Hello My Love

"Hello My Love"
Single by Westlife
from the album Spectrum
Released	10 January 2019 (2019-01-10)
Length	3:34
Label	Universal Virgin EMI
Songwriter(s)	Ed Sheeran Steve Mac
Producer(s)	Steve Mac (single mix, instrumental, and John Gibbons remix) Red Triangle (acoustic) John Gibbons (remix, extended mix, and instrumentals) Colin Hanley (remixes)
Westlife singles chronology
"Lighthouse" (2011) "Hello My Love" (2019) "Better Man" (2019)
Music video
"Hello My Love" on YouTube

"Hello My Love" is a song by Irish pop vocal band Westlife. It was released on 10 January 2019 as the lead single from the band's eleventh studio album, Spectrum, and is their first single to be released under Universal Music Group and Virgin EMI Records.^[1] It is also their first official single in eight years since the release of their last single, "Lighthouse", in 2011. The song was written by Ed Sheeran and Steve Mac. As of 30 November 2021, this is their eighth biggest single of all time in the United Kingdom with 54.5 million streams in the country alone as of 30 November 2021.^[2]

It reached number two in Ireland and Scotland, it is their highest charting on their official singles charts since the band's "What About Now" single in 2009, ten years before. Also their first chart-topper in 2019 and the 2010s decade. The single stayed at number one for two weeks on the UK Physical Chart, the group's highest charting since their 2005 and 2006 singles, "You Raise Me Up" and "The Rose". The single was certified Platinum in 2024 by the British Phonographic Industry and 2× Platinum by the Irish Recorded Music Association.

Background

On 23 September 2018, it was reported that the group was signed to Universal Music Group and Virgin EMI Records for a new music record deal. On 3 October 2018, the group formally announced on their official social media accounts that there would be new music coming soon.^[3]

On 19 November 2018, band manager Louis Walsh confirmed the title on The Irish News, calling it their first comeback single and an introduction to their new sound.^[4] On 7 January 2019, they officially announced the release date of the single would be on 10 January 2019.^[1][5] On 8 January 2019, they revealed the official photo cover of the single.^[6]

An acoustic version was released on 25 January 2019 and a remix version was released on 8 February 2019. The track was included in the Now That's What I Call Music! 102 compilation album on 12 April 2019.

Composition

"Hello My Love" is a pop-EDM song that runs for 3 minutes and 34 seconds. The acoustic version runs for 4 minutes and 14 seconds. The John Gibbons remix runs for 3 minutes and 31 seconds.^[7] It was specifically written by Mac and Sheeran for Westlife.^[8] The demo version of the song was by Sheeran. Jonathan Vaughtrey of Wiwibloggs described the lyrics, "They are singing to their partner and thanking her. Even though there are 'plenty of fish in the sea', they're grateful that they were able to meet and she chose to spend her life with them."^[9] "Hello My Love" is composed in the key of F major and set in common time at a moderate tempo of 122 beats per minute. Westlife's voices range from C₄ to a high C₆.^[10]

Critical reception

Before the release of the single, Rob Copsey of the Official Charts Company said, "The group's first new track in eight years, called Hello My Love, is upbeat – for a Westlife single. We clock its bpm at around 128bpm, placing it between Uptown Girl and the criminally underappreciated Bop Bop Baby on the uptempo scale of their singles catalogue. If we had to compare it to anything on the Top 40 of late, it'd be in realm of Jess Glynne's All I Am meets Ed Sheeran's Castle on the Hill."^[11] Aoife Hanna of Bustle expressed the song is filled with self-deprecating humour.^[12] Thomas Cedergren of Rockfarbror.se awarded the song 4/5.^[13] Musicserver.cz awarded the song 7/10.^[14]

Wiwibloggs described the song, "The song's warm and uplifting spirit will no doubt get fans, both new and old, singing along."^[9] Peter Robinson of Popjustice noted, "It's better than you'd expect a Westlife song to be at this stage, but not quite as good as you'd expect an Ed Sheeran song to be".^[15] Alicia Adejobi of the Metro said it's a "radio-friendly track that boasts all of Ed's trademarks – a catchy beat and memorable lyrics."^[16] Their former bandmate Brian McFadden tweeted on 10 January 2019 that it was "a great song and great production."^[17]

Commercial performance

"Hello My Love" premiered on 10 January 2019. It reached number-one on the Amazon UK also in iTunes Store Top Songs.^[18] It also charted at iTunes Pop Top Songs of Japan and the United States. It sold over five thousand combined sales according to Music Week in the UK. On its debut week, it charted at number three on the Scottish Singles Chart, UK Singles Downloads Chart, and UK Singles Sales Chart, and number sixty-seven on the Irish Singles Chart. On its second week, it premiered at number-seven in the UK Singles Chart Update, it peaked at the number-one spot on Ireland Digital Song Sales, it rose to number-two on Irish Singles Chart, Scottish Singles Chart, and UK Singles Sales Chart.

Promotion

In 2019, the group began promotion of the song on 7 January with a nine-second video clip. The clip was viewed over 250,000 times in the first 24 hours across Twitter and Instagram.^[19] Their first tour together outside UK and Ireland in seven years was on Singapore on 29 January 2019 to 1 February 2019 to promote "Hello My Love".^[20] A phone competition was also made where the fans can leave their voicemail that starts with "Hello My Love" then their follow-up message to a given hotline.

Several radio interviews of Westlife were aired on 10 January 2019 after the premiere of the single, before 0900 GMT on FM104, 1000 GMT on Magic FM, 1100 GMT on Cool FM, More Radio Mid-Sussex and 1600 GMT on Wave FM.^{[21][22][23][24]}

Their first UK recorded television appearance and performance together in six years was on The Graham Norton Show on 11 January 2019 where they performed the new single as well.^[25][26][27] They also performed the single on the 24th National Television Awards on 22 January 2019. They also pre-recorded a live performance of the single in All Round to Mrs. Brown's in February 2019 and had its live telecast on 20 April 2019.

They also promoted the single with a live performance in a German television awards in Goldene Kamera on 30 March 2019 in Berlin, their first promotion in mainland Europe since 2009.

Music video

On 11 January 2019, Good Morning Britain introduced the world exclusive short clip of the video.^[28] The official music video premiered on the group's official YouTube and Vevo account on the same day.

It was shot in Joshua Tree, California. Wiwibloggs described the video, "Such a setting could have easily made the clip quite ‘beige’ overall. However, they add in a bit of colour by blowing up a hot air balloon that has a multi-coloured-stripped pattern to it and jamming out inside."^[9] Carl Kinsella of joe.ie added, "Today, the lads have followed it up with a music video to rival the Westlife classics of old. Much like the videos for "Obvious" and "My Love", this one sees them wandering around a pretty landscape without anyone else in sight. The video ends with the lads performing inside the balloon part of a hot air balloon before it takes off — hopefully not with them inside."^[29][30]

Accolades

RTE Choice Music Prize

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2019	Song of the Year	Hello My Love	Won

Tours performed at

• The Twenty Tour (2019)
• Wild Dreams Tour (2022)

Formats and track listings

• Digital download / streaming

1. "Hello My Love" – 3:34

• CD single

1. "Hello My Love" – 3:34
2. "Hello My Love" (instrumental) – 3:34

• Digital download

1. "Hello My Love" (acoustic) – 4:14

• Streaming

1. "Hello My Love" (acoustic) – 4:14
2. "Hello My Love" – 3:34

• Digital download

1. "Hello My Love" (John Gibbons remix) – 3:31

• Streaming (Deezer)

1. "Hello My Love" (John Gibbons remix) – 3:31

• Streaming (Spotify)

1. "Hello My Love" (John Gibbons remix) – 3:31
2. "Hello My Love" – 3:34
3. "Hello My Love" (acoustic) – 4:14

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[31][32]

Single Mix

• Westlife (Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan) – vocals, associated performer
• Ed Sheeran – songwriting
• Steve Mac – production, songwriting, keyboards, piano
• Chris Laws – drums, engineering, programming
• Dann Pursey – engineering, programming
• John Parricelli – guitar
• John Hanes – mixing engineer
• Serban Ghenea – mixing
• Randy Merrill – mastering
• Bill Zimmerman – engineering
• Jordan Jay - A&R

Acoustic

• Westlife (Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan) – vocals, associated performer
• Ed Sheeran – composer, lyricist
• Steve Mac – composer, lyricist
• Rick Parkhouse – acoustic guitar, associated performer, programming
• George Tizzard – acoustic guitar, associated performer, programming
• Alex Gordon – mastering engineer, studio personnel
• Red Triangle – mixer, producer

Remix

• Westlife (Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan) – vocals, main artists, associated performer
• Steve Mac – production, songwriting, keyboards, piano, composer, lyricist
• John Gibbons – producer, re-mixer, mixing
• Colin Hanley – producer
• Ed Sheeran – songwriting, composer, lyricist
• Chris Laws – associated performer, drums, engineering, programming, studio personnel
• Dann Pursey – engineering, programming, studio personnel
• John Parricelli – guitar, associated performer
• John Hanes – mixing engineer, studio personnel
• Serban Ghenea – mixing, studio personnel
• Wez Clarke – mixing
• Kevin Grainger – mastering engineer, studio personnel

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2019) Peak position Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[33] 27 China Airplay/FL (Billboard)[34] 11 Croatia Airplay (HRT)[35] 45 Denmark Digital Songs (Billboard)[36] 6 Euro Digital Songs (Billboard)[37] 6 Ireland (IRMA)[38] 2 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[39] 19 New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[40] 18 Scotland (OCC)[41] 2 South Korea (Gaon Weekly BGM Chart)[42] 1 Sweden Digital Songs (Billboard)[43] 7 Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[44] 10 UK Singles (OCC)[45] 13

Year-end charts Chart (2019) Position Ireland (IRMA)[46] 45

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[47]	Platinum	600,000^‡
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Version	Label
Various[48]	10 January 2019	Radio airplay, digital download, audio streaming	Single Mix	Universal Music Group, Virgin EMI
Various[49]	11 January 2019	CD, video streaming
Various[49]		CD	Instrumental
Various	25 January 2019	Digital download, streaming	Acoustic
Various	8 February 2019	Digital download, streaming	John Gibbons remix, extended remix, and instrumentals

References

1. "January 10th 2019 #HelloMyLove" – via Instagram.
2. "Westlife's Top 20 biggest songs on the Official Charts" – via Official charts.
3. "Westlife Official Instagram of Westlife" – via Instagram.
4. "Louis Walsh on Westlife, Boyzone, The X Factor and Elf on the Shelf". Irish News.
5. "When is Westlife's new single out? Nicky Byrne announces the release date". rsvplive.ie. 7 January 2019.
6. "8:30am #HelloMyLove" – via Facebook.
7. "Kian Egan talks about Westlife's comeback straight to the top of the charts". algoa.co.za. 10 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
8. "Westlife 'honoured' that Ed Sheeran uses their 'vibe' for big ballads like Perfect". metro.co.uk. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
9. "Swear it again…again: Nicky Byrne releases "Hello My Love" with a reunited Westlife". wiwibloggs. 21 January 2019.
10. "Hello My Love - Digital Sheet Music". Universal Music Publishing. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
11. "Westlife return with new single Hello My Love, their first music in eight years: First listen preview". OCC.
12. "Ed Sheeran Wrote Westlife's New Song 'Hello My Love' & Boy, You Can Tell". Bustle.
13. "En skön comebacksingel av Westlife". rockfarbror.se. 4 February 2019.
14. "Westlife jsou zpět. Nové album i turné ohlašují tanečním singlem "Hello My Love"". musicserver.cz.
15. "New Music Friday: White Lies are calling Tokyo". Popjustice. 11 January 2019.
16. "Ed Sheeran writes 'feel-good love song' Anywhere for Westlife's comeback album". metro.co.uk. 14 January 2019.
17. McFadden, Brian. "Love it! Great song great production. The boys are back!". Twitter.
18. "Westlife premiere the beautiful video for brand new single 'Hello My Love'". music-news.
19. "Westlife such a tease". Entertainment for Business.
20. "Singapore! Excited for this… we'll see you next week 🇸🇬". Twitter.
21. "We'll be chatting to 4 lads who will be needing these in Croker this summer before 9am tomorrow on the Strawberry Alarm Clock with @JimJimNugent And @NobbyFM104" – via Twitter.
22. "Hey @WestLifeMusic fans! You can hear the boys on @EmmaB_Radio's show this Saturday from 10am!" – via Twitter.
23. "@westlifemusic are BACK with NEW MUSIC! First Play - Tomorrow 8.30am Interview - Tomorrow 11am" – via Twitter.
24. "Westlife Wave FM" – via Twitter.
25. "The Graham Norton Show The Graham Norton Show lines up an X-Men superhero and an American Horror Story star And Westlife, too. Obviously". Digital Spy. 13 December 2018.
26. "The Graham Norton Show Series 24, Episode 15 - James McAvoy, Sarah Paulson, Richard E Grant, Steve Coogan, John C Reilly, Westlife". Comedy.co.uk.
27. "Here we go again. Having just announced two Cardiff dates, that brings the Twenty Tour to 32 shows so far across Ireland & Uk, A brand new album coming after 8 years in 2019! But.. it all kicks off on The Graham Norton Show on January 11th @thgnshow @grahnort" – via Twitter.
28. "Catching up with the stars of #ColdFeet @gmb at 710 & 810 PLUS world exclusive - .@westlifemusic video #HelloMyLove - the lads are back after eight years and straight in at No.1 in eight countries #Westlife #iTunes #GMB #itv" – via Twitter.
29. "January 10th 2019 #HelloMyLove" – via Instagram.
30. "WATCH: Westlife release music video for 'Hello My Love' — their first single in eight years". joe.ie.
31. "Hello My Love / Westlife". Tidal. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
32. "Hello My Love (Acoustic) / Westlife". Tidal. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
33. "Westlife – Hello My Love" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
34. "China Airplay Chart/Foreign Language - 08/07/2019". Billboard China (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 15 September 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
35. "Croatia ARC TOP 100". HRT. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
36. "Denmark Digital Song Sales - Westlife - Chart Search". Billboard. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
37. "Euro Digital Song Sales". Billboard. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
38. "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
39. "Home - Dutch Top 40 - Tipparade". dutchtop40.nl. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
40. "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 21 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
41. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
42. "Gaon BGM Weekly Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Retrieved 5 July 2019.
    • "Hello My Love". 5 July 2019.
43. "Sweden Digital Song Sales - Westlife - Chart Search". Billboard. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
44. "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 3, 2019" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
45. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
46. White, Jack (9 January 2020). "Ireland's Official Top 50 biggest songs of 2019". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
47. "British single certifications – Westlife – Hello My Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
48. "Hello My Love – Single by Westlife on iTunes". iTunes Store. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
49. "Hello My Love CD Single". shop.westlife.com. Retrieved 22 January 2019.