Sharleen Spiteri
1967-
Singer/Songwriter
Sharleen Eugene Spiteri (born 7 November 1967) is a Scottish recording artist and songwriter, and the lead singer of the rock band Texas.
Spiteri was born in Bellshill, Scotland to father Eddie, a guitar-playing merchant seaman and mother Vilma, a singer. Spiteri is of French, Irish, Italian and Maltese descent. Spiteri co-founded the band while working at the Irvine Rusk salon as a hairdresser in Glasgow with band mates Johnny McElhone (bass guitar) and Ally McErlaine (lead guitar). Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at the University of Dundee. They took their name from the 1984 Wim Wenders movie Paris, Texas.
The band released their debut album Southside in 1989, along with the debut single "I Don't Want a Lover" which was an international hit, reaching the top ten in the UK and other high charting positions in Europe. Southside debuted at number three in the UK and eighty-eight on the US Billboard 200 album charts. Despite the success of Southside, the follow-up albums Mothers Heaven (1991) and Ricks Road (1993) were less successful, peaking at #32 and #18 respectively in the UK.
The band's fortunes changed in 1997 with the release of their White on Blonde album which entered the UK Albums Chart at number one and became their biggest seller. To date it has been certified six-times platinum in the UK, for shipments in excess of 1.8 million copies. Follow up album, The Hush (1999) was also successful, debuting at number one on the UK album charts and certified triple platinum. The band's Greatest Hits album, released in 2000, was another big seller, again debuting at number one and also being certified six-times platinum. Texas would go on to release a further two studio albums, Careful What You Wish For in 2003, and Red Book in 2005, both of which were certified gold in the UK. After the release of Red Book and a tour to support the album's release, Texas went on hiatus. Spiteri released her debut solo album Melody on 14 July 2008 debuting at a high No. 3 on the UK Album Charts. Spiteri released her second solo studio album The Movie Songbook on 1 March 2010.
In 2013, it was stated that Texas had sold 35 million albums to date.
Spiteri had a long-term relationship with the editor of Arena magazine, Ashley Heath. The couple have a daughter. The couple separated in the second half of 2004.
She is a patron of children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent.
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