Background
Annie Lennox was born on Christmas Day 1954, in Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, Aberdeen, the daughter of Dorothy Farquharson and Thomas Allison Lennox.
2003
Robben Island, South Africa
Nelson Mandela (L), singer Beyonce Knowles (C) and singer Annie Lennox (L) after a press conference for the '46664 - Give One Minute of Your Life to Aids' concert on November 28, 2003 on Robben Island, off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa.
2005
Rica Hotel, Tromso, Norway
Annie Lennox pose attends a photocall ahead of tonight's '46664 Arctic' concert, at the Rica Hotel on June 11, 2005 in Tromso, Norway. The fourth concert aims to raise awareness of and funds for the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, as well as funds for South Africa with proceeds going to the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
2009
Guildhall, London, England, United Kingdom
Kevin Spacey, Stephen Fry, Annie Lennox and Sir Bob Geldof attend 'A Tribute to Annie Lennox' event in aid of the International Fundraising Committee of the British Red Cross at the Guildhall on December 1, 2009 in London, England.
2011
Royal Festival Hall, London, England, United States
TV Presenter Miquita Oliver, and musicians Annie Lennox and VV Brown pose in the press room before performing at EQUALS Live, a special evening to celebrate the strength and unity of women across generations to mark the centenary of International Women's Day, at the Royal Festival Hall on March 11, 2011 in London, England.
2012
Buckingham Palace, London, England, United Kingdom
Elton John, Tom Jones, Prince Charles, Charles, Gary Barlow, Queen Elizabeth II, Annie Lennox, Kylie Minogue, Paul McCartney, Cheryl Cole, Camilla Parker Bowles take the stage during the The Diamond Jubilee Concert held at Buckingham Palace.
1979
Annie Lennox in October of 1979.
1983
Palace, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States
Annie Lennox (Eurythmics) at Eurythmics first concert in Los Angeles at the Palace in Hollywood on July 30, 1983.
1986
Greek Theater, Los Angeles, California, United States
Annie Lennox (Eurythmics) performing at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles on August 5, 1986.
1992
Wembley Stadium, London, England, United Kingdom
Annie Lennox and David Bowie performing a duet at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness, Wembley Stadium, London, 20th April 1992.
2003
Robben Island, South Africa
Nelson Mandela (L), singer Beyonce Knowles (C) and singer Annie Lennox (L) after a press conference for the '46664 - Give One Minute of Your Life to Aids' concert on November 28, 2003 on Robben Island, off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa.
2004
Annie Lennox accepts the Oscar for Best Song during the 76th Academy Awards show.
2005
Rica Hotel, Tromso, Norway
Annie Lennox pose attends a photocall ahead of tonight's '46664 Arctic' concert, at the Rica Hotel on June 11, 2005 in Tromso, Norway. The fourth concert aims to raise awareness of and funds for the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, as well as funds for South Africa with proceeds going to the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
2005
Hyde Park, London, England, United Kingdom
Annie Lennox takes the stage in London's Hyde Park, to relieve world debt for Live 8.
2006
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Annie Lennox, Billy Connolly, and Tilda Swinton pose after receiving honorary degrees from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama on July 4, 2006 in Glasgow, Scotland.
2007
Parliament Square, London, England, United Kingdom
Midge Ure and Annie Lennox pose for a photograph in Parliament Square as part of a day of protests on global poverty on June 2, 2007 in London.
2007
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California, United States
Annie Lennox poses in the press room during the 'American Idol Gives Back' held at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on April 25, 2007, in Los Angeles, California.
2008
Annie Lennox at the American Music Awards, 2008.
2009
Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, United States
Aretha Franklin and Annie Lennox performs on stage during the 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concert at Madison Square Garden on October 30, 2009 in New York City.
2009
Guildhall, London, England, United Kingdom
Kevin Spacey, Stephen Fry, Annie Lennox and Sir Bob Geldof attend 'A Tribute to Annie Lennox' event in aid of the International Fundraising Committee of the British Red Cross at the Guildhall on December 1, 2009 in London, England.
2009
Los Angeles, California, United States
Annie Lennox during the Q & A portion of her concert appearance at The GRAMMY Museum on February 13, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.
2009
Crown Towers Hotel, Melbourne, Australia
Annie Lennox arrives for the 51st TV Week Logie Awards at the Crown Towers Hotel and Casino on May 3, 2009 in Melbourne, Australia.
2010
Milan Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2011, Milan, Italy
Annie Lennox attend the Dolce & Gabbana '20 Years of Menswear' during Milan Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2011 on June 19, 2010 in Milan, Italy.
2010
National Building Museum, Washington, DC, United States
Annie Lennox performs onstage during TNT's 'Christmas in Washington 2010' at the National Building Museum on December 12, 2010 in Washington, DC. '
2010
London, England, United Kingdom
Annie Lennox (R) and Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of Save The Children, attend Save The Children's 'A Minute For Mothers' photocall on March 12, 2010 in London, England.
2010
10 Downing Street, London, England, United Kingdom
Annie Lennox, Floella Benjamin and Baroness Scotland of Asthal attend a reception with Gordon Brown In Aid Of Women's Day at 10 Downing Street on March 18, 2010 in London, England.
2010
London, England, United Kingdom
Annie Lennox attends the Harper's Bazaar Women Of The Year Awards on November 1, 2010 in London, England.
2011
Royal Festival Hall, London, England, United States
TV Presenter Miquita Oliver, and musicians Annie Lennox and VV Brown pose in the press room before performing at EQUALS Live, a special evening to celebrate the strength and unity of women across generations to mark the centenary of International Women's Day, at the Royal Festival Hall on March 11, 2011 in London, England.
2012
Olympic Stadium, London, England, United Kingdom
Annie Lennox performs during the Closing Ceremony on Day 16 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 12, 2012 in London, England.
2012
Buckingham Palace, London, England, United Kingdom
Elton John, Tom Jones, Prince Charles, Charles, Gary Barlow, Queen Elizabeth II, Annie Lennox, Kylie Minogue, Paul McCartney, Cheryl Cole, Camilla Parker Bowles take the stage during the The Diamond Jubilee Concert held at Buckingham Palace.
2013
The Grosvenor House Hotel, London, England, United Kingdom
Annie Lennox attends the Music Industry Trust awards at The Grosvenor House Hotel on November 4, 2013 in London, England.
2014
Los Angeles, California, United States
Recording artist Annie Lennox of Eurythmics performs onstage during 'The Night That Changed America: A GRAMMY Salute To The Beatles' at the Los Angeles Convention Center on January 27, 2014, in Los Angeles, California.
2014
SiriusXM Studios, New York City, New York, United States
Annie Lennox visits SiriusXM Studios on October 23, 2014 in New York City.
2014
Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, California, United States
Daniel Platzman, Wayne Sermon, Dan Reynolds and Ben McKee of Imagine Dragons, Annie Lennox and actor-comedian Eric Idle perform onstage during 'The Night That Changed America: A GRAMMY Salute To The Beatles' at the Los Angeles Convention Center on January 27, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.
2015
Annie Lennox with her BASCA Fellowship at the 2015 Ivor Novello Awards.
2015
Catherine Ahnell Gallery, New York City, New York, United States
Annie Lennox attends the Tali Lennox Exhibition Opening Reception at Catherine Ahnell Gallery on March 18, 2015 in New York City.
2015
Paris, France
Wayne Shorter, Annie Lennox, Marc Johnson, James Genus, Al Jarreau, Femi Kuti, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Marcus Miller and Till Bronner perform on stage during the International Jazz Day 2015 Global Concert at UNESCO on April 30, 2015 in Paris, France.
2016
London, England, United Kingdom
Annie Lennox, takes Part In 'Walk In Her Shoes' on March 6, 2016 in London, England.
2016
The O2 Arena, London, England, United Kingdom
Annie Lennox on stage during a tribute to David Bowie at the BRIT Awards 2016 at The O2 Arena on February 24, 2016 in London, England.
2017
London, England, United Kingdom
Singer Annie Lennox at the annual Commonwealth Day service and reception during Commonwealth Day celebrations on March 13, 2017 in London, England.
2017
Palazzo Marino, Milan, Italy
Annie Lennox (L) and Colin Firth attend a private dinner hosted by Livia Firth following the Green Carpet Fashion Awards, Italia, at Palazzo Marino on September 24, 2017 in Milan, Italy.
2017
Vatican City, Vatican
Annie Lennox performs at the Paul VI Hall during the Christmas Concert at Vatican on December 16, 2017 in Vatican City, Vatican.
Royal Academy of Music, London, England, United Kingdom
In the 1970s, Lennox won a place at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied the flute, piano and harpsichord for three years.
In 2011, Lennox was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for her "tireless charity campaigns and championing of humanitarian causes".
musician Political activist singer songwriter
Annie Lennox was born on Christmas Day 1954, in Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, Aberdeen, the daughter of Dorothy Farquharson and Thomas Allison Lennox.
In the 1970s, Lennox won a place at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied the flute, piano and harpsichord for three years. 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 and spent her time wondering what other direction she could take.
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."
Three days before her final exams at the Academy, Lennox suddenly walked out, never to return. For the next few years, she worked a series of odd jobs - mostly waitressing - while singing with numerous groups, none of them well known. By 1977, she was close to abandoning her dreams of making it as a singer-songwriter; instead, she planned to start a career as a music teacher. Just before she made that change, however, a man named Dave Stewart came into the London restaurant where Lennox was working.
With Coombs, Lennox and Stewart started a group called Catch, later renamed the Tourists. The Tourists were fairly successful in some respects, recording three albums and touring all over the world. They made no money, however, and their only big hit was a 1979 remake of Dusty Springfield's "I Only Want to Be with You." Strangely enough, that one hit led to the demise of the Tourists. Critics savaged them, believing that the group had sold out to the oldies market. Disillusioned and embroiled in disputes with their recording label, they disbanded in 1980.
Following the demise of The Tourists, Stewart and Lennox formed Eurythmics, a synth-pop duo. Lennox was the singer of the band and was noted for her androgynous style. Eurythmics never officially split up, but Annie did appear to make a fairly obvious break from the band when she began to pursue her solo career in 1990.
In 1992, she released 'Little Bird', one of her most successful solo singles. In the video for the single, she used a number of Annie Lennox look-alikes that were dressed as her many different public personas that she had used throughout her career. That same year, she performed alongside David Bowie and the remaining members of Queen, at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert and Wembley Stadium, signing the Queen song 'Under Pressure'.
Her debut solo album, Diva was released in 1992 and featured the singles 'Little Bird', 'Walking On Broken Glass' and 'Love Song For A Vampire', which was featured on the soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula. One of her B-sides, 'Step By Step' was later covered by Whitney Houston.
In 1995, Lennox released Medusa. The album was a collection of cover versions, including 'No More I Love You's' and Paul Simon's 'Something So Right'. In 1997, Annie re-recorded an old Eurythmics track, 'Angel', for a tribute album to Diana, Princess of Wales.
In 1998, prompted by the death of Peet Coombes (singer and songwriter for The Tourists), Lennox made contact with Dave Stewart again. The Eurythmics were re-born and made the album Peace in 1999.
Lennox's third solo album, Bare, was released in 2003 and the next year, she won an Academy Award for Best Song. The award was given for her song 'Into The West', which was used in the soundtrack to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return Of The King. The song was co-written with Fran Walsh and Howard Shore.
In July 2005, Annie Lennox was chosen to perform at the London leg of the Live 8 concerts, alongside artists such as Sting and Madonna. Later that year, an Eurythmics greatest hits album entitled Ultimate Collection was released. They recorded two new pieces for the release and released 'I've Got a Life' as a single.
In 2007, Lennox released her fourth solo album, entitled Songs of Mass Destruction. The debut single from the album was 'Dark Road'. The track 'Sing' features 23 other successful female artists, including Dido, Fergie, Beth Gibbons of Portishead, Beverley Knight, Beth Orton, Sugababes and KT Tunstall.
In September 2008 Annie Lennox hosted the launch of the Amnesty Arts Fund. The Amnesty Arts Fund brings together people who believe passionately in freedom of expression and projects that inspire creative activism around the world.
Also in 2008 Annie was presented with the Award of Merit at the 2008 American Music Awards, broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in L.A. Previous honourees include Prince, Whitney Houston and Frank Sinatra, that same year Annie released her first ever-solo retrospective album called “The Annie Lennox Collection”. The 14-song collection brings together Lennox’s finest work from her four top-selling solo albums – Diva (1992), Medusa (1995), Bare (2003) and Songs of Mass Destruction (2007).
In 2009 Annie joined David Gray for the duet Full Steam, featured on his latest album – Draw the Line. Annie also joined Aretha Franklin in New York for a special one off performance, in celebration of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fames 25th anniversary.
In 2010, Annie Lennox announced a new record deal with Universal Music Group, signalling the end of her 30-year relationship with the RCA Label. Annie also announced that her first album as part of this new exciting deal, “A Christmas Cornucopia”, would be released on Island Records in the UK and Decca in the US. The new album featured Annie’s versions of traditional festive songs along with a new track, ‘Universal Child’. Annie donated her publishing royalties for the new track to The Annie Lennox Foundation, and the album was certified Gold in the UK.
In October 2014, Lennox released her sixth solo album, Nostalgia. The album is a collection of Lennox's childhood favourite soul, jazz and blues songs. Critic Mike Wass of Idolator stated that Lennox "puts her own inimitable spin" on the selected tracks. The lead single "I Put a Spell on You" received its first radio play on 15 September 2014 by Ken Bruce on BBC Radio 2. Upon release, the album entered the UK and US Top 10, and reached number one on the US Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. On 28 January 2015, Lennox performed a live concert at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles entitled An Evening of Nostalgia with Annie Lennox. The show aired on PBS in the US in April 2015, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray internationally in May 2015.
It is unclear what, if any, religion Lennox’ family adhered to when she was young. If there was one, it certainly didn’t follow her to adulthood. Lennox considers herself an agnostic. When she released a Christmas album, she said: "Although I might be best described as agnostic, I’ve always found a particular beauty in Christmas church services."
And she’s not totally down on churches. She’s commented that they have a powerful ability to help those in need and be the cement that holds communities together. However, Lennox is concerned that religion can be a divisive force, leading to violence and brutality: "So many wars and strife are borne out of opposing religious views. If people don’t have kindness, respect, tolerance and compassion at the core of their beliefs, then their religion is pointless."
Agnosticism leaves much up to speculation. Perhaps she’s just down on the rules and regulations of spirituality in religion, because it appears that Lennox isn’t completely nonspiritual. Her’s is an amorphous, formless sense of a higher plane. She said: "The inner world is very potent for me – I don’t ascribe to any God or Jesus or Buddha – I just have a sense of it and revere it along with the natural world and human consciousness."
She was also a vocal protestor of the War in Iraq and Tony Blair’s Labour Party. And though she has expressed an affinity to Labour – likely stemming from her working-class roots – she also sounds slightly right of center when it comes to the role of organized labor and the welfare state. When she was young and poor, she worried that union strikes would disrupt her ability to make money, and on the topic of assistance for the poor, she said: "Charity is a fine thing if it’s meeting a gap where needs must be met and there are no other resources. But in the long term we need to support people into helping themselves."
Lennox is also known as philanthropist and activist. She appeared on stage at the 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Concert and commenced activist work with the Sing Foundation afterwards. In 1990, Lennox recorded a version of Cole Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" for the Cole Porter tribute album Red Hot + Blue, a benefit for AIDS awareness. A video was also produced. Lennox has been a public supporter of Amnesty International and Greenpeace for many years, and she and Dave Stewart donated all of the profits from Eurythmics' 1999 Peacetour to both charities. Concerned by Tibet freedom, she supported Amnesty International campaigns for the release of Tibetan prisoners Palden Gyatso and Ngawang Choephel.
In 2006, in response to her humanitarian work, Lennox became patron of the Master's Course in Humanitarian and Development Practice for Oxford Brookes University. In October 2006, Lennox spoke at the British House of Commons about the need for children in the UK to help their counterparts in Africa. On 25 April 2007, Lennox performed "Bridge over Troubled Water" during the American Idol "Idol Gives Back" fundraising drive. Lennox's 2007 song "Sing" was born out of her 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 HIV. In December 2007, Lennox established The SING Campaign, an organisation dedicated to raising funds and awareness for women and children affected by HIV and AIDS.
Lennox opened the 2009 Edinburgh Festival of Politics with commentary on Pope Benedict XVI's approach to HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa. She said that the Pope's denunciation of condoms on his recent tour of Africa had caused "tremendous harm" and she criticised the Roman Catholic Church for causing widespread confusion on the continent. Lennox also condemned the media's obsession with "celebrity culture" for keeping the AIDS pandemic off the front page. During her address, Lennox wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "HIV positive". Lennox wore similar T-shirts at the 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concert at Madison Square Garden on 30 October 2009, during her appearance on The Graham Norton Show on 30 November 2009 (where she performed the new song "Full Steam", a duet with singer David Gray), during a recorded performance for American Idol during a 21 April 2010 fundraiser, entitled Idol Gives Back, and during a performance on the live Comic Relief show on 18 March 2011.
Quotations:
“Ask yourself: Have you been kind today? Make kindness your daily modus operandi and change your world.”
"The world is a heartbreaking place, without any question."
"I have a lot to be grateful for."
"I think that you can only be true to yourself. Nobody can live up to other people's expectations. You will always let them down. There will always be something they won't like about you."
“We all fight over what the label ‘feminism’ means but for me it’s about empowerment. It’s not about being more powerful than men – it’s about having equal rights with protection, support, justice. It’s about very basic things.”
“You just decide what your values are in life and what you are going to do, and then you feel like you count, and that makes life worth living. It makes my life meaningful.”
"You become really ugly when you become very superficial and self-obsessed."
“The word feminism needs to be taken back. It needs to be reclaimed in a way that is inclusive of men.”
“Fear paralyses you – fear of flying, fear of the future, fear of leaving a rubbish marriage, fear of public speaking, or whatever it is.”
“Our ancestors are totally essential to our every waking moment, although most of us don’t even have the faintest idea about their lives, their trials, their hardships or challenges.”
“Dying is easy, it’s living that scares me to death.”
“The future hasn’t happened yet and the past is gone. So I think the only moment we have is right here and now, and I try to make the best of those moments, the moments that I’m in.”
“Whatever you do, you do out of a passion.”
Lennox's longtime support for LGBT rights have helped garner a significant following within the community. According to The Advocate, "her distinctive voice and provocative stage persona have made Lennox a longtime gay icon."With Eurythmics' music videos earning regular rotation on MTV in the 1980s, Lennox took part in the shaping of popular culture alongside other gay icons such as Boy George, Madonna, Morrissey, and Michael Stipe.
Known for her androgynous look in the 1980s – first widely seen in the 1983 music video for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" where she had close-cropped, orange-coloured hair, and wore a man's suit brandishing a cane, a video which made her a household name – Lennox was viewed as the female version of Boy George, and during the Second British Invasion spurred by MTV, Newsweek magazine ran an issue which featured Lennox and Boy George on the cover of its 23 January 1984 edition with the caption Britain Rocks America – Again.
Physical Characteristics: Lennox's vocal range is contralto.
Quotes from others about the person
Archbishop Desmond Tutu: "She is one of those exemplary human beings who chose to put her success in her chosen career to work in order to benefit others. She is a true friend of Africa and of South Africa. Her Aids activism in general, and support for the treatment action campaign in-particular, contributed significantly to turning the pandemic around in our country."
She said: "I like picture books. It’s terrible. I have a little bit of ADD. There’s a photographer – Vivian Maier. There’s been a documentary film about this extraordinary photographer, but she died and nobody knew about her. She was completely anonymous. This guy discovered her stash of photographs. He was so intrigued by them that he decided to really look into her and, ultimately, he managed to print her photographs up for exhibition. I’ve been looking at books of prints of her photographs."
Lennox has been married three times. Her first marriage, from 1984 to 1985, was to German Hare Krishna devotee Radha Raman. From 1988 to 2000, she was married to Israeli film and record producer Uri Fruchtmann. The couple have two daughters, Lola and Tali. A son, Daniel, was stillborn in 1988. On 15 September 2012, Lennox married Mitch Besser in London in a private ceremony.