Louis
Louis Walsh is one of the most respected names in the music industry. His bands have achieved a staggering 28 number one hits to date.
Louis’ management career began by guiding Irish singer Johnny Logan to success in The Eurovision Song Contest. Spurred on by the success of boyband Take That, Louis held auditions to find members for a boyband based in Dublin. Ronan Keating, Stephen Gately, Shane Lynch, Mikey Graham and Keith Duffy would become famous worldwide as Boyzone. The band achieved 16 top three singles, six of which were Number ones and four Number one albums, selling over 12 million copies worldwide; they are tipped to reform in 2008. Louis also masterminded Ronan Keating’s subsequent solo career, which scored a Number one hit with Life is a Rollercoaster in 2000. His debut solo album sold over 4.4 million copies.
Westlife
Louis’ next discovery, Westlife, were signed up by Simon Cowell in 1998. The group currently hold the record for achieving the most consecutive number one singles. Under Louis’ guidance, Westlife have accumulated an overwhelming 13 UK Number ones, and six number one selling albums.
Girls Aloud
In 2002 the music guru went head to head with Pete Waterman on TV with the talent show Popstars: The Rivals, pitting his newly formed group Girls Aloud against Pete’s boyband, One True Voice. Girls Aloud bagged the UK Christmas Number one. He continues to manage the group, who went on to achieve a million single sales while their debut album went platinum.
Shayne Ward and G4
Louis has also found great success with X Factor artists. After the show’s 2004 series, he guided G4 to two platinum selling albums. The 2005 winner, Shayne Ward, is about to release his second album. His first collection was number one in eight counties, and contained the single That’s My Goal, which stayed at UK number one for four weeks.
Despite his much publicised sacking from The X Factor in March 2007, Louis is back on the show and busy recording the fourth series.
