Sharleen Spiteri: ‘I blew my drink on Paris Hilton. We finished nose to nose’ | Sharleen Spiteri

What was your best memory or highlight of your career so far with Texas? RainbowEden47

Have another hit album [2021’s Hi], all these years, it feels poignant, because the beginning feels like yesterday. There have been incredible moments like Glastonbury or playing in front of 175,000 people in Valencia, but the funniest things become great stories as you get older. One time we were in Clint Eastwood’s daughter’s old Mercedes and a handle came off my partner’s hand, so he hid it in his bag. When I was 15, if someone had told me I would have Debbie Harry and John Taylor from Duran Duran in my kitchen, I would have melted. Debbie actually lent me the glass heart wear. I never wore it because I would never look like fucking Debbie Harry in it. Well, I used it secretly, in the house.

David Brent once said that he was sure Texas could not run and manage a successful paper merchant. Do you agree? jackjackals
I loved The Office so when he said that, I called everyone I knew. It was one of my proudest moments. He would have a chance to run an office, but David Brent could be running Texas. He’s as goofy as me.

In the 90s, music journalists seemed more focused on gossip, how you looked or how you dressed than on your music. Do you feel that this type of narrative has changed today? badregina

It hasn’t changed. It’s best to hide it, but as the interviewee, you can change the narrative. I could start answering those kinds of questions, but then I get sidetracked and talk about something else entirely. If someone is really rude, I tell them to fuck off.

As it did collaboration with Rammstein occur? CF2013

What were your thoughts when a collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan was suggested? CornShonnery

TO [Lindemann] from Rammstein called me and asked. A collaboration should be something you would never do with your band. The same thing happened with the Wu-Tang. Our manager got talking to a couple of them in New York and when he told us they liked us, we said, “Come back! Let’s see if they want to do something with us. the night we recorded [Say What You Want (All Day Every Day)] with them, ODB had just been arrested, so Method Man had to write a whole new rap based on his idea that the Scots were pirates. We all got kicked out of the studio and our manager in Glasgow got a call saying, “They were in there with guns and doing angel dust.” I’m like, “Hey, none of that happened.” It was a weird, weird, wonderful time and we continued our friendship. RZA told us that we were brave in working with them and thought, “Are you kidding me? You’re a big hip-hop band, but you made a record with a band from Glasgow.”

Does the state of current UK politics fill you with joy or dread? STATIONSTATION2020

You’d have to be living under a rock if it filled you with joy. What are these clowns doing? In fact, I am terrified by what is happening. There is so much anger and hate. Instead of separating, we must unite. As a musician, I am ashamed that we have left the EU and can no longer travel freely. Before, a young gang could break into Europe by dumping everything in a van and screwing around for a year.

What is your favorite song to sing correctly? (Not necessarily yours). jesswilkhull

My sister has forbidden me to use her karaoke machine because I am a “pro”. Outrageous. Basically my job is a giant karaoke machine, so in karaoke I do the versions that we do live. Tan River Deep Mountain High; Suspicious minds. I’ve been known to do Highway to Hell. Karaoke is so relaxing afterwards, it’s like meditation. Everybody should sing a song.

From one-hit wonders to bona fide stars, what kept them all going in the “middle years”? JAYJ1111

A one-hit wonder takes one hit and it’s over. We have 34 years! Those moments when you can’t be arrested can be soul-destroying, but you keep going because it’s what you love. Luckily they have always allowed us to continue making records. If you haven’t released a record, people think you’ve retired.

Can you tell me about your encounter with Paris Hilton? SpikeElGato

The moment of Paris, Texas? I was at a wall-to-wall Vanity Fair party with celebrities and Paris Hilton kept dancing on my partner’s coat, so I filled a straw with liquid and blew the drink on her. We finished nose to nose. Someone took a picture and it was all over the papers. I had to call my mom to apologize but everyone loved it. The taxi drivers called me and said: “You, fuck, tell him.”

I preferred Texas when you sounded more bluesy, Americana… the change to soul from the The 90s felt more calculated. Do you understand that some people (like me) feel this way? StijnA

If you liked Texas in 1989, you’d know there was always an element of soul, but we hadn’t perfected it. So it was a natural progression, absolutely not calculated. Everyone has their opinion, some people said “how dare you?” when we made the Wu-Tang record, but we’ve always confused it. Staying as we were in 1989 would be like wearing the same old clothes.

What motivated you to write Halo? My interpretation is that it is an unconditional love, with religious references. SaraLus

I rarely talk about lyrics because each listener has their own interpretation, but I had been dating Jakob Dylan. [son of Bob] of the Wallflowers. When we broke up, he sent me a song called She Has a Halo. I was so screwed. I thought, “Fuck your song!” and wrote Halo in response.

I really enjoyed the show in Manchester but was surprised by the amount of jeffing and effing. Does that happen at all shows? old town

I don’t swear [laughs], but sometimes you just have to tell people to fuck off. One time this woman was screaming so much that I finally asked someone to get my bag out of the dressing room so I could give her her money back. The cheeky guy was still watching the show, so I finally said, “Look, fuck you!” and everyone cheered.

I’m interested in how you keep your voice in shape as it changes over the decades. focus07

Since I had laryngitis 10 years ago, I have tried to take care of it, so the night before a concert I don’t go to a party and smoke a lot of cigarettes. Pavarotti’s frontman told me I’m allergic to cleaning fluids, so now in my bunk on the tour bus I have a piece of plastic tubing like a dryer coming out of the skylight into the fresh air. Very high tech.

How the hell did you become good partners with Thierry Henry? Gooner_7

I am an Arsenal season ticket holder. After meeting Patrick Vieira at a dinner, he invited us into the players’ lounge, where I met Thierry. He had just moved into the street behind us, so I offered to show him around. The night my daughter Misty Kyd was born, she wrote down and lifted her shirt to reveal a dedication. The FA fined him £30,000 for making a “political gesture”, but Arsène Wenger told them it was for a newborn, so they excused him. Thierry became Misty’s godfather and we remain friends to this day.