Westlife started out with Mark, Kian, Shane and 3 other guys as a group called IOU. IOU were introduced to Louis Walsh (Westlife's manager) who replaced 3 of IOU with 2 guys - Bryan and Nicky. Westlife began with the name Westside. Westside came about from the fact that Mark, Kian and Shane were from Sligo which is on the west side of Ireland. But they soon had to change it after finding out their were merchandising companies in the United States called Westside. The guys are managed by Louis Walsh who also manages Boyzone and the Carter Twins, and they are also co-managed by Boyzone's own Ronan Keating. They have a contract with RCA Records which are a British company. Ronan Keating's co-management came about when he was introduced to Westlife by Louis Walsh. He had a chat with the band, then he spoke to Louis and decided he wanted to take them on as co-manager. When asked how he would like Westlife's career to develop over the next couple of years, this is what he said: "Well, obviously I'd like them to be the biggest band in the world! It's taken a lot of hard work and hopefully they'll keep their feet on the ground, but I think there's a lot of potential there!" I.O.YOU This is a picture of Shane, Mark, and Kian with Derek, Michael, and Graham before Westlife.
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