Music
08 Aug 22

Westlife wow fans at their first Wembley Stadium headline show

Westlife at Croke Park, 5th of July 2019, by Danni Fro

Sophie Ellis-Bextor and James Morrison took to the Wembley stage to support acts before Irish quartet Westlife serenaded the crowd on Saturday night.

Westlife's epic Wembley Arena headline show was three years delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but fans ensured us it was well worth the wait.

The Irish boyband performed their biggest, best hits to a packed out London stadium on Saturday night as part of their Wild Dreams Tour.

The sold-out show featured numbers such as major 1999 hit 'Flying Without Wings', 'You Raise Me Up', 'When You're Looking Like That', 'Starlight', 'Uptown Girl', 'What About Now' and 'World of Our Own'.

"Wembley Stadium! What an incredibly special night," Westlife tweeted after the stellar show. That was a real pinch yourself moment for us and something we will talk about for the rest of our lives. Thank you to each and every one of you who joined us last night, both in the stadium & cinemas! We will never forget it!"

Wembley Stadium! What an incredibly special night. That was a real pinch yourself moment for us and something we will talk about for the rest of our lives. Thank you to each and every one of you who joined us last night, both in the stadium & cinemas! We will never forget it! 💫 pic.twitter.com/SsieJ32A60

— Westlife (@westlifemusic) August 7, 2022

It was the first time in the chart-topping band’s history that they have played at the famous venue, having formed in 1998. Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan and Brian McFadden found fame with Westlife in the late '90s, but disbanded in 2018 after 14 years of success.

They reunited in 2018 without McFadden – who left the band in 2004, and has since teamed up with Boyzone’s Keith Duffy. This week Feehily told ITV that securing the Wembley gig nearly 25 years into their music careers had slightly “blown our minds a little bit”.

He told ITV’s This Morning on Friday: “I think playing concerts like this in Wembley Stadium is something that we’ve dreamed of since we were little boys and to actually be here now, I think for us it just means so much, nearly 25 years into our career to b playing to a sold-out Wembley Stadium.”

Filan agreed that finally playing Wembley was a “massive achievement” for the group, saying: “We’ve played stadiums all over the world but Wembley Stadium is probably the most famous stadium in the world.

“And I suppose once you play the stadium you’re in a very elite list of people that are lucky enough to play it and I obviously think of bands like Queen and people like that. It’s pretty incredible and we’re very proud of it. It’s a massive achievement for us.”

It's safe to say that London-based Westlife fans were over the moon with Saturday's performance.

Our fourth concert of the summer 🤩

A special night under the arch 🫶 Thank you, @westlifemusic pic.twitter.com/vIHO6KK9pw

— Wembley Stadium (@wembleystadium) August 6, 2022

Westlife are bashing out banger after banger at Wembley, and I don’t care who knows it. pic.twitter.com/JelT2o8gRr

— Ryan Wilson (@rhwilson83) August 6, 2022

"You raised us up to more than we could be"

Absolutely beautiful ending to the perfect show for @westlifemusic @wembleystadium last night . Thanks to everyone involved and especially the brilliant @spiritlandprod audio crew providing the epic mix for @CinemaLiveInfo pic.twitter.com/B7VkVf4wji

— Steve Anderson (@MrSteveAnderson) August 7, 2022