Breakthrough with Texas (1989–1997) Spiteri co-founded the band while working at
Irvine and
Rita Rusk's salon as a hairdresser in Glasgow. The band, composed of Spiteri,
Johnny McElhone,
Ally McErlaine,
Tony McGovern, Eddie Campbell,
Michael Bannister and Neil Payne, first released an EP titled
Everyday Now before releasing their debut album
Southside in July 1989. The band gained international success with their debut single "
I Don't Want a Lover" which reached No. 8 in the
UK Singles Chart, and No. 77 on the US
Billboard Hot 100. Later singles released from
Southside were not as successful, "
Thrill Has Gone" which charted at No. 60 on the UK Singles Chart, "
Everyday Now" at No. 44 and "
Prayer for You" at No. 73. Only four singles were released from
Southside before going on a tour and return to the studio to start work on their second album
Mothers Heaven. Around the same time as
Southside was being recorded, Spiteri's cousin Mark Rankin was founding his own band, the hard rock band
Gun, and Spiteri contributed backing vocals to two tracks from their debut album
Taking on the World, also released in 1989. In 1991, Texas's second studio album
Mothers Heaven was released, soon after the band released an extended play to help promote the album;
Extracts from Mothers Heaven was released in 1991. The album was released on 23 September 1991 and was not as successful as
Southside. Their third album,
Ricks Road, was released in 1993 and charted at No. 18 on the UK Album Charts. The album's lead single "
So Called Friend" charted at No. 30 on the UK Singles Chart and the second "
You Owe It All To Me" charted at No. 39. The further three singles released, "
So in Love with You" charted at No. 28 in the United Kingdom. The further two singles "You've Got To Give a Little" and "Fade Away" did not chart in the United Kingdom.
White on Blonde and increased popularity (1997–2001) In 1997, Texas released "
Say What You Want" and became the band's highest-charting single to date on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 3. 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 charted at No. 1 on the
UK Album Charts and returned to the top spot in the United Kingdom three times (including its debut peak at number one). The album managed 91 weeks on the UK Album Charts. In September 2002, Spiteri gave birth to her daughter Mysty Kyd, although this did not prevent her from working on another album. On 6 October 2003, Texas released their first single from their upcoming sixth album titled "
Carnival Girl", which featured rapping vocals by Canadian artist
Kardinal Offishall. On 30 October 2003, Texas released their long-awaited sixth studio album,
Careful What You Wish For. The album did not make No. 1 in the United Kingdom like the past three albums (two studio releases and one Greatest Hits) but however, made No. 5 on the UK Album Charts and only managed Gold status awarded by the
BPI for sales of over 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom. A second and final single, "
I'll See It Through", was released on 8 December 2003. The single became the band's lowest charting single in the UK since "
In My Heart" in 1991. The song only managed to make it to No. 40 on the UK Singles Chart and remained in the UK Top 100 for another two weeks. The song featured vocals from Paul Buchannan from the
Scottish band,
the Blue Nile. On 21 February 2006, a
promo-only single, "What About Us", was released. On 24 September 2007 the band released
The BBC Sessions, including 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." On 11 September 2009, Ally McErlaine was hospitalised after he collapsed with a massive brain aneurysm at age 41. As of February 2010, he is on the road to recovery, as reported by 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."
Solo career and Melody (2008–2013) After Texas released
Red Book in 2005, 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. The song charted at No. 26 on the UK Singles Chart.
Melody was proven popular in the United Kingdom, debuting at a high No. 3 on the UK Album Charts. In other European countries where
Texas were popular like in Belgium, the album charted at No. 15 on the Belgium Flanders Charts and No. 13 on the Belgium Wallonia Charts. The song "
Don't Keep Me Waiting" was released as a single in Switzerland only, in which it charted at No. 78 on the singles charts there. A further two singles were released worldwide, "
Stop, I Don't Love You Anymore" and "
It Was You" which were both unpopular in the United Kingdom, missing the UK top 100, with "Stop, I Don't Love You Anymore" charting at No. 107 and "It Was You" at No. 178. By 2009,
Melody has been certified Gold by the BPI (UK) with sales of over 100,000. Spiteri released her second solo studio album
The Movie Songbook which consists of film covers chosen by Spiteri herself was released on 1 March 2010. The album's lead single "
Xanadu" was released in February 2010, and charted at No. 71 on the UK Singles Chart in March 2010. As for the album, it charted at No. 13 on the UK Album Charts on 7 March 2010, thus becoming Spiteri's second UK top-40 album as a soloist, and her seventh UK top-40 album both as a soloist and a member of Texas. To promote the album, she performed in front of 55,000 fans supporting
Paul McCartney on his
Up and Coming Tour at
Hampden Park in Glasgow. In 2010, Spiteri appeared as a judge on the
Sky 1 reality show
Must Be the Music.
Texas reunion and resurgence (2013–present) In February 2013,
Music Week announced the band had signed a new record deal with
PIAS Recordings and were to release their first new album since reuniting.
The Conversation was released on 20 May 2013. Physical formats included a single disc and double-disc deluxe edition. The latter featured a bonus disc entitled
Live in Scotland. Also in 2013, a UK tour was announced and the album launched at two gigs, one at
King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow and the other at the
100 Club in London. To celebrate the band's 25th anniversary, it was announced that some of their biggest hits would be re-recorded for a new album entitled
Texas 25. The collection features eight songs from the band's back catalogue completely reworked with the help of New York production team
Truth & Soul, as well as four brand new songs, and was released on 16 February 2015. Deluxe packages include a second disc of the hits in their original form. The lead single, "Start a Family", premiered online on 6 January 2015. The band embarked on a UK tour throughout April and May 2015. The band released their ninth studio album,
Jump on Board in May 2017 to critical acclaim, with "Let's Work it Out" serving as the lead single from the new album.
Jump on Board performed well commercially in the band's native Scotland, debuting at number one on the Scottish Albums Chart. The album reached number one in France and performed well in the UK chart. In support of the album, the band embarked on the
Jump on Board Live Tour A single, also called "Hi", was released in December 2020 and reunited the band with the
Wu-Tang Clan after 22 years. A video was released for the song with
Small Axe actor Kadeem Ramsay, a promo video that also includes footage of Texas, RZA and Method Man performing "
Say What You Want" at the
BRIT Awards in 1998. In April 2021, the second single from
Hi was released. Called "Mr Haze", the track sampled the melody from "
Love's Unkind" (a Giorgio Moroder production which was a Top 10 hit for
Donna Summer in the late 1970s) and was performed on
The One Show on BBC One.
Hi is the tenth album released by Texas and includes collaborations with Richard Hawley and Altered Images' Clare Grogan, the latter duetting with Spiteri on the song "Look What You've Done". In 2023, Texas released another career-spanning greatest hits collection,
The Very Best of 1989–2023, was released on 16 June 2023. On 8 June 2023 Texas recorded a video documentary in association with ARTE at the Chateau d'Herouville. On 23 June 2023, the band played the Pyramid Stage at
Glastonbury Festival, UK. ==Artistry==