Texas star Sharleen Spiteri reveals she got high with Wu-Tang Clan in the studio
TEXAS have teamed up with Wu-Tang Clan on a surprising collaboration called Hi – and frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri has revealed she really did get high with the hip-hop group when they first went in the studio.
Recalling what it was like 22 years ago recording their last collab together, a version of the hit Texas song Say What You Want, Scot Sharleen said: “If you’ve sat in the studio with the whole of the Wu-Tang Clan, if you’re not high by the time you come out of the room you’re not breathing the same air.”
In an exclusive chat to celebrate their new single’s video, which sees Sharleen get kidnapped by Top Boy actor Kadeem Ramsay, she said: “Releasing records again feels really strange. It’s really, really nerve-wracking.
“You’d think it would get easier, it actually gets harder. I guess as you get older you know how much is at stake.
“But anything that we’ve ever done, any collaborations, it’s always been very natural. It’s never been chased.”
As well as their tenth album due next year, Texas are planning to tour, but Sharleen has to be careful after suffering a back injury in 2018.
She said: “I’m still having problems with my back. As soon as they’re able to, I’m probably going to have to go back into hospital to have more injections into my spine and my shoulder. The running around and jumping on stage, that’s caused the biggest damage and wear and tear on my spine.
“So not jumping for the year has been good. I don’t know if it’s good for my a**e but it’s been good for my back.”
That has meant joining in Joe Wick’ home workouts in lockdown has been off the cards. She joked: “I watch it and go, ‘That’s wonderful.’ In my mind I’m doing it, but physically I’m not.”
A woman after my own heart.
Riri’s a sleigh bell
RIHANNA shows she’s a real Ice Queen just as her love life heats up.
The Bajan beauty wore raunchy gear to give the frosty scene the cold shoulder while perched on a sledge in stunning shots for her Savage x Fenty range.
It coincided with US sources confirming she has reconciled with on/off boyfriend, rapper A$AP Rocky after they were seen eating out with pals at New York’s Beatrice Inn at the weekend.
The pair have been linked since Rihanna’s split with her billionaire boyfriend Hassan Jameel in January.
Rihanna has been close with A$AP since 2013, when he opened for her on tour.
She featured him in her Fenty Skin campaign in July and called him “handsome” in a promo interview for Vogue.
Last year A$AP, whose exes include Rita Ora plus Kendall and Kylie Jenner, confessed to being a “horny kid” and said threesomes are “normal” to him.
Rihanna could do with tipping some of that snow on him.
Oh Boy!
BOY George and Culture Club are giving to Covid-19 first responders free access to their livestream show Rainbow In The Dark.
It will be broadcast from London’s SSE Arena on December 19, with tickets through Ticketmaster.
There will also be a socially distranced crowd of 1,000.
‘Chell steps out
STEPS are in a close battle to score a No1 album this Friday – and even more new music could be on the way.
I’ve learned the five-piece are in secret talks to collaborate with RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Michelle Visage.
Steps recently hit it off with her after she revealed she is a massive fan of the group and she hosted an Instagram Live with them at the weekend.
A source close to the group, whose sixth album What The Future Holds is up against Gary Barlow’s Music Played By Humans this week, said: “Steps were pretty surprised when the idea was raised because they don’t usually collaborate with other artists.
“But as well as being a big fan, Michelle genuinely has a brilliant voice.
“A lot of people forget that in the Nineties she was in the American group Seduction, which had three top 20 singles Stateside.
“They both have big fan bases and as well as it just being a lot of fun, Steps reckon it could help bring them to a wider audience in the States.”
They’re not for everybody, but Steps have proved they certainly have staying power.
Bieb's baby blitz
JUSTIN Bieber says he is raring to go to start a family – but his wife Hailey doesn’t seem so keen.
He said: “I’m going to have as many as Hailey is willing to push out. I’d love to have myself a little tribe. It’s her body and whatever she wants to do.”
The Holy singer said the model also wants “a few” but conceded: “I think Hailey still has some things she wants to accomplish as a woman. And I think she just is not ready yet, and I think that’s OK.”
Given she only turned 24 last week, there’s no harm in waiting a few more years.
Oscar toys with glory
EACH year the big Christmas TV ads spawn a host of pop hits as families get hooked on their catchy soundtracks.
But the shock success this year appears to be animated character Oscar, star of the Smyths Toys Superstores ads – who has even earned a record deal with Sony.
His music videos are proving a huge draw online with If I Were A Toy amassing a staggering 21million YouTube views.
The cartoon’s Everybody (Oscar’s Back) and Dance With Me Tonight have also pulled in young fans across the UK.
Who says I’m not down with the kids?
Miley bares soul
MILEY Cyrus has revealed her dad Billy Ray was sure she would grow up to be a stripper.
The raunchy star told Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely on Kiss Breakfast: “I just posted a video on my Instagram.
“I think I am eight and recreating all the I’m A Slave 4 U choreography while my dad just sits in the corner and cries.
“I remember my dad was just, like, for sure that I was going to be a stripper.
@I pretty much have become a stripper, I just get to do it on a large-scale platform.”
Drake
SPOTIFY has revealed the list of the UK’s most streamed artists in 2020 and the top five is an all-male affair.
Drake is at No1, followed by Juice Wrld, Eminem, Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd.
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Lewis Capaldi’s 2019 record Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent is the most-streamed album, beating Harry Styles, Pop Smoke, The Weeknd and Dua Lipa, at No5 with Future Nostalgia.
Elsewhere, Apple Podcasts has chosen The Joe Wicks Podcast as its Show of the Year, while Desert Island Discs was named the most listened-to show. Joe said: “I’m excited to do a second series.”
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