Markus Feehily

1998–2012: Westlife

He rose to fame as one of the two lead singers of the boy band Westlife. He shared lead vocals with Shane Filan. Before Westlife, Feehily, Filan and Kian Egan were members of the band IOYOU, which released the single "Together Girl Forever". Louis Walsh, the manager of Boyzone, was contacted by Filan's mother and came to know about the group. The group was established on 3 July 1998 with the addition of two more members, Nicky Byrne and Bryan McFadden. Boyzone singer Ronan Keating was brought in to co-manage the group with Walsh. Feehily has also co-written songs, some with the other band members.

Feehily has sung completely solo on songs for the band in some instances:

During live performances, he also sang completely solo for the songs "Oh Holy Night", "Imaginary Diva", "Talk Me Down", "Before It's Too Late", and Boy George's "Il Adore". He has also co-written songs, some with the other band members.

Feehily has spoken to The Boston Globe of his embarrassment about Westlife's Rat Pack-tribute album, ...Allow Us to Be Frank; he blamed Westlife's label for forcing them to record it after Robbie Williams had success with this type of music. He dismissed the instance as a "weird time" in Westlife's career.

2015–present: Solo Career

In February 2015 Markus launched his solo career with a radio premiere of his debut single "Love Is a Drug" on RTÉ 2fm in Ireland. The next day the track premiered online, via Wonderland Magazine. Moments after the premiere of the song, it was made available for pre-order on iTunes, with the official video for the track launching on his Vevo channel two weeks later. The song was released on 19 April 2015. He released his debut solo studio album Fire on 16 October 2015, it includes the single "Love Is a Drug".

Personal life

Markus Feehily was born in Sligo, Co Sligo in Ireland. His parents are Marie (née Verdon) and Oliver Feehily. He spent his childhood in a picturesque environment with two younger brothers and many cousins. As a child, singing and playing the tin whistle were important elements in his life. In his teenage years, he also enjoyed playing tennis and football.

In August 2005, he publicly revealed he was gay during an interview with the British tabloid The Sun. Feehily had recognised his sexual orientation when he was 14 or 15 years old. His family, bandmates and close friends knew his sexual orientation. Westlife's manager Louis Walsh, however, was unaware of Feehily's sexual orientation when he began managing the group. As the only gay member in Westlife, Feehily had kept his sexual orientation private and never had a boyfriend. Unlike his bandmates, Feehily did not discuss his private life in interviews, although he had dated women prior to his coming out. In yet another interview, he told The Sydney Morning Herald that despite the fact that the majority of Westlife's fans are female, there had really been no negative reaction.

During the interview with The Sun, Feehily also announced his romantic relationship with British fashion photographer Kevin McDaid, a member of the now-defunct British boy band V. The pair, who lived together, had been dating since January 2005 after having met at a Cheerios Childline Concert in Ireland. Feehily said that while he did not intend on getting married right away, he was happy to know he could form a civil partnership in Britain with the recent passing of the Civil Partnership Act. In December 2007, Feehily and Kevin appeared on the cover of Attitude. The couple became engaged in February 2010. On 31 December 2011, Feehily announced via his Twitter account that the couple had split up.

Feehily is interested in charity works and supports the charity group Aware. He was shortlisted in 2011 as one of the top 50 most influential gays in United Kingdom. He congratulated his local football club Sligo Rovers on its victory in the 2011 FAI Cup Final.