WESTLIFE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE 4/2001
He doesn’t say much, but when he does, you listen. And when you understand his feelings here, you worry. Mark Feehily takes a deep breath and talks frankly exclusively to WOM about the hard edge of fame.
You’re in the world’s biggest pop band. How does it feel?
I don’t know. I’m not in the Backstreet Boys (laughs) I’m very happy with the level of success Westlife have achieved; it’s cool. But y’know, I’m not under any illusions over what we’ve got and how long it will last.
Don’t you think Westlife are here to stay?
Things always change with time, don’t they? It will become less full-on eventually, because people only concentrate on bands while they’re at the top of the charts. Uptown Girl was named best boy band single ever on MTV before it was even released, but everyone has almost forgotten about great bands like the Jackson 5 and the Osmonds already.
Do you like the showbiz world around you?
Almost everything in the music industry and celebrity is fake. It can be hard to deal with – but it’s easy to see through. I’m a good judge of character and I know when people are talking bull. I don’t like to be impolite to people, no matter who they are, but sometimes I’ll be thinking “Shut up, willyeh? I don’t want to hear this, and I don’t want to be talking to you”.
When was the last time you felt like this?
Last night, in our hotel, a woman came up to speak to me. She told me how rich she was and which famous people she knew, and she obviously thought that was what I wanted to hear. She said she was friends with Lulu and Phil Collins, and asked if we’d take £5000 to spend an hour with her daughter. I was totally horrified. She couldn’t have been any more wrong about what would impress me.
So what does impress you?
I just want a good conversation, and a good laugh. When you tell a joke to a fake person their reaction is completely blank. I’m easy to please you know – I mean, I only need two things in life to make me happy! The first is to be among my friends and family; for example to be in a room full of people who I love and who love me back. People who like Mark Feehily and not Mark from Westlife. The second is simply to sing – I love to jam on stage with the band, when someone begins to play one tune and everyone else joins in. We’ve been doing Mustang Sally and old Stevie Wonder songs.
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© 2001 Pami