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Mark Feehily facts: Westlife singer's age, partner, children and more revealed
4 February 2022, 15:53
Mark Feehily is one of the most successful pop singers of all time thanks to his many hits with Westlife.
Westlife are back with new music, and here's all the important facts you need to know about Mark (or Markus!):
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Who is Mark Feehily?
Markus Feehily - Butterfly
Mark is an Irish singer-songwriter, best known as one of the lead singers of Westlife since 1999.
He has also released two solo albums under the name Markus Feehily: 2015's Fire and 2017's Christmas.
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Mark Feehily age: How old is he?
Mark was born on May 28, 1980. He celebrated his 41st birthday in 2021.
He was born in Sligo in Ireland. His parents are Marie (née Verdon) and Oliver Feehily, and he has two younger brothers.
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Mark Feehily partner: Is he married?
Mark with former partner Kevin McDaid in 2009. Picture: Getty In 2005, Mark publicly revealed he was gay during an interview with The Sun. At the time, he also announced his relationship with British fashion photographer Kevin McDaid, who was previously a member of the boyband V.
The couple were engaged in 2010, but a year later confirmed their split.
In 2017, Mark revealed that he had been in a relationship for four years. He told RSVP Live: "I am going out with an Irish guy now, so it suits us both to be back in Ireland and our families are close by."
In 2019, he announced that he was engaged to his boyfriend:
On October 3, 2019, Mark and his fiancé Cailean O'Neill announced the birth of their daughter Layla via surrogate.
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How were Westlife formed?
Westlife - World Of Our Own (Official Video)
Kian Egan, Mark and Shane Filan were already schoolmates at Summerhill College on Sligo, Ireland.
All three sang in a school production of Grease, alongside Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron, and Michael Garrett. They later said that they consider this as the start of Westlife.
All six members formed a group called Six as One in 1997. They later changed their band name to IOYOU.
Louis Walsh, who was also the manager of Boyzone, discovered the group after he was contacted by Filan's mother Mae, but the group didn't land a BMG record deal with Simon Cowell.
Cowell told Walsh: "You are going to have to fire at least three of them. They have great voices, but they are the ugliest band I have ever seen in my life."
Three members (Lacey, Keighron and Garrett) were told to leave, and auditions were held in Dublin where Nicky Byrne and Brian McFadden were recruited.
