What Makes a Man

"What Makes a Man" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife. It was released on 18 December 2000 as the third single from their second studio album, Coast to Coast. The song peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and was their first single not to peak at number one on the chart, being beaten to the Christmas number one by "Can We Fix It?", the theme to the cartoon series, Bob the Builder (which managed to peak at number three in Ireland).[1] It also debuted and peaked at number two in Ireland, held off the top spot by Eminem's song "Stan".

"What Makes a Man"
Single by Westlife
from the album Coast to Coast
Released	18 December 2000
Recorded	Rokstone Studios, London (2000)
Genre	Pop
Length	3:52
Label	Sony BMG
Songwriter(s)	Wayne Hector, Steve Mac
Producer(s)	Steve Mac
Westlife singles chronology
"My Love" (2000) "What Makes a Man" (2000) "I Lay My Love on You" (2001)
"What Makes a Man CD2"
Music video
"What Makes a Man" on YouTube

The song was the 39th best selling single of 2000 in the UK, and received a gold sales certification in the UK for over 400,000 copies sold.[2] It is the band's twentieth most streamed song, fifth best selling single in paid-for sales category and seventh best selling single combined sales category in the United Kingdom as of January 2019.[3][4]

Background

It was composed in the traditional verse–chorus form in B major, with Filan and Feehily's vocal ranging from the chords of E₄ to Bb₅.[5]

Reception

Bryan McFadden of Westlife had little faith in the release.[6] Speaking in an interview with Worldpop.com, he remarked: "It's a weak song, and we didn't do much promotional work. Bob [the Builder] deserved it."[7]

Tours performed at

• Where Dreams Come True Tour (2001)
• World of Our Own Tour (2002)
• Unbreakable Tour (2003)
• Turnaround Tour (2004)
• The Number Ones Tour (2005)
• Face to Face Tour (2006)
• The Love Tour (2007)
• Back Home Tour (2008)
• Where We Are Tour (2010)
• Gravity Tour (2011)
• The Farewell Tour (2012)
• You and Me; Love Always Tour (Shane Filan) (2014-2019)
• Boyzone Tour - (Kian Egan) (2014)
• The Twenty Tour (2019)

Track listing

UK CD1

1. "What Makes a Man" (Single Remix) - 3:52
2. "I'll Be There" - 3:55
3. "My Girl" - 2:46

UK CD2

1. "What Makes a Man" (Single Remix) - 3:52
2. "I'll Be There" - 3:55
3. "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" - 3:30

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2000-2001) Peak position Ireland (IRMA)[8] 2 Scotland (Official Charts Company)[9] 2 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[10] 2 Charts (2002) Peak position UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 109

Year-end charts Chart (2000) Position UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 39

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[11]	Gold	400,000^^
^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
2. "Westlife | Official Top 20 | MTV UK". MTV. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
3. "Westlife | Official Top 20". MTV. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
4. Copsey, Rob (January 12, 2019). "Westlife's Top 20 biggest songs on the Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
5. "What Makes a Man BY WESTLIFE - DIGITAL SHEET MUSIC".
6. "Famous last words". T2 (93). London: Telegraph Media. 20 January 2001. p. 13.
7. "Westlife 'don't care' about No 1s". Worldpop.com. 8 January 2001.
8. "Irish Singles Chart - Westlife - What Makes a Man". IRMA. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
9. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
10. "Westlife: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
11. "British single certifications – Westlife – What Makes A Man". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 October 2016. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type What Makes A Man in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.