It’s been 15 years since Brian McFadden quit Westlife yet he hasn’t been able to completely shake off the boyband.
In speaking with Manchester Evening News, the 39-year-old Irish singer discussed if he regretted leaving Westlife and if he would consider joining them on their comeback tour.
While McFadden is probably sick of people bringing up Westlife time and time again, he understands their curiosity. Regardless whether he’s performing as a solo artist or as a duo with Boyzone’s Keith Duffy, his concert setlist usually consists of Wesltlife’s early repertoire in addition to his own material.
In spite of the nostalgia, the singer explained that it’ll be weird to appear on stage together with former bandmates Shane Filan, Markus Feehily, Kian Egan and Nicky Byrne. “Singing Westlife songs does bring back memories. I’ve been singing the songs for over 20 years now. But I have never regretted leaving,” he said.
He continued, “Westlife are a different band now than when I was there, they’ve reinvented themselves. When they went on tour recently everyone was asking why I wasn’t going back for it, but I left back in 2004, so they’ve been without me for 15 years. If I went back, I’d need to learn 20 plus songs for the show, plus it would be weird for this guy who hasn’t been involved for so long to just turn up on stage and sing.”
A few years back, McFadden even claimed that he “saved” the band by leaving in 2004. Apparently the quartet wouldn’t have stayed together much longer had he not made the decision to move on.
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Regardless, we’re glad that Westlife is still killing it while McFadden is happy doing his own thing.
