Westlife plan to stick around for years to come

26 November 2019

Westlife plan to continue performing into their 70s like The Rolling Stones if they "play their cards right".

Westlife's Kian Egan

The 'Flying Without Wings' hitmakers - comprised of Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan - have enjoyed huge success with their 'Twenty' reunion tour, their first since their 2012 Farewell Tour, and as long as they don't "burn out", they plan to stick around for years to come.

Asked in an interview with The Mirror Online if they see themselves being a band for as long as Sir Mick Jagger and co, Kian, 39, admitted: "10 years ago you would have said never but it feels like it's changed, it feels like there's an appetite from us and the audience to maybe even continue for that long, it is kind of weird like that.

"It kind of feels like if we play our cards right, and what I mean by that is if we don't burn ourselves out, because I think that's the biggest thing for us not to burn out so fast.

"I think the last time we did all this towards the end we were fully burnt, we were done, it wasn't that we didn't love what we do, we just didn't have it in us to do it any more."

The Irish chart-toppers - who formed in 1998, but disbanded in 2012, before reuniting last year - still have plenty more to achieve, including their bid to crack America.

Despite having 14 number ones in Britain, only their debut single 'Swear It Again' made waves in the US - but they are determined to become stars on the other side of the Atlantic.

Shane said recently: "I think America is definitely somewhere we want to go and it's something that we have talked about a lot recently. It's something we would love to have achieved as a band."Until we actually put on a concert in New York, that will be another milestone moment for us. And I think that's possible."

The 40-year-old singer also revealed that it will be a "career-defining moment" when the band perform at Wembley Stadium for the first time next summer.

He said: "Getting to play Wembley Stadium for the first time, that's serious bucket-list stuff for us. When we play it next August it's going to be packed.

"It's going to be one of those career-defining moments."

As well as their shows, Westlife released their comeback album 'Spectrum' earlier this month, which topped the chart in the UK and Ireland.