Wild Youth (band)

Wild Youth are an Irish pop band formed in Dublin in 2016, consisting of members David Whelan, Conor O'Donohoe, Ed Porter and Callum McAdam. They represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song "We Are One".

Career
Conor O'Donohoe and David Whelan have been friends since childhood, and recorded covers together before the band's formation, having started making music after O'Donohoe suffered an accident which left him bedridden for several months. The duo founded Wild Youth alongside drummer Callum McAdam (formerly of Bipolar Empire) and guitarist Edward Porter (formerly of Leaders of Men) in 2016 in Dublin.

The members write and produce their songs alone. Their debut single, "All or Nothing", was released in May 2017, with a music video following on 22 June. A number of tracks were released after it, which became hits in Ireland. Following its success, the band opened for Niall Horan, Lewis Capaldi and Westlife. In 2019, their first mini-album, The Last Goodbye, was released. The Last Goodbye debuted at number five on the Irish Albums Chart.

They participated in Eurosong 2023 with the song "We Are One". They came in first place with 34 points and thus they represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. They performed the song in the first semi-final on 9 May, but failed to qualify to the grand final.

In 2023, the band cut ties with their creative director Ian Banham following the emergence of transphobic, anti-vaccine and xenophobic comments he had made on Twitter. Lead singer Conor O'Donohoe posted that he "felt sick" reading the comments, and in a statement, the band stated that "Wild Youth is a band that stands for unity and kindness", and that Banham would not be "on or near [their] team" for Eurovision.

On 6 August 2023 the band was accused of performing while intoxicated at the Ballygar Carnival. The carnival organizers released a statement on 8 August in support of the band.

In December 2023, David Whelan was announced as one of the eleven celebrities taking part in the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars.