Former member of boy band Westlife, singer-songwriter and TV presenter Brian McFadden has an estimated net worth of £12 million.
Born on April 12, 1980, McFadden attended the Billie Barry Stage School in Dublin. In early 1988, he formed a pop-R&B group with his friends called Cartel, and performed live gigs in Dublin pubs.
From performing in pubs to one of the world’s most famous boy bands, how did McFadden become a millionaire?
In June 1998, McFadden auditioned for Irish male band Westlife and joined the group alongside Kian Egan, Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily and Shane Filan. He shared lead vocals with Filan and Feehily. Westlife released their first single “Swear It Again” followed by four Irish No. 1 studio albums and a No. 1 greatest hits album. They also released seventeen Irish top 5 singles including the hit single “Uptown Girl”, which peaked within the top 10 in seven European countries as well as Australia and New Zealand.
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In March 2004, McFadden left the group and subsequently began a solo career and signed to record label Sony BMG. He released his debut solo single “Real to Me” in September 2004 which became his first solo No. 1 single in Britain, Ireland, Denmark and Norway. His second single and title track, “Irish Son”, peaked within the top 10 on the British and Ireland Singles Charts. Following the release of the two singles, McFadden released his first solo album, Irish Son, in November 2004 and it reached the top 5 on Irish and Danish albums charts.
The third single “Almost Here”, a duet with Australian singer Delta Goodrem, became McFadden’s second No. 1 single in Ireland as a solo artist and his first in Australia
, gaining him a a platinum accreditation there. McFadden also wrote songs for artists such as, Il Divo and Girls Aloud, as well as co-writing the theme song “Together We Are One” for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
In March 2007, McFadden parted ways with Sony BMG. He later set up his own record label BMF Records and released his new single “Like Only a Woman Can” in Ireland. The single became his third Irish No. 1 single as a solo artist. In early 2008, McFadden signed to Universal Music Australia and released the single there in April 2008, which peaked within the ARIA top 15. McFadden released his second studio album, Set in Stone which peaked in Australia at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
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In late 2008 and 2009, McFadden presented the Summer Breakfast Show on 2Day FM. He was also co-host of FOX8’s Football Superstar in Australia. In August 2009, McFadden appeared as a guest judge on Australian Idol.
In April 2010, he released “Just Say So”, which features American rapper Kevin Rudolf. The single debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at No. 1 and stayed there for three weeks. It spent seven weeks in the ARIA top ten and thirteen weeks in the ARIA top 50 and gained a platinum accreditation.
McFadden released his third studio album, Wall of Soundz, in Australia on 23 April 2010. It debuted at No. 27 on the ARIA Albums Chart and spent only three weeks in the ARIA top 50.
He also recorded a duet with Ronan Keating on Keating’s duet album, a cover of the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody”. In 2010, McFadden became one of the new judges on Australia’s Got Talent alongside Kyle Sandilands and Dannii Minogue. He was a judge from series 4-6.
McFadden released his new single “Wrap My Arms” on 20 January 2012 in Australia. The song was used in a Promo for Home and Away and peaked at 70 in the ARIA top 100.
On 13 September 2012, McFadden announced the release of his fourth studio album, The Irish Connection, featuring covers of his favourite Irish songs as well as duets with Ronan Keating and Sinéad O’Connor. McFadden joined Ronan Keating on his 2013 UK Fires Tour.
In 2013, McFadden and his former wife Vogue Williams joined the ITV dancing show Stepping Out and finished in second place.
He co-hosted the Channel 5 dating game show Stand By Your Man alongside Laura Jackson in 2014. Later that year, he began hosting daytime ITV series Who’s Doing the Dishes?, whileJanuary 2015 saw McFadden take part in celebrity talent show Get Your Act Together.
In January 2016, McFadden participated in the third series of The Jump on Channel 4.
