Annie Lennox (born 25 December 1954, in Aberdeen) is a Scottishmusician, vocalist and Academy Award-winning songwriter.[1] She is both a solo artist and the lead singer of the musical duo Eurythmics, hailed as "The Greatest White Soul Singer Alive" by members of the rock industry on the VH1 show 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll in 1999. Rolling Stone magazine also named her as one of their 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.[2] Both as a solo artist and with Eurythmics, Lennox has sold over 80 million records. Lennox is also a political and social activist, leading such events as an anti-war rally in London on 3 January 2009 in response to the conflict in Gaza[2] and she also objected to the unauthorised use of the 1999 Eurythmics song "I Saved the World Today" in an election broadcast for Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.[3] Annie Lennox has a contralto vocal range.
Early life
Lennox was born on Christmas Day, 1954, in Aberdeen. Her father worked at the shipyard, and her mother was a cook until she became a housewife. Lennox was an only child and the family lived in a small two-roomed apartment in a block of flats with communal laundry facilities. Her father and his family were musical and enjoyed singing. Her father also learned to play the bagpipes, which Lennox enjoyed listening to. Despite her family's financial status, Lennox had piano lessons at school from the age of seven years at the cost of £4.00 per term. She was interested in singing and, with plenty of time by herself, passed some of the time by singing along to the popular music of the time, including music by The Beatles. She was an unhappy teenager, partly because of a struggle over boundaries for her independence with her overprotective father.[1] She attended Aberdeen High School for Girls, now Harlaw Academy.[1][4]
In 1964, her early talent was demonstrated when she came second in a talent contest at a Butlins holiday camp. She sang the song "Máire's Wedding".[5]
Personal life
Both Lennox's parents died of cancer.[1] Her first marriage from 1984 to 1985 was to Radha Raman. From 1988 to 2000, she was married to Israelifilm and record producer Uri Fruchtmann. They have two daughters, Lola (born 1990) and Tali (born 1993); a son, Daniel, was stillborn in December, 1988.[6][7]
Royal Academy of Music
Lennox won a place at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied the flute and classical music for three years. As a student she realised that her flute playing was mediocre in comparison to some of her talented peers; although, previously she had thought that she was a good flute player. She lived on a student grant and worked at part-time jobs for extra money. Lennox was unhappy during her time at the Royal Academy partly because she was lonely and shy, and she missed many history of music lessons.[1]
Lennox's flute teacher's final report stated: "Ann has not always been sure of where to direct her efforts, though lately she has been more committed. She is very, very able, however." Two years later, Lennox reported to the Academy: "I have had to work as a waitress, barmaid, and shop assistant to keep me when not in musical work." In 2006, the academy made her an honorary Fellow.[8] Lennox also was made a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama that year.
The Tourists and Eurythmics
Lennox With Eurythmics
Between 1977 and 1980, Lennox was the lead singer of The Tourists, a moderately successful British pop band and her first collaboration with Dave Stewart. During the time they were in The Tourists, Stewart and Lennox were involved in a relationship, though this had ended by the time they formed Eurythmics.
Lennox and Stewart later collaborated on two new pieces for their Eurythmics hits album, Ultimate Collection, of which "I've Got a Life" was released as a single on 31 October 2005. The promotional video for the song features Lennox and Stewart performing in the present day, with images of past Eurythmics videos playing on television screens behind them. Lennox also appears in a man's suit with a cane, reminiscent of her "Sweet Dreams" video image from 1983. The single hit number fourteen in the UK singles chart and was a number-one U.S. Dance hit. Lennox has been awarded eight BRIT Awards, the most of any woman, including one as part of Eurythmics. The closest other female artist to this record is Dido, with four.
From the beginning of her career, Lennox has experimented with her image both as an artist and as a woman. She matured as a public figure in the late 20th century, just as MTV and the medium of video were becoming the obvious vehicles for selling contemporary popular music. She has managed her image astutely, both as a means of interpreting and marketing her music. This was emphasized in the music video for "Little Bird" in 1992, in which many Lennox lookalikes could be seen who were dressed as her many different personas from past videos.
Although Lennox's profile decreased for a period due to her desire to bring up her two children outside of the media's glare, she continued to record albums. Her second release, Medusa, was an album of cover songs, including songs originally performed by Bob Marley and The Clash. It was released in 1995, three years after Diva. The single "No More I Love You's" received the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. A cover of Paul Simon's "Something So Right" made the UK Top 50 when released as a single. In 1997, Lennox re-recorded Eurythmics' track "Angel" for the Diana, Princess of Wales, tribute album. In 1998 — following the death of a mutual friend (the former The Tourists lead singer/songwriter Peet Coombes) — she re-established contact with Dave Stewart,[citation needed] and by 1999 Eurythmics had reformed for the album Peace.
Bare (2003) and other work
In 2003, Lennox released her third solo album, Bare. Lennox also embarked on a worldwide solo tour to promote the album.
Lennox stated that she believed the album consisted of "twelve strong, powerful, really emotive songs that people can connect to." If she achieves that, she says, "I can feel proud of [it], no matter if it sells ten copies or 50 million."[9]
The album was released on 1 October 2007, and is the last album of Lennox's contract with BMG. The album's first single was "Dark Road", released on 24 September.
Lennox described it as "a dark album, but the world is a dark place. It's fraught, it's turbulent. Most people's lives are underscored with dramas of all kinds: there's ups, there's downs - the flickering candle."[10] She added, "Half the people are drinking or drugging themselves to numb it. A lot of people are in pain."[10]
Retailer Barnes & Noble has an exclusive version of the album which contains two bonus tracks: an acoustic version of "Dark Road" and a new song, "Don't Take Me Down." Barnes & Noble's version also contains a second disc with the music video of "Dark Road" and audio commentary by Lennox about each song on the album
Finishing out her contract with Sony BMG, Lennox released a "Best Of" collection, The Annie Lennox Collection. Initially intended for release on 15 September 2008, the release date was pushed back several months to allow Lennox to recuperate from a back injury.[12] The compilation was eventually released in the US on 17 February 2009, and in the UK and Europe on 9 March 2009. Included on the tracklisting are songs from her four solo albums, one from the Bram Stoker's Dracula soundtrack, and two new songs. One of these is a cover of Ash's single, "Shining Light", for which a music video has been produced and features Lennox playing all the parts of the band. The single became Lennox's first UK top 40 solo hit since 1995. A DVD was released along with the CD in one of the album's editions and a UK edition also features a second CD of rarer songs including a version of REM's "Everybody Hurts" with Alicia Keys and Lennox's Oscar winning "Into The West" from the third Lord Of The Rings film.
The album entered the UK chart at No.2, becoming her fifth Top Ten solo album, and her fourth Top 3 album.
Departure from Sony BMG and future
Lennox's recording contract with Sony BMG concluded with the release of "Songs Of Mass Destruction" and her subsequent retrospective album "The Collection", and much was made in the press in late 2007/early 2008 about apparent animosity between Lennox and the record company. Lennox stated that while on a trip to South Africa in December 2007 to appear at the 46664 campaign in Johannesburg, the regional company office of the label failed to return phone calls and e-mails she made to them for three weeks, and had completely failed to promote the Sing project as planned. Upon her return to the UK, Lennox met with the head of Sony BMG UK, Ged Docherty, who was "mortified" by the problems she had encountered with the South African branch. However the debacle (partly fuelled when Lennox's dissatisfaction with the South African office was made public on her blog) led to press reports falsely stating that she was being dropped by Sony BMG. The record company themselves quickly refuted the rumour stating that Lennox's contract had merely been fulfilled and that they hoped she would consider remaining with them. The British Daily Mirror newspaper subsequently printed a retraction of its story about her being dropped by the label.[13]
Now no longer signed to the label, Lennox herself stated she would be taking her time to decide how any future music she makes will be released.
Both during her work with Eurythmics and in her solo career, Lennox has released an unusually large number of music videos. Diva was accompanied by videos for every song except one, which differed from the usual practice of only producing a video for the single releases. Actors Hugh Laurie and John Malkovich appeared in the music video for "Walking on Broken Glass", while the video for "Little Bird" paid homage to characters who had appeared in some of Lennox's previous videos. Played by women (and some men in drag), the clip includes her characters from "Why", "Walking on Broken Glass", "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", "Beethoven (I Love to Listen to)", "I Need a Man", "Thorn in My Side", "There Must Be an Angel", and even the Freddie Mercury tribute. Following on from "There Must Be an Angel", many of her solo videos have a very classically theatrical feel with dramatic and comedic flourishes, sometimes in period settings.
Gay icon
Lennox has garnered a prominent following by members of the LGBT community. According to The Advocate, "[h]er distinctive voice and provocative stage persona have made Lennox a longtime gay icon."[14] With her music videos earning regular rotation on MTV in the early 1980s, Lennox took part in the shaping of popular culture along side other gay icons such as Boy George, Courtney Love, Madonna, Morrissey, Me'Shell Ndegéocello, and Michael Stipe.[15]
Lennox became patron of the Master's Course in Humanitarian and Development Practice for Oxford Brookes University, Oxford in 2006. A spokesperson said that the university was "delighted that as a long-term supporter of human rights and social justice campaigns Ms Lennox has agreed to act as patron for its unique MA programme."[3]
Lennox has been an active humanitarian throughout her career. During 1999's "Peacetour" for the Eurythmics album Peace, she and Dave Stewart gave all their profits to Amnesty International and Greenpeace.[19]
Annie Lennox supports the Burma Campaign UK, an NGO that addresses the suffering in Burma and promotes democratisation.
On 25 April 2007, Lennox performed "Bridge over Troubled Water" during the American Idol "Idol Gives Back" fundraising drive.
On 11 December the same year she performed on the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway together with a variety of artists, which was broadcast to over 100 countries.[20]
She performed at the 'Freddie Mercury Tribute' concert just after his death, singing 'Under Pressure' with David Bowie.
