Wet Wet Wet frontman Marti Pellow, right, has had his ups and down, but he's definitely on the up at the moment with more tour dates being added to his Sentimental Me tour, which comes to Bradford in April.

Having admitted late last year that he spent most of his early years with the band drinking and partying instead of enjoying sights like the Taj Mahal, where he opted to get drunk instead, it's surprising the band found time to have 25 UK Top 40 singles, three number ones and 15 million album sales.

Now the 43-year-old credits the Wet Wet Wet comeback in 2003 with inspiring the Spice Girls reunion: "They copied us. We met up for the first time in 2003, after first splitting in 1997. We must have inspired them!"

Marti has established himself as a phenomenally-successful solo artist with his first album going straight into the Top 10, two further albums, and Sentimental Me, a collection of songs for lovers, soon to be released.

  • Marti Pellow, Sentimental Me, is on at the Alhambra on Monday, April 21, at St George's Hall, Bradford. Tickets are £25, £27 and £30, available from the box office on 01274 432000