The Greatest Hits Tour (also known as The Farewell Tour) was the twelfth concert tour by Irish boy band, Westlife. The tour, visited the Europe and Asia and supported the group's compilation album, Greatest Hits. After the tour finished, the group disbanded after performing for 14 years until their reformation in 2018.
The last show, on 23 June 2012 was aired live via satellite from Croke Park, Dublin to cinemas all across Europe, Ireland, Belgium, the Czech Republic, South Africa, Estonia, Indonesia and Denmark. Delayed screenings will be shown in cinemas in Indonesia, Australia, and South Africa in July and August 2012. The encore was also shown again in select cinemas across UK on 26 June 2012. The band was the 34th top-grossing tour act of the year and 12th in the midyear list with earnings of $35.2 million (€27 million). The farewell tour consisted of 8 dates in China and 33 in the UK and Ireland culminating in 2 nights at Croke Park in June. In total the band sold 489,694 tickets at an average price of $71.85 (€55) each. The final nights at the said stadium were officially the 11th largest attendance at an outdoor stadium worldwide.
They released a DVD in 2012 from the tour which went to number 1 in the UK and Irish charts, staying for 30 weeks in the charts. BBC later produced a live album from this tour titled "The Farewell Tour: Live in Croke Park" which was released in 2014.
Background In October 2011, the group revealed plans for the release of a compilation album, spanning their entire career. Many media outlets speculated the band would tour the album. An official announcement was made on 18 October 2011, a mere week after ending their previous tour in Southeast Asia. On the statement released on the group's website, it reported they would perform all 14 of their number one hits along with other favourites. After announcing the tour, tabloids rumoured the band would break-up after their tour was done. On 20 October 2011, the members of the band made an official announcement of their disbanding.
Opening acts Lilygreen & Maguire (Europe, select dates) Glenn Cal (Europe, select dates) Vanquish (Europe, select dates) Wy Mac (Wynona Leigh McCullough) (Belfast, select dates) Jedward (Dublin) The Wanted (Dublin) Lawson (Dublin)
Set list
Tour dates DateCityCountryVenueAsia22 February 2012BeijingChinaMasterCard Center24 February 2012HangzhouYellow Dragon Gymnasium25 February 2012ShanghaiShanghai Indoor Stadium26 February 2012ShenzhenShenzhen Bay Sports Centre28 February 2012WuhanHongshan Gymnasium1 March 2012ChengduSichuan Provincial Gymnasium2 March 2012GuangzhouGuangzhou Gymnasium3 March 2012Hong KongVIVAEurope10 May 2012CardiffEnglandMotorpoint Arena12 May 2012LondonThe O2 Arena13 May 2012SheffieldMotorpoint Arena14 May 2012NewcastleMetro Radio Arena15 May 2012LiverpoolEcho Arena17 May 2012CardiffMotorpoint Arena18 May 201219 May 2012SheffieldMotorpoint Arena20 May 2012BirminghamLG Arena22 May 2012NottinghamCapital FM Arena23 May 2012LondonThe O2 Arena24 May 201226 May 2012ManchesterManchester Arena27 May 2012GlasgowSECC Concert Hall 429 May 2012BelfastNorthern IrelandOdyssey Arena30 May 20121 June 20122 June 20124 June 2012BirminghamEnglandLG Arena5 June 2012NottinghamCapital FM Arena7 June 2012LondonThe O2 Arena8 June 2012BirminghamLG Arena9 June 2012ManchesterManchester Arena11 June 2012CardiffMotorpoint Arena12 June 2012SheffieldMotorpoint Arena13 June 2012LiverpoolEcho Arena 15 June 2012NewcastleMetro Radio Arena16 June 2012GlasgowSECC Concert Hall 417 June 201219 June 2012AberdeenPress & Journal Arena20 June 2012BelfastIrelandOdyssey Arena22 June 2012DublinCroke Park23 June 2012
Box office score data VenueCityTickets sold / AvailableGross revenueThe O2 ArenaLondon59,626 / 63,021 (95%)$3,939,530Manchester ArenaManchester13,960 / 14,435 (97%)$907,287Croke ParkDublin144,171$11,908,693
Personnel Vocals Shane Filan Mark Feehily Kian Egan Nicky Byrne
Crew Simon Ellis - Musical Director
Live Concert Music DVD Chart performance ChartPeakpositionIreland1UK Music Video Albums1 UK Blu-Ray Albums (OCC) UK DVD Albums (OCC) UK Video Albums (OCC)
Certifications and sales
External links Westlife's Official Website
References