Sharleen Spiteri the icon: Rocker hailed at Scottish Music Awards

Rocker Sharleen Spiteri and her band Texas were bestowed iconic status last night as the chart-toppers were hailed at the Scottish Music Awards.

Texas recorded a set for the virtual ceremony, where they won the Icon Award, with Scots stars including Lewis Capaldi, Amy Macdonald and Biffy Clyro also among the big winners at the event.

Texas, who have become one of Scotland’s most popular and enduring bands after recording a string of hits over three decades, including Say What You Want, Summer Son and I Don’t Want A Lover.

Spiteri sent a message to the online audience, saying: “This really is something very, very special, especially after the number of years as a band that we’ve been together.

“To be given this and for everybody to think that we deserve it, it means a lot. To be relevant, still making records and be successful this far down the line, for over 30 years, we feel very, very lucky.

“Stay safe and hopefully I will see you all very soon in real life, at a safe distance! I’m going to keep this and say I’m the iconic one.”

The Specsavers Scottish Music Awards show was hosted live by Edith Bowman from SWG3 in Glasgow and the online broadcast featured an at-home acoustic performance from Capaldi, as well as new, socially distanced performances from Amy Macdonald, Texas and Wet Wet Wet.

© Sheila Rock/Shutterstock

The event raised vital funds for acclaimed music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins, which fears losing half its income in 2020 due to Covid-19. Donald MacLeod, chairman of the charity’s Scottish fundraising committee, said: “Like so many charities, Nordoff Robbins has been severely impacted by Covid-19 and we truly can’t thank everybody enough who came together to make this event happen.”

Biffy Clyro won the Best Album award for their latest record, A Celebration Of Endings, and recorded a special video message, saying: “When we started recording this record last year, I guess like everyone else, we had no idea what 2020 held in store, but you know what, the power of music and art feels more important than ever this year.”

The Best UK Artist Award went to Capaldi, who played an acoustic rendition of two of his biggest tracks Before You Go and Someone You Loved, from his home. Amy Macdonald won the Women in Music Award and the Songwriting Award went to Young Fathers.

Wet Wet Wet collected the Outstanding Contribution Award and gave a performance of some of their biggest hits.

The Best Breakthrough Awards went to Luke La Volpe (Male) and kitti (Female) while HYYTS took the Best Pop Act Award and Dougie MacLean the Special Recognition Award.

The Nordoff Robbins Legend Award was awarded to DJ George Bowie, while Graeme Park’s Hacienda Classical Orchestra took the Innovation Award and Gun the Ambassadors of Rock Award.