.
2003 – ‘Mandy’
Continuing Westlife’s tradition of highly successful covers is this soulful version of ‘Mandy’, a track made famous by Barry Manilow. The group have long had a knack for making a cover feel like their own, and their rendition of ‘Mandy’ was one of their biggest hits, earning them their Third Record of the Year award in under five years. It was a sleeper hit, though, and had the longest leap to the top of the charts in UK music history – from no.200 all the way to no.1.
Another Westlife tradition being honoured in this video is that of singing in a line in front of a pretty backdrop. The majority of the music video was shot in the United Grand Lodge of England, Freemason’s Hall, the group wandering into half-shadowed rooms for their respective close-ups. But for the grand finale, they’re ushered outdoors and arranged in a line as fireworks burst overhead. Don’t worry, no loud noises will scare these guys away from their respective marks.
2005 – ‘You Raise Me Up’
The lead single from Westlife’s sixth album Face To Face has become one of their signature tracks, and possibly their most famous cover. First recorded by Norwegian-Irish band Secret Garden in 2002, ‘You Raise Me Up’ has been covered by more than 100 artists since, notably including Josh Groban in 2003. Westlife’s version earned them yet another no.1 in the UK and became their most streamed single of all time. The music video is a simple, poignant black and white affair, celebrating all kinds of love, from romantic to parental to platonic.
2008 – ‘Home’ at Croke Park Stadium
At a 10 Years of Westlife concert in Croke Park, Dublin, the group fittingly performed this Michael Bublé cover, which was released as the lead single from their eighth album, Back Home. The official music video was shot in Vancouver, but this performance on home turf feels far more fitting, with thousands of voices singing along.
2010 – ‘Safe’
The only single released from Westlife’s tenth album, Gravity, officially gave the band a top ten single in three different decades. The music video sees the group appearing like angels to people in distress and turning their unsafe situations into safe ones – although since they’ve got a song to get through at the same time, some of them arguably take a little too long to react.
2012 – ‘You Raise Me Up’ at Croke Park Stadium
We’re back to Croke Park for this one, where the group’s 2012 farewell tour concluded with two huge shows. As the finale of The Greatest Hits Tour, Westlife played to a live audience of over 187,808 spectators across two nights, with the final show also screened live in more than 300 cinemas throughout the UK. This emotional rendition of their hit ballad was the perfect way to close out.
2019 – ‘Hello My Love’
In 2019, Westlife returned with their first single since 2011. Written by Ed Sheeran and Steve Mac, the track saw the group take a risk, returning not with the soul-stirring ballad fans might have expected but instead a new pop-EDM sound. Fittingly, the music video sees them moving about with a new energy, although they always return to their familiar line. Shot in Joshua Tree, California, the video has the group performing from inside a multicoloured hot air balloon, as well as the obligatory solo shots in the desert.
2025 – ‘Chariot’
To celebrate the announcement of Westlife 25: The Anniversary World Tour, new single ‘Chariot’ was released, another upbeat love song in line with ‘Hello My Love’. The music video is a scrapbook-style creation that doubles as a lyric video, featuring clips and photos from the last few years of Westlife’s career. The song also served as the promotional video for compilation album 25: The Ultimate Collection – if you want any insight into the setlist for the anniversary tour, we’d suggest it as your first point of call.
Westlife 25: The Anniversary World Tour kicks off this September 2026 – find your tickets here
