Annie Lennox Biography
Summary
"Annie Lennox" (born "Ann Lennox" on 25 December, 1954) is a Scottish musician, vocalist, and Academy Award-winning songwriter. She is both a solo artist and the lead singer of the musical duo Eurythmics, called 'The Greatest White Soul Singer Alive' on the VH1 show "100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll" in 1999. Both as a solo artist and with Eurythmics, Lennox has sold approximately 80 million records.
Life and career
Ann Lennox was born on Christmas Day, 1954, in Aberdeen, Scotland. She attended Aberdeen High School for Girls, now Harlaw Academy. She was educated as a classical musician and studied the flute at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Lennox was not entirely happy during her time at the Royal Academy. Her flute teacher's final report stated: 'Ann has not always been sure of where to direct her efforts, though latterly 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.
Lennox's first marriage was to Radha Raman, between 1984 and 1985. From 1988 to 2000, she was married to Israeli film and record producer Uri Fruchtmann, with whom she had two daughters, Lola and Tali. Fruchtmann was also the father to Lennox's first, stillborn child, Daniel, in December of 1988.
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.
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's 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', 'Don't Ask Me Why', among others. Though Eurythmics never officially disbanded, Lennox made a fairly clear break with 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.
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 as a solo artist. 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)
She began working with former Trevor Horn protege Stephen Lipson, beginning with Lennox's 1992 solo debut album, "Diva", was a commercial and critical success, charting #1 in UK, #6 in Germany, and #23 in the U.S. Lennox's profile was boosted by "Diva"s singles, which included 'Why' and 'Walking on Broken Glass'), and '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'. Whitney Houston later covered 'Step by Step' for the soundtrack of the film "The Preacher's Wife". Houston's cover was a hit in its own right. Stephen Lipson consistently has been involved in Lennox's solo offerings, providing a sonic unity within all her solo recordings.
"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 song 'Something So Right' made the UK Top 50 when released as a single. In 1997, Lennox re-recorded Eurythmics's 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. 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 of 2005, Lennox performed at Live 8 in Hyde Park, London, along with Madonna, Sting, and other popular musicians.
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 October 31, 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 seven BRIT Awards, the most of any woman, including one as part of Eurythmics. The closest other female artist to this record is Lisa Stansfield, with three.
In October of 2006, Lennox (spoke) at the British House of Commons on the need for children in the UK to help their less fortunate counterparts in Africa.
"Songs of Mass Destruction" (2007)
Album
Lennox's fourth solo album, "Songs of Mass Destruction", was greatly anticipated by her fans between 2006 and 2007. Wide 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 June 27, 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 first 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 October 1, 2007, and is the last album of Lennox's contract with BMG. The album's first single was 'Dark Road', released on 24 September. The album seeks to address various political issues, including AIDS, religious intolerance, global poverty, climate change, and the Iraq War. 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, Céline 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'.
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 September 13, 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 Wall Street 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".
While performing in Boulder in October, 2007, Lennox fled the stage when a man wearing a gas mask, cape, and combat boots appeared in the crowd towards the end of her set at Macky Auditorium at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Lennox spotted the man approaching the stage, tossed her microphone to the ground, and ducked backstage without saying a word to the audience, quickly retiring to her tour bus. Lennox later described the incident as 'really freakish and disturbing.' Police declined to release the name of the masked man, as he had broken no laws. As a result of this incident, Lennox and her management company asked that at all future concerts, all fans wear ordinary, 'business casual' attire and do not wear clothing or apparel that covers their face or significant portions of their heads.
Future plans
Lennox has stated that she plans to record a purely electronic dance album, now that 'Songs of Mass Destruction' is complete.
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 Freddy Mercury tribute.
Discography
Eurythmics
Before Lennox emerged as a solo artist, she already had released many albums and singles as part of the duo Eurythmics, with one further Eurythmics album, "Peace", during her solo phase.
Awards
Lennox has received a variety of major awards during her career:
"Academy Awards"
2004 - Best Original Song (for "Into The West")
"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 Solo Artist
1986 - Best British Female Solo Artist
1989 - Best British Female Solo Artist
1990 - Best British Female Solo Artist
1993 - Best British Female Solo Artist
1993 - Best British Album (for "Diva")
1996 - Best British Female Solo Artist
"Golden Globe Awards"
2004 - Best Original Song - Motion Picture (for "Into The West")
"Other Awards"
2002 - Billboard Century Award by Billboard Magazine
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.' (... more)
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 April 25, 2007, Lennox performed Simon and Garfunkel's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' during the American Idol 'Idol Gives Back' fundraising drive.
External links
(Official Annie Lennox website)
(stv video interview) on aid for Africa
(Annie Lennox/Eurythmics fan site)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Annie Lennox.
