Texas are a Scottish rock band from Glasgow, founded in 1986 by Johnny McElhone, Ally McErlaine, Tony O'Boyle, and Sharleen Spiteri. They made their performing debut in March 1988 at the University of Dundee, and released their debut album Southside in 1989, along with their debut single "I Don't Want a Lover". Southside entered at number three on the UK Albums Chart and number 88 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States, and sold over two million copies worldwide. Despite the success of Southside, the follow-up albums Mothers Heaven (1991) and Ricks Road (1993) were less successful, but achieved moderate success on various European markets.
Their fourth album, White on Blonde (1997), debuted atop the albums charts in their native Scotland and in the United Kingdom and became their biggest seller, being certified six times platinum in the United Kingdom. Follow up album The Hush (1999) achieved similar commercial success which continued in 2000 with the release of The Greatest Hits. They released another studio album, Careful What You Wish For (2003), and in October 2005, Sharleen Spiteri was featured in Rammstein's song 'Stirb nicht vor mir (Don't Die Before I Do)' (2005) from their 2005 'Rosenrot' album, and released Red Book (2005), the month after Sharleen's feature before beginning an "indefinite hiatus" in 2005. During their hiatus, lead singer, Sharleen Spiteri, launched a solo career, releasing her debut solo album, Melody, in 2008.
Their hiatus ended in 2013 with the release of their eighth album, The Conversation. In February 2017, they released "Let's Work It Out" as the lead single from their ninth album, Jump on Board (2017), which peaked within the top ten of the album charts in Belgium and France. Their tenth album, Hi (2021), became their highest-charting album in the UK since The Hush, debuting at number three on the official UK albums chart, number one on the UK independent albums chart, and entering at number one in their native Scotland. As of 2017, Texas's worldwide sales were 40 million records
History 1989–1997: Southside and breakthrough
Texas were formed in 1986 by singer Sharleen Spiteri, bass guitarist Johnny McElhone and guitarist Ally McErlaine. At the time, Spiteri was working at Irvine and Rita Rusk's salon as a hairdresser in Glasgow. The band's debut single, "I Don't Want a Lover", was released in January 1989. It peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart and No. 77 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as top-40 positions in various countries worldwide. The band released their debut album, Southside, in March 1989, which peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold by the BPI. However, three further singles from the album all failed to make the UK top 40, with "Thrill Has Gone" reaching No. 60, "Everyday Now" faring little better at No. 44 (though reaching the Top 30 in France), and "Prayer for You" stalling at No. 73.
The band's second album, Mothers Heaven, was released in September 1991. It was preceded by the single "Why Believe in You", but this failed to reach the UK top 40 stalling at No. 66 on the UK Singles Chart. This did not bode well for the album, which itself peaked at No. 32 in the UK. A second single, "In My Heart", fared worse and became Texas's lowest-charting single in the UK, reaching No. 74, making it their fifth single in a row to failed to break the top 40. A third single from the album, "Alone with You", was released in January 1992 and reached No. 32, giving them their second top-40 entry. Ironically, immediately following the disappointing performance of the album and its singles, Texas released a new cover version of the Al Green classic "Tired of Being Alone" in April 1992. The single, which was not included on the album, was more successful and returned the band to the UK top 20, peaking at No. 19.
Texas released their third album, Ricks Road in November 1993. It was preceded by two more top-40 singles, "So Called Friend" (UK No. 30) and "You Owe It All to Me" (UK No. 39). The album peaked at No. 18 on the UK Albums Chart. The music video for "You Owe It All to Me" was directed by Dani Jacobs, and was filmed in Arizona and features Spiteri and McErlaine filmed in the style of a road movie with the pair encountering another version of themselves along the way. A third single from the album, "So In Love With You", reached No. 28 in the UK in February 1994.
1997–1998: Resurgence and White on Blonde
Following an endorsement by then Radio 1 presenter Chris Evans on his Channel 4 show TFI Friday in 1997, Texas came back to the music scene with the international hit "Say What You Want". The song was released internationally on 6 January 1997 and became the band's highest-peaking single to date on the UK Singles Chart, reaching No. 3 in its second week of release. In February, Texas released their fourth album, White on Blonde, which went on to become the band's most successful album to date. The album debuted at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart and returned to the top spot again six months later. It remained in the UK top 75 for 91 weeks. A total of five singles were taken from the album, all of which were top-ten hits in the UK. "Halo", released in April 1997, peaked at No. 10, "Black Eyed Boy", released in July 1997, peaked at No. 5, and "Put Your Arms Around Me", released in November 1997, also peaked at No. 10. In 1998, the song was featured in the film Ever After: A Cinderella Story, starring Drew Barrymore. The band then released a double A-sided single of "Insane" along with "Say What You Want (All Day, Every Day)"—a new version of the first hit from the album but now with additional rap vocals from the Wu-Tang Clan. The single peaked at No. 4 in the UK.
White on Blonde became the pinnacle of the band's success, and was certified 6 × Platinum by the BPI for UK sales in excess of 1.8 million copies. It was included in Q magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1997", and voted the 86th-best album of all time by Q readers in 1998. It also ranked No. 34 in Q "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime", as well being included in Q "90 Best Albums of the 1990s". In 2010, it was nominated for the BRIT Awards "Best Album in the Past 25 Years".
1999–2001: The Hush and commercial prominence
In April 1999, Texas released the first single from their forthcoming fifth studio album. "In Our Lifetime" peaked at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart and was also included on the Notting Hill film soundtrack that year. The band's fifth album, The Hush, was released in May 1999 and charted at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart in its first week of release. A second single, "Summer Son", was released in August 1999, reaching No. 5, the band's seventh UK top-ten single at that point. A third and final single, "When We Are Together", was released in November 1999 and narrowly missed the UK top ten (peaking at 12). The album was certified 3 x Platinum by the BPI for UK sales in excess of 900,000 copies.
In October 2000, Texas released their first compilation album, The Greatest Hits. The album featured tracks spanning their career, from their 1989 debut to the current day and included three new songs. A new single, "In Demand" was released on 2 October 2000 and reached No. 6 in the UK, with a video that featured the actor Alan Rickman. When The Greatest Hits was released, it became the band's third consecutive album to debut at No. 1 in the UK. A second new single from the collection, "Inner Smile", was released at the end of 2000, also reaching No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart. The video for "Inner Smile" featured a homage to Elvis Presley (and specifically his '68 Comeback Special shows) with lead singer Spiteri dressed and made up to look like Elvis in his famous black leather suit. In July 2001, a remix of "I Don't Want A Lover" was released which made the UK top 20. By this time, The Greatest Hits album had become a huge success and was eventually certified 6 × Platinum by the BPI for UK sales in excess of 1.8 million copies.
The single "Like Lovers (Holding On)" was featured during the closing credits of the 2000 animated feature film Titan A.E. and also appears briefly in one scene as background music. The song was included on the Titan A.E. soundtrack as well.
2003–2006: Careful What You Wish For and Red Book
In September 2002, Spiteri gave birth to her daughter, Misty Kyd, although motherhood did not prevent her from working on another album. In October 2003, Texas released the first single from their upcoming sixth album titled "Carnival Girl" which featured rapping vocals by Canadian artist Kardinal Offishall. The song reached No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart. Later that month, the album Careful What You Wish For was released. The album peaked at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold by the BPI for sales of over 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom. In December 2003, a second and final single was released from the album entitled "I'll See It Through", though this peaked at a lowly No. 40 on the UK Singles Chart.
The band returned in August 2005 with a new single "Getaway", which peaked at No. 6, becoming the band's tenth UK top-ten single. It was followed by another new single, "Can't Resist", released in October 2005. The song reached No. 13 in the UK, and was followed by the band's seventh studio album, Red Book, released in November 2005. The album reached No. 16 in the UK Albums Chart, ending their run of top-10 albums though was certified Gold by the BPI for sales of over 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom. A third and final single from the album, "Sleep", was released in January 2006 and peaked at No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart. The song featured vocals from Paul Buchannan from the Scottish band the Blue Nile and the video featured comedian Peter Kay. On 21 February 2006, a promo-only single, "What About Us", was released.
2007–2011: Hiatus On 24 September 2007, the band released The BBC Sessions, which included radio sessions spanning from 1989 to 2005, with extensive liner notes and interviews with Spiteri. Cover songs include Elmore James's "It Hurts Me Too", the Beatles' "I've Got a Feeling", and Ashford & Simpson's "You're All I Need to Get By." In 2008, Spiteri embarked on a solo career. Her debut album Melody was released in July 2008 and debuted at No. 3 in the UK. Spiteri's second solo studio album The Movie Songbook was released on 1 March 2010, and peaked at No. 13 in the UK.
On 8 September 2009, bandmember Ally McErlaine was hospitalised after he collapsed with a massive brain aneurysm at the age of 40. By February 2010, he was recovering well as reported by bandmate Spiteri in The Sunday Mail: "Ally is the most stubborn person I have ever come across, and I think his sheer pigheadedness is the reason he's still here! When he asked what was happening with Texas, I said it was up to him. He told me he wanted to get back into the studio".
Hiatus projects
After the release of Texas's 2005 album Red Book the band members confirmed that they would enter a hiatus. Spiteri performed as guest vocalist on Rammstein's "Rosenrot" album. She began work on her debut solo album, working with some of her former bandmates. She wrote the vast majority of the tracks on the album. She released her debut solo album Melody on 14 July 2008 with "All the Times I Cried" serving as the album's lead single, with a further two singles were released worldwide, "Stop, I Don't Love You Anymore" and "It Was You". By 2009, Melody has been certified Gold by the BPI (United Kingdom) with sales of over 100,000.