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Brian Nicholas McFadden (born 12 April 1980 in Artane, Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish singer and songwriter.
McFadden has a sister, Susan, his parents' names are Brendan and Mairead.
McFadden married Kerry Katona on 5 January 2002 at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Rathfeigh, County Meath. They had their honeymoon in Mauritius and have two daughters: Molly Marie McFadden (born August 31, 2001, Dublin, Ireland), and Lilly-Sue McFadden (born February 3, 2003, Dublin, Ireland) who were both born at Dublin's Mount Cameral Hospital. The couple announced their separation in September 2004 and their divorce was finalized in December 2006.
McFadden is now dating Australian singer and actress Delta Goodrem, whom he collaborated with on the duet "Almost Here". Initially, the couple denied being romantically linked until McFadden admitted the relationship. The couple underwent weeks of tabloid scrutiny, focusing particularly on the fallout of McFadden's marriage with Kerry Katona. Press speculation suggested that the pair had embarked on their affair before McFadden had separated with Katona. This was denied by both Goodrem and McFadden. The couple's relationship faced further scrutiny in May 2006 when a newspaper claimed that Goodrem's mother had advised her to end her relationship with McFadden. There have been repeated rumours that the couple are engaged, though this has been strongly denied.
The early years
McFadden's main interests have always been singing and football. Together with his sister he attended "Billie Barry Stage School'" in Dublin and performed as an actor onstage all major theatres in Ireland. He also had a role in the Irish TV show "Finbar's Class", a comedy about a group of teenagers set in a school.
In 1998 he started a pop and R&B-influenced group called Cartel with two other boys named Tim and Darragh. Together they performed live in most of Dublin's pubs.
Marriage with Kerry Katona
Brian said his marriage with Kerry Katona was a sham. He claimed that it wasn't a real wedding but they were getting married to have a big party and get a lot of money for the media. The wedding expenses estimated at $370,000 was paid by Hello! magazine in return for exclusive pictures.
Westlife
McFadden came to fame as a member of the boy band Westlife.
The turning point in his singing career was a meeting with Louis Walsh, who at that time was managing Boyzone. Walsh wasn't interested in signing Cartel but instead invited McFadden to join another group made up of boys from Sligo, formerly known as IOYOU (or IOU). McFadden auditioned together with his friend Nicky Byrne, and they made such an impression that they both ended up being part of the new boy band Westside. Brian became known as Bryan.
A few months later the group, who had again changed their name this to time to the now famous Westlife, debuted at #1 in the UK Chart with their first seven singles, setting a new record in the Guinness World Records.
Some of Westlife's songs were co-written by McFadden, such as Fragile Heart (from the album "Coast to Coast"), Bop Bop Baby, I Wanna Grow Old With You and Love Crime (from the album "World of Our Own").
With Westlife, McFadden sold more than 30 millions albums and 7 millions singles, had 12 #1 singles in the UK chart and sold out stadiums all over the world.
Solo career
McFadden left Westlife on 9 March 2004 to spend more time with his family and work on solo projects.
Before launching his solo career he co-wrote the song "If My World Stopped Turning" which was sung by Ireland's entry Chris Doran in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004.
In July 2004 McFadden was signed to the major record company Sony BMG and to begin his solo career Brian resumed the original spelling of his name. In September he released his debut single "Real to Me", which went straight to #1 on the UK charts.
His first album Irish Son charted in the Top 30 of the UK charts. Most of the songs were co-written with Guy Chambers, best known for his successful collaboration with Robbie Williams.
His second single, "Irish Son", released in November 2004 went to #6 on the UK charts. The music video for Irish Son caused serious controversy as it showed a Christian Brothers school in Sutton, whilst the lyrics falsley implied that McFadden had been physically abused at that school.
After the school's protests, the label decided to withdraw the video. In fact, McFadden attended a different CBS school, in Artane. The song for the most part criticised the alleged negative hold that the Roman Catholic Church held on Irish society in the past, while McFadden claimed in the song that "it was leaving that saved me".
The third single, "Almost Here", a duet with Australian singer Delta Goodrem, peaked at #3 on the UK charts and reached #1 in Australia in 2005. McFadden and Goodrem have collaborated on several songs which appeared in her album Mistaken Identity.
The fourth and final single from the album, "Demons", reached #28 on the UK Charts in May 2005. The music video was directed by Howard Greenhalgh, and was later remade into a different version featuring scenes from the popular TV show Lost by the American network ABC in order to promote the show.
Brian continued writing songs for artists as diverse as Il Divo and Girls Aloud, as well as co-writing the theme "Together We Are One" for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
That same year McFadden also duetted with American singer LeAnn Rimes, the song called "Everybody's Someone" featured on her album "Whatever We Wanna". The single reached #48 on the UK charts.
On 22 March 2007 McFadden was dropped by Sony BMG due to disappointing album sales and the failure of recent singles "Demons" and "Everybody's Someone". There has been recent press reports to that Westlife would not welcome him back to the group again.
2007 Onwards
His latest single “Like Only A Woman Can” was released in Ireland on April 20, 2007 and reached the Number 1 position on the Irish Singles Chart. It reveals a grown up, more mature Brian McFadden then previously experienced. The self-penned song is the first track from his yet untitled second solo album, Brian describes it as being about his relationship with Delta Goodrem and admitting mistakes in the past whilst looking forward to the future. It was released on his own label, BMF.
Future projects include further writing with Delta Goodrem, a collaboration with Westlife’s Mark Feehily as well as the completion of his new solo album and the development of his BMF label internationally.
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