Annie Lennox

Annie Lennox (born Griselda Ann Lennox on 25 December, 1954 in Aberdeen, Scotland), is an Oscar, Brit, Grammy and Golden Globe award-winning British rock musician and vocalist.

Life and career

As a child, Lennox attended a school for the exceptionally intelligent. She was educated as a classical musician and studied the flute at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

After three years as lead singer of The Tourists, Lennox achieved her most notable fame as the alto, soul-tinged lead singer of the 1980s rock duo Eurythmics with British musician David A. Stewart. Early in Eurythmics' career, she was known for her androgyny, wearing suits and once impersonating Elvis Presley. Many journalists often referred to her as "the white Grace Jones". The duo released a long line of classic singles in the 1980s: "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", "Here Comes the Rain Again", "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, and began her long and equally successful solo career. Annie has also amassed a large fortune said to be an estimated £30 million over the years working with Eurythmics and as a solo artist.

Solo work

Though it was produced by Stewart, the 1988 single "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" (from the movie Scrooged) was credited to "Annie Lennox and Al Green", and could therefore be considered her first appearance as a solo artist. In 1991, her cover version of Cole Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" appeared on the Porter tribute compilation Red Hot + Blue. Lennox performed the song that same year in a cameo appearance in the Derek Jarman film Edward II.

Her 1992 solo debut album, Diva, was an unambiguous commercial and critical success. Lennox's profile was boosted by Diva's singles (including "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass"), numerous awards, and a soundtrack cut for Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 movie Dracula ("Love Song for a Vampire").

Her profile decreased for a period due to her desire to raise her two children outside of the media's glare, although she continued to be a major figure in popular music. Medusa - an album of covers in which Lennox tackled songs by everyone from Bob Marley to The Clash - was released three years after Diva, and sold well. In 1997 she re-recorded the Eurythmics track "Angel" for the Diana, Princess of Wales tribute album. In 1998 - following the death of a mutual friend (former The Tourists leader singer/songwriter Peet Coombes) - she re-established contact with Dave Stewart and by 1999, Eurythmics had reformed for the album Peace. In 2003 she released her third solo album, Bare.

In 2004, Lennox won the Academy Award for Best Song for "Into The West" from the film The Return of the King (film) at the 76th Academy Awards. She had previously recorded "Use Well the Days" for the movie, which incorporates numerous quotations from Tolkien in its lyrics. This song was not used in the film, but appears on a bonus DVD included with the "special edition" of the movie's soundtrack CD.

In July 2005, Annie Lennox performed at Live 8 in Hyde Park, London. She also 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".

Lennox and Stewart later collaborated on two new pieces for their Eurythmics hits album, Ultimate Collection, one 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 and 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.

In 2006, "Annie is currently busy writing and recording songs to prepare for the next album, which will be her last whilst she is still contracted to BMG..."The new album will be called Venus and will feature a duo with James Brown."I am writing at the moment. I'm at the early stages so I'm not really able to say who I will be working with. I can say though that working with James Brown has been wonderful." "Lennox is hoping to deliver an album 'with 12 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 10 copies or 50 million.'"Billboard.com "Annie Lennox Gets Busy On New Album". Retrieved June 29 2006.

The father of her two daughters, Lola (the oldest) and Tali (the youngest), is Uri Fruchtmann to whom she was married from 1988 to 2000. She had previously been married to Radha Raman from 1984 to 1985.

Lennox is currently romantically involved with actor and director John Sayles.

Lennox's entire catalogue - from Eurythmics classics to solo hits -- has been published by BMG Music Publishing since 1982.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	UK	U.S.	RIAA cert.	BPI cert.	worldwide sales
1992	Diva	1	23	3x Platinum	4x Platinum	8x Platinum
1995	Medusa	1	11	2x Platinum	2x Platinum	5x Platinum
2003	Bare	3	4	Gold	Gold	2x Platinum

Singles

Year	Song	UK	U.S.	U.S. Dance	Album
1988	"Put a Little Love in Your Heart" (with Al Green)	28	9	29	Scrooged soundtrack
1992	"Why"	5	34	-	Diva
1992	"Precious"	28	-	-	Diva
1992	"Walking on Broken Glass"	8	14	-	Diva
1992	"Cold"	26	-	-	Diva
1992	"Little Bird"	3	49	1	Diva
1993	"Love Song for a Vampire"	3	-	-	Bram Stoker's Dracula soundtrack
1995	"No More 'I Love You's'"	2	23	1	Medusa
1995	"A Whiter Shade of Pale"	16	101	-	Medusa
1995	"Waiting in Vain"	31	-	-	Medusa
1995	"Something So Right" (with Paul Simon)	44	-	-	Medusa
2003	"Pavement Cracks"	-	-	1	Bare
2004	"A Thousand Beautiful Things"	-	-	1	Bare
2004	"Wonderful"	-	-	1	Bare

Other work

Annie Lennox recently became patron of the Master's Course in Humanitarian and Development Practice for Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom. A university spokesperson said that they were "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".

The actor Hugh Laurie, in addition to John Malkovich, performs in the music video for "Walking on Broken Glass".

External links

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