Sharleen Spiteri

Sharleen Spiteri was born in Glasgow in 1967 and is best known as being the lead singer of Texas. Sharleen was born into a musical family and cites Blondie, Prince and Diana Ross as among her influences. She co-founded Texas whilst still a hairdresser in Glasgow in 1989 along with Johnny McElhone (bass guitar) and Ally McErlaine (lead guitar). I Don’t Want A Lover propelled the band to international success, entering both the UK and US charts, but Say What You Want was their first big success, staying in the UK Top 40 for 10 weeks. The ensuing multi-platinum selling album, White on Blonde was number one in the UK Album Chart three times.

In 2000, their Greatest Hits album went straight to number one in the UK and charted throughout Europe. Texas also featured on the soundtracks for Notting Hill and Ever After, and Sharleen wrote and performed the opening track for American 1990s sitcom, Ellen. Sharleen gave birth to daughter, Mysty Kyd in 2002, but continued to work on Texas’ sixth album, which was released the following year.

In 2008, Sharleen embarked on a solo career, and her debut album reached number three in the UK; a second album, The Movie Songbook followed in March 2010.

Spiteri has been linked to film roles twice; opposite Edward Furlong in Three Blind Mice and in Moulin Rouge opposite Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. She had to pull out of the first because of her pregnancy, and the latter because she did not want to spend a full year in Australia.