Texas Lightning is a German

quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

from Hamburg which fits in the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

genre and describes itself as old fashioned and hip. Their music is a mix of country and pop drawing from country classic stars like

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as " You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My M ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

and

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...

and pop stars such as

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer and actress. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato), and is best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'. Nancy Sinatra ...

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

and the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

, performed with some country humour. The band members are

Olli Dittrich Oliver Michael Dittrich (born 20 November 1956) is a German television personality, comedian, actor, and musician. Life Dittrich completed a three year-education as a theatre painter in the Hamburg State Opera (1975–1978). At the same time, ...

as Ringofire (drums and vocals), Jon Flemming Olsen as The Flame (vocals and guitar), Markus Schmidt as Fastfinger (electric guitar and banjo), Uwe Frenzel as Friendly (doublebass and vocals) and Australian

Jane Comerford Jane Comerford (born 1 January 1959 in Newcastle, Australia) is a singer, songwriter, lecturer, and vocal coach working in Germany. Education Jane has an extensive musical and music-related education. She studied violin and piano for 12 years, ...

(vocals and ukulele). The band's first performance took place on December 23, 2000, in the music club "Knust" in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, as Texas Lightning & The Rodeo Rockets, although there have been various changes in the lineup of the band since.

Eurovision Song Contest

On March 9, 2006, Texas Lightning won the German heat for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2006 The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the with the song "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

and represented Germany in the Finals on May 20, 2006, in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. The winning song was "

No No Never "No No Never" was the entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, performed in English by Texas Lightning. While Germany had finished the 2005 contest in last place, their position as one of the Contest's " Big Four" (along with the , and ) ...

", written and composed by Jane Comerford. They became the first country band to participate in the ESC. The song finished 14th place with 36 points. "No No Never" was released as a single in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It reached number 1 on the German

Media Control Charts Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

, number 4 in Austria and number 6 in Switzerland.

Honorary Texas Citizenship

Through a nomination by Steve Sivek of

Baytown, Texas Baytown is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Harris and Chambers counties. Located in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area, it lies on the northern side of the Galveston Bay complex near the outlets of t ...

and the submittal by

Texas State Senator The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

Tommy Williams, the members of Texas Lightning were, by Proclamation 603 before the Texas Senate, declared to be Honorary Texans. The proclamation was passed by the senate in June 2006.

Discography

Album

*2006 " Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch" (Gold Status) *2009 " Western Bound"

Singles

*2005 "Like a Virgin" *2006 "No No Never" (Platinum Status) *2006 "I Promise" *2009 "Seven Ways to Heaven"

References

External links

Texas Lightning
website in German and English {{Authority control German country music groups Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Germany Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2006 Musical groups from Hamburg Culture in Hamburg