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Annie Lennox
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Annie Lennox (born 25 December 1954, in Aberdeen, Scotland) is a British musician, vocalist and Academy Award-winning songwriter. 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. Both as a solo artist and with Eurythmics, Lennox has sold over 80 million records.
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Annie Lennox (born 25 December 1954, in Aberdeen, Scotland) is a British musician, vocalist and Academy Award-winning songwriter. 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. 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 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. Annie Lennox has a contralto vocal range.
Early life
She was born Ann-Lynne Angevene Griselda Lennox on Christmas Day, 1954, in Aberdeen, Scotland. 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. She attended Aberdeen High School for Girls, now Harlaw Academy.
In 1964, her early talent was demonstrated when she came second in a talent contest at a Butlins holiday camp. She sang the song "Marie's Wedding".
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.
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. Lennox also was made a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama that year.
The Tourists and 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's second collaboration, the 1980s synthpop duo Eurythmics, resulted in her most notable fame, as the duo's alto, soul-tinged lead singer. Early in Eurythmics' career, Lennox was known for her androgyny, wearing suits and once impersonating Elvis Presley. Eurythmics released a long line of singles in the 1980s, including "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", "Here Comes the Rain Again", "Who's That Girl?", "Would I Lie to You?", "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)", "Missionary Man", "You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart", and "Don't Ask Me Why", among others. Though Eurythmics never officially disbanded, Lennox made a fairly clear break from Stewart in 1990. Thereafter, she began a long and equally-successful solo career.
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.
Because of her immense success, Annie Lennox has also amassed a substantial fortune, estimated at £30 million over the years with Eurythmics and as a solo artist.
Solo work
Early solo work
Though it was produced by Dave Stewart, a 1988 single from the movie Scrooged with Al Green, "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" (a cover version of Jackie DeShannon's 1969 hit), was credited to Lennox and Green, and therefore can be considered her first release outside a band identity. This one-off "solo" single climbed all the way to #2 on the US Adult Contemporary chart, hinting at Annie's future direction in this respective musical genre. In 1991, her version of Cole Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" appeared on the Porter tribute compilation Red Hot + Blue, a benefit for AIDS awareness. Lennox performed the song that same year for a cameo appearance in the Derek Jarman film Edward II. She then made a memorable appearance with David Bowie and the surviving members of Queen at 1992's Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at London's Wembley Stadium, performing "Under Pressure."
Diva (1992)
Lennox began working with former Trevor Horn protegι Stephen Lipson, beginning with her 1992 solo dιbut album, Diva. It was a commercial and critical success, charting #1 in UK, #6 in Germany, and #23 in the US. Lennox's profile was boosted by Divas singles, which included "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass". "Little Bird" also formed a double A-side with "Love Song for a Vampire", a soundtrack cut for Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 movie Bram Stoker's Dracula. The B-side of her single "Precious" was a self-penned song called "Step by Step", which was later covered by Whitney Houston for the soundtrack of the film The Preacher's Wife. Houston's cover was a hit in its own right.
Medusa (1995)
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, 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.
In 2004, Lennox won the Academy Award for Best Song for "Into the West" from the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at the 76th Academy Awards, which she co-wrote with lyricist Fran Walsh and composer Howard Shore. The song also won a Grammy award and a Golden Globe award. She had previously recorded "Use Well the Days" for the movie, which incorporates a number of quotations from Tolkien in its lyrics. This song was not used in the film, but it appears on a bonus DVD included with the "special edition" of the movie's soundtrack CD.
In mid-2004, Lennox embarked on an extensive North American tour with Sting.
In July 2005, Lennox performed at Live 8 in Hyde Park, London, along with Madonna, Sting, and other popular musicians.
Lennox and Stewart
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.
In October 2006, Lennox spoke at the British House of Commons on the need for children in the UK to help their counterparts in Africa.
Songs of Mass Destruction (2007)
Lennox's fourth solo album, Songs of Mass Destruction, was greatly anticipated by her fans between 2006 and 2007. Speculation, especially on the internet, reported various titles throughout that period, including Venus, I, Annie, and Dark Road. Lennox finally announced the actual title on her website on 27 June 2007.
Songs of Mass Destruction was recorded in Los Angeles, California, with veteran producer Glen Ballard, well known for the production of Alanis Morissette's album, Jagged Little Pill. This marked a change from Lennox's long association with Steve Lipson. The album was mixed in Miami, Florida, by Grammy Award-winner Tom Lord-Alge.
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."
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." She added, "Half the people are drinking or drugging themselves to numb it. A lot of people are in pain."
One song on the album, "Sing", is a collaboration between Lennox and 23 prominent female artists and acts: Anastacia, Isobel Campbell, Dido, Cιline Dion, Melissa Etheridge, Fergie, Beth Gibbons, Faith Hill, Angelique Kidjo, Beverley Knight, Gladys Knight, k.d. lang, Madonna, Sarah McLachlan, Beth Orton, Pink, Kelis, Bonnie Raitt, Shakira, Shingai Shoniwa, Joss Stone, Sugababes, KT Tunstall, and Martha Wainwright. The song is born out of Lennox's involvement with Nelson Mandela's 46664 campaign and Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), both of which are human rights groups which seek education and health care for those affected by the HIV AIDS virus. Included among the group are TAC activist members own vocal group known as "The Generics", whose CD of music inspired Lennox to make "Sing". Lennox has established a Sing website to promote her activities in support of AIDS awareness issues."
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
Tour
To promote Songs of Mass Destruction, Lennox embarked on a primarily North American tour called "Annie Lennox Sings", which she announced on 13 September 2007. Lasting throughout October and November, 2007, the tour included 18 stops: San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Boulder, Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Washington, D.C., Nashville, Atlanta, Miami, New York City (two dates), Philadelphia, and Boston. The venues generally were at medium-size theatres, except in New York, where one of the dates was a United Nations fundraiser at midtown restaurant Cipriani. This was only the third solo tour of Lennox's career.
Artist Carina Round accompanied Lennox on the tour as an opener, promoting her third album, Slow Motion Addict.
Future
Commenting on her "former" record label, (Mass Destruction being her last release on her BMG contract), Lennox stated that while on a trip to South Africa, the label failed to return phone calls, and e-mails she made, for three weeks. "It was completely bizarre."
"I'm now out of contract with Sony BMG. For the first time in over 30 years I'm not obliged to do anything for anyone... I'm going to take my time over the coming months to figure out [...][what] to do with this freedom [...]. Probably a good thing I'm no longer with them (mild understatement)...unless it's THEM trying to tell ME something..hello! [...]".
The Annie Lennox Collection (2009)
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. The compilation was eventually released in the US on 17 February 2009, and will be released 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 Irish rockers Ash's single, Shining Light, for which a music video has been produced and features Lennox playing all the parts of the band. 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.
Music videos
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.
Personal life
Both Lennox's parents died of cancer. Her first marriage from 1984 to 1985 was to Radha Raman. From 1988 to 2000, she was married to Israeli film and record producer Uri Fruchtmann. They have two daughters, Lola (born 1990) and Tali (born 1993); however, their only son, Daniel, was stillborn in December, 1988.
Discography
See also Eurythmics discography
Solo albums
Singles
Other contributions
When Love Speaks (2002, EMI Classics) - "Live With Me and Be My Love"
Awards
Lennox has received a variety of major awards during her career:
American Music Awards
- 2008 - AMA Award of Merit for her work and her humanitarian efforts
Academy Awards
Grammy Awards
- 1987 - Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal (Eurythmics) (for
Missionary Man) 1992 - Best Music Video - Long Form (for Diva) 1995 - Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for "No More I Love You's") 2004 - Best Song Written For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media (for "Into The West")
BRIT Awards
- 1984 - Best British Female Artist
- 1986 - Best British Female Artist
- 1989 - Best British Female Artist
- 1990 - Best British Female Artist
- 1993 - Best British Female Solo Artist
- 1993 - Best British Album (for Diva)
- 1996 - Best British Female Solo Artist
- 1999 - Outstanding Contribution to British Music (Eurythmics)
Golden Globe Awards
- 2004 - Best Original Song - Motion Picture (for "Into The West")
Other Awards
- 2002 - Billboard Century Award by Billboard
Other work
- 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."
- 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.
- 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.
- She performed at the 'Freddie Mercury Tribute' concert just after his death, singing 'Under Pressure' with David Bowie.
- On 9 April 2008, Lennox performed Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers to Cross" during the American Idol "Idol Gives Back" fundraising drive.
- On 31 December 2008 she performed on Jools Holland's Hootenanny show to bring in the new year on BBC2 in the UK along with numerous other singers and bands.
- On 6 February 2009, Lennox celebrated the first anniversary of the SING campaign. An organization to help end HIV/AIDS in Africa.
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