Flying Without Wings

Background

The song was written by Wayne Hector and Steve Mac. In an interview with HitQuarters, Hector said the basic idea for the song came to him while on a break from working on a hip hop session with Ezi Cut in Los Angeles:

"I came up with a couple of lines for the first verse and then phoned my mama’s house, left it on the answering machine, and said, “Don’t get rid of this!”

Upon returning to England, Hector went into the studio to work on the idea with long-time songwriting partner and producer Steve Mac. When the two discussed what the song was about they agreed that, "this is about our wives. This is about the things that make our lives complete." According to Hector the lyrics were completed in about half an hour.

Commercial performance

The song became an instant hit in the United Kingdom and many parts of the world. The song became the group's third UK number-one single, spending 13 weeks on charts. It is also one of Westlife's biggest selling singles. The song has received a Gold sales certification in the UK for over 400,000 copies sold.

Track listing

1. "Flying Without Wings" - 3:35
2. "Everybody Knows" - 3:45
3. "Flying Without Wings" (Video) - 3:40

1. "Flying Without Wings" - 3:35
2. "That's What It's All About" - 3:20
3. "Flying Without Wings" (Acappella) - 3:29

1. "Flying Without Wings" - 3:35
2. "I Have A Dream" (Remix) - 4:06
3. "Seasons In The Sun" (Single Remix) - 4:10
4. "Flying Without Wings" (Video) - 3:40

Duets

In 2002, as part of the promotion of their Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits Vol. 1 album, the band re-recorded the song as a duet with Mexican singer Cristian Castro and South Korean pop singer, BoA. Both duets were included on the album in their respective regions. Both duets were also released as singles in their respective regions.

Track listing

1. "Flying Without Wings" (Duet with Cristian Castro) - 3:35
2. "Never Knew I Was Losing You" - 4:09

1. "Flying Without Wings" (Duet with BoA) - 3:35
2. "Never Knew I Was Losing You" - 4:09

Live version

In 2004, as part of the promotion for their Turnaround Tour , the band released the live version of the song. It was recorded during their tour in Stockholm Globe Arena. Their live version peaked at number one in UK Singles Chart and was the first ever number one in the UK downloads chart.

Track listing

1. "Flying Without Wings" (Live)

Video album

A karaoke version of "Flying Without Wings" was released on DVD in 2000 and debuted at number one. It includes easy to read lyrics, photographs & interactive menus, picture sleeve. It has a running time of 45 minutes.

Track listing

1. Swear It Again
2. If I Let You Go
3. Flying Without Wings
4. Fool Again
5. Seasons In The Sun
6. I Have A Dream
7. More Than Words
8. Against All Odds

Tours performed at

Other appearances

The Westlife song has appeared in Pokémon: The Movie 2000 as the final song of the credits in the film and on the official movie soundtrack. It also featured in the 2000 Australian film The Magic Pudding and 2000 French film Archibald the Koala: The Movie.

Ruben Studdard version

"Flying Without Wings" was covered by American Idol winner Ruben Studdard as his debut single in 2003. The single was released on June 10 and charted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 28, behind "This Is the Night" by Clay Aiken. "Flying Without Wings" also gained attention on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, peaking at number thirteen, while it reached number 27 on the adult contemporary chart. It was also released in New Zealand and reached number two behind Clay Aiken. The single had sold 751,000 copies through December 2006. This version of the song also appears on the game Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol.

Track listing

1. "Flying Without Wings"
2. "Superstar"