Sharleen Spiteri, the founding member of pop rock band Texas, was born in Glasgow in 1967 to Vilma, a seamstress, and Eddie, a merchant seaman. At the age of 17, Spiteri left her job as a hairdresser to form Texas with Altered Images’ Johnny McElhone. Their first hit, I Don’t Want a Lover, came in 1989, but their real breakthrough came with the release of White on Blonde in 1997, which featured the ubiquitous single Say What You Want and turned Spiteri into a household name. With over 40 million album sales, Texas are releasing The Very Best of 1989-2023 on 16 June.
Spiteri has always been a fierce and determined woman, a quality instilled in her by her parents. Her mother’s creativity and her father’s determination to ensure that his daughters could do anything that boys were taught fostered a spirit of independence in Spiteri, which has helped navigate her through the past 30 years in the industry.
As a quiet child lost in her head, Spiteri was never enthusiastic about posing for photographs, but her mother’s need to document their lives for her seafaring father led to her posing in a meringue-like outfit in a childhood photograph. Her parents even built a crazy brick fireplace as a nod to Hollywood glamour.
As a teenager, Spiteri was obsessed with musicians like Siouxsie Sioux and performed from a young age with her musical family, although she was never considered one of the good singers. Instead, she was known for her razor sharp tongue and quick wit, which sometimes landed her in trouble with bullies at school.
Spiteri’s mouth has served her well throughout her career, with her being praised for her straight-talk but also criticized for being a “fucking bitch.” Despite the sexism she’s faced in the music industry, Spiteri has never been intimidated and always held firmly to the belief that everyone is equal.
That belief has helped her navigate the controversy of being a successful woman in the music industry, from the casual sexism of a Mercury Records executive calling her a “dodgy boiler” to the change in attitudes towards her after Texas exploded in popularity.
Despite her success, Spiteri remains grounded and still possesses the same determination and independence that her parents instilled in her. Today, she is still the same little girl lying on the floor in her nightie, dreaming of pirates and memorizing the flags and buoys from her father’s office in the coal bunker.
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