"Flying Without Wings" is a song by Irish boy band Westlife, released on 18 October 1999 as the third single from their self-titled debut studio album (1999). It is the band's fourth-best-selling single on both paid-for and combined sales in the United Kingdom as of January 2019.

Background

The song was written by Wayne Hector and Steve Mac. In an interview with HitQuarters, Hector said the basic idea for the song came to him while on a break from working on a hip hop session with Ezi Cut in Los Angeles: <blockquote>I came up with a couple of lines for the first verse and then phoned my mama's house, left it on the answering machine, and said, "Don't get rid of this!"</blockquote> Upon returning to England, Hector went into the studio to work on the idea with long-time songwriting partner and producer Steve Mac.

In a documentary aired on UTV called Westlife Back Home, band member Shane Filan said it is probably the best song of their career, while former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (band member Nicky Byrne's father-in-law) revealed it is his favourite tune from the chart-topping band. The song also won the band their first of four Record of the Year prizes on the annual televised ITV music awards on 11 December 1999, scoring a total of 159,590 votes to beat Boyzone's Ronan Keating to the title.

The Official Charts Company stated, "Flying Without Wings wasn't the first boyband ballad, nor is it the biggest selling, but it was certainly influential. After Flying Without Wings, what self-respecting boyband would dare stay seated on a stool for a key change? Stand, boys! Flying Without Wings has soundtracked births, proposals, marriages, funerals, and untold TV talent show montages over the last two decades."

Commercial performance

The song became the group's third UK number-one single, spending 13 weeks on charts.

Track listings

UK and Australian CD1

  1. "Flying Without Wings" – 3:35
  2. "Everybody Knows" – 4:09
  3. CR-ROM

UK and Australian CD2

  1. "Flying Without Wings" – 3:35
  2. "That's What It's All About" – 3:20
  3. "Flying Without Wings" (a cappella mix) – 3:29

UK cassette single and European CD single

  1. "Flying Without Wings" – 3:35
  2. "Everybody Knows" – 4:09

European maxi-CD single

  1. "Flying Without Wings" – 3:35
  2. "Everybody Knows" – 3:45
  3. "That's What It's All About" – 3:20
  4. "Flying Without Wings" (a cappella mix) – 3:29
  5. CR-ROM

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the UK CD1 and Westlife liner notes.

Studios

  • Choir recorded at Avatar Studios (New York City)
  • Engineered and programmed at Rokstone Studios (London, England)

Personnel

  • Steve Mac – writing, all keyboards, production, mixing, arrangement, vocal arrangement
  • Wayne Hector – writing, vocal arrangement
  • Benny Diggs – Choir MD
  • Paul Gendler – all guitars
  • Steve Pearce – bass guitar
  • Richard Niles – string arrangement
  • Chris Laws – engineering, programming
  • Matt Howe – mix engineering
  • Daniel Pursey – mixing assistant

Charts

Weekly charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

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!Chart (1999–2000, 2004)

!Peak<br />position

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

|10

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)

|19

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Netherlands Airplay (Music & Media)

| style="text-align:center;"|12

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Spain (Top 40 Radio)

|9

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|UK Airplay (Music Week)

|8

|}

Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1999)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)

|193

|-

!scope="row"|Sweden (Hitlistan)

|67

|-

!scope="row"|Taiwan (Hito Radio)

|69

|-

!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)

|58

|}

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (2000)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)

|82

|-

!scope="row"|New Zealand (RIANZ)

|43

|}

Certifications and sales