Louis Walsh's Biography

Who is Louis Walsh?

Louis Walsh started in the music business in a showband promoter's office in Dublin. He went on to become instrumental in finding and managing a number of commercially successful pop bands including Boyzone, Westlife, and Girls Aloud.

In 2001, Louis Walsh appeared in the Irish version of Popstars. The following year, Walsh was a judge on Popstars: The Rivals along with Pete Waterman and Geri Halliwell

Louis Walsh has been quoted as saying about TV shows like Popstars that:

"It's good because it shows just how tough it is and bad because these people become overnight successes just because they're on a TV show.

"Sometimes they get it too easy and they don't appreciate it. That can be a big problem with these shows, a bit like Hearsay."

In 2003, Sinead O'Connor said of Louis Walsh:

"You have single-handedly taken the soul out of Irish music and danced a vampire dance upon it ... You might have a good look at your soul in some mirror and, in future, not be such an utter bitch, and instead of nastiness and cruel ignorance coming out every time your mouth opens, maybe something of some actual constructive use may be done by you in interviews ..."

In the winter of 2005, Louis Walsh attracted public disapproval when he decided to save The Conway Sisters from his native Ireland at the expense of Maria Lawson who was forced to exit The X Factor.

Walsh threatened to quit the series, but was soon back on board.

In 2007, however, ITV announced that Louis Walsh would no longer be a judge on The X Factor, but would carry on managing the acts off-screen.

However, in June 2007, ITV announced a U-turn and Louis Walsh was back on board as an X Factor judge replacing Brian Friedman, who would take a different role.

In 2016, Louis Walsh became one of the celebrities on the ITV show Drive.

In the same year, Louis Walsh returned to The X Factor as a judge.

Louis Walsh was scheduled to make his stage debut in December 2017 in a production of Nativity! The Musical.

In June 2018, it was announced that Louis Walsh had decided to leave The X Factor.

However, in July 2019, Louis Walsh revealed he was to be one of the judges of the forthcoming celebrity version of The X Factor.

In 2024, he became one of the contestants on Celebrity Big Brother. He came fourth.