Shane Filan

For 14 years, Shane Filan was a prominent member of the hugely successful boy band Westlife, an act that managed to amass no fewer than 14 U.K. number one hits before they marked their dissolution with a summer 2012 show in Dublin in front of 80,000 fans. Born in Sligo, Ireland during the last summer of the '70s, Filan went on to develop his singing voice as part of various school productions, as well as in performances at the local Hawk's Well Theatre. Before his 20th birthday he had already achieved his first number one single with Westlife, when they issued their Steve Mac -produced debut, "Swear It Again." From 1999's Westlife to 2010's Gravity, all but two of their ten studio albums reached the top of the Irish album chart, and following the October 2012 announcement of the band's plan to part ways, Filan was strongly rumored to be talking to various labels about a solo deal. He spent much of 2012 and early 2013 writing new material, and in April 2013, it was revealed that Filan had signed with London Records. His summer 2013 debut solo single, "Everything to Me," nodded to the mainstream folk of the Lumineers and Mumford & Sons, and an album, You & Me, was released that November.