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Shane Filan - Singer, Westlife

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Shane Steven Filan is a member of the Irish pop band Westlife. Filan is one of the four (formerly five) original Westlife members, along with other current members Kian Egan, Mark Feehily and Nicky Byrne. Before Westlife, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily were with Shane in a band known as I.O.U. with other Sligonians Derek Lacy, Graham Keighron and Michael "Miggles" Garrett.

He grew up in Sligo, a large town in the northwest of Ireland. He was born on July 5, 1979 to Peter and Mae Filan. He is the youngest of seven children. He's got three brothers and three sisters: Finbarr, Peter Jr, Yvonne, Liam, Denise and Mairead. His parents owned a diner in Sligo named Carlton Cafe located on Castle Street and Shane used to work there as a waiter from a very early age. When Peter and Mae decided to close the cafe in 2003, Shane bought it back and turned it into a clothes shop. Shane is a big fan of Michael Jackson and even learned how to moonwalk. He attended Summerhill College, a Catholic school, with Kian Egan and Mark Feehily. All three of them participated in a school production of Grease when they were about 12. Shane loves horses, owns lots of them, and used to compete at horse tournaments.

He loves watching cartoons. Shane Filan is the main lead singer (first voice) in Westlife. He has also cowritten a few songs, along with the other band members, including:

• "Fragile Heart"
• "Bop Bop Baby"
• "I Wanna Grow Old With You"
• "Don't Say It's Too Late"
• "Love Crime"
• "How Does It Feel"
• "Crying Girl"
• "Reason For Living"
• "Miss You When I'm Dreaming"

Shane married his childhood sweetheart, Gillian Walsh, on Sunday 28th December, 2003 at Ballintubber Abbey.

Shane's wife Gillian gave birth to their first child on 23rd July 2005, a daughter whom they named Nicole.