In an exclusive PEOPLE interview, the ’90s alt-rockers also discuss how having the track as the theme to the 1999 rom-com ‘She’s All That’ impacted their career
In the late ’90s, it seemed like Sixpence None the Richer — or at least one particular song of theirs, “Kiss Me” — was everywhere.
The swoony folk-pop classic, released in 1997 on the band’s self-titled album, propelled them to fame when it soundtracked Laney’s transformation from art student to aspiring prom queen in the 1999 rom-com She’s All That. It may have been their breakout moment, but truthfully Sixpence None the Richer had already been cutting their teeth for five years prior.
“We’d been together and touring for years and years before that movie,” lead vocalist Leigh Nash recalls. “So, I think the one thing that felt like a bummer was people thinking, ‘Oh, it’s just overnight success and these are these young babies.’”
The Texas alt-rock group — whose current lineup includes Nash, songwriter/guitarist Matt Slocum, bassist Justin Cary and drummer Dale Baker — had formed in 1992 and already had three albums under their belt. Plus, “Kiss Me” had already been released in 1997, two years ahead of She’s All That. It also notably helped that “Kiss Me” earned a placement on the Dawson’s Creek soundtrack in 1999. Still, the timing for the song’s success seemed “serendipitous.”