Life and career

Ann Lennox was born 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.

Her time at the Royal Academy was not entirely happy for her. 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.Royal Academy of Music Bulletin, August 2006, p. 7 In addition to this, in 2006, Lennox was made a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Lennox was married to Radha Raman from 1984 to 1985. She was married to Uri Fruchtmann from 1988 to 2000, and he is the father of her two daughters, Lola and Tali. Fruchtman was also the father to Lennox' first, stillborn, child Daniel in December 1988.

Professional musical career

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 electronic pop duo Eurythmics with English musician David A. Stewart. Early in Eurythmics' career, she was known for her androgyny, wearing suits and once impersonating Elvis Presley. The duo released a long line of singles in the 1980s: "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, and began a long and equally successful solo career.

From the beginning, Lennox has experimented with her image 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 beginning as the obvious vehicles for selling contemporary popular music, and she has used image astutely, both as a means of interpreting and marketing her music.

Annie Lennox has also amassed a substantial fortune, said to be £30 million over the years working both with Eurythmics and as a solo artist.

Solo work

Though it was produced by Stewart, the 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 can therefore 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'' 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".

She began working with former Trevor Horn protege Stephen Lipson, beginning with Lennox' 1992 solo debut album, ''Diva'', was an unambiguous commercial and critical success.Her profile was boosted by ''Diva'''s singles (including "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass"), numerous awards, 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", which was later covered by Whitney Houston for the soundtrack album of ''The Preacher's Wife'' and became a hit in its own right. Stephen Lipson has consistently been involved in Lennox' solo offerings, providing a sonic unity within her solo recordings that is seldom found in popular music and is most desirable to an artist's fanbase.

Her profile decreased for a period due to her desire to bring up her two children outside of the media's glare, although she continued to be a major figure in popular music.Her next release, ''Medusa,'' an album of cover songs originally performed by such artists as Bob Marley and The Clash, was released three years after ''Diva''. The single "No More I Love You's" received the 1995 Grammy 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, she re-recorded the 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.'' In 2003, she released her third solo album, ''Bare'', which was accompanied by her first ever solo tour which played venues around the world.

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 as well. 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 many of her peers.

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 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 the most BRIT Awards for a woman, with a total of 7, including 1 as part of Eurythmics. The closest female artist to her number of awards is Lisa Stansfield with 3.

In October 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.

Album

After much speculation over titles, including suggestions of ''Venus'', ''I, Annie'', and ''Dark Road'', Annie Lennox’s official website reported on June 27, 2007 that the new album will, in fact, be entitled ''Songs of Mass Destruction''. It was released on 1 October, and will be the last Lennox album from her contract to BMG. The first single to be taken from the album was "Dark Road" on 24 September. The album ''Songs of Mass Destruction'' addresses global warming, Iraq, Aids, religious conflict, global poverty and inequality. "It is 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," Lennox says. "Half the people are drinking or drugging themselves to numb it. A lot of people are in pain," she added.The Telegraph. Annie Lennox: Diva singing through the darkness. September 20, 2007.

The album was recorded in LA with veteran producer Glen Ballard (of ''Jagged Little Pill'' fame), marking a change from her long association with producer Steve Lipson. Mixing on the album took place in Miami by Grammy winner Tom Lord-Alge.

Lennox has stated that she is hoping to deliver an album "with 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."

For the album, Lennox has gathered together twenty-three female artists for a collaboration on the song "Sing". 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, Bonnie Raitt, Shakira, Shingai Shoniwa, Joss Stone, Sugababes, KT Tunstall, and Martha Wainwright are all part of the line-up delivering this "powerful feminist anthem". The song is born out of Annie’s involvement with Nelson Mandela’s 46664 and Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) – organisations fighting for human rights, 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 Annie to make "Sing".

Barnes & Noble has an exclusive version which contains two bonus tracks.
An acoustic version of "Dark Road", and the upbeat "Don't Take Me Down".
Also a second disc with the music video of "Dark Road" and audio commentary by Annie about each song on her album.

After an incident disturbing to Annie, in which a "Mass Destruction" fan approached the stage in full costume, including gas mask and platform boots, Annie and her management company have asked that all fans wear normal 'business casual' attire and do not wear clothing or apparel that covers their face or significant portions of their heads.

Tour

On September 13, 2007, Lennox announced a primarily North American tour for ''Songs of Mass Destruction'' called "Annie Lennox Sings," which is only the third solo tour of her career. The tour will include 18 stops, including 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 are at medium-size theatres, except in New York, where one of the dates is a United Nations fundraiser at Wall Street restaurant Cipriani.
While performing in Boulder, Colorado (October 2007) Lennox fled the stage when a man wearing a gas mask and cape appeared in the crowd towards the end of her set at Macky Auditorium.
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. She describes the incident as “really freakish and disturbing” Police declined to release the name of the masked man due to no laws being broken. Autographs were not available.

Music videos

In her work with Eurythmics and her solo career, Lennox has produced an unusually large number of music videos. Her album ''Diva'' was accompanied by videos for every song but one, rather than the usual practice of only producing a video for the single releases. Actors Hugh Laurie and John Malkovich appear in the music video of "Walking on Broken Glass", while the video to "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 the diva from "Why", the Spanish señorita from "Walking on Broken Glass", her androgynous orange-haired self from "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", the house wife from "Beethoven: I Love to Listen to", the blond vamp from "I Need a Man", the suited Annie from "Thorn in My Side", a ball gown and makeup masked Annie from the Freddie Mercury tribute, and the angel from "There Must Be an Angel" appear as well as several other noticeable characters.

Solo albums

!align="left" valign="top" width="40"\|Year !align="left" valign="top"\|Album !align="center" valign="top" width="40"\|U.K. !align="center" valign="top" width="40"\|U.S. !align="center" valign="top" width="30"\|AUS !align="left" valign="top"\|U.K. Sales !align="left" valign="top"\|U.S. Sales \|- \|align="left" valign="top"\|1992 \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Diva'' \|align="center" valign="top"\|1 \|align="center" valign="top"\|23 \|align="center" valign="top"\|7 \|align="left" valign="top"\|4x Platinum \|align="left" valign="top"\|3x Platinum \|- \|align="left" valign="top"\|1995 \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Medusa'' \|align="center" valign="top"\|1 \|align="center" valign="top"\|11 \|align="center" valign="top"\|5 \|align="left" valign="top"\|2x Platinum \|align="left" valign="top"\|2x Platinum \|- \|align="left" valign="top"\|2003 \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Bare'' \|align="center" valign="top"\|3 \|align="center" valign="top"\|4 \|align="center" valign="top"\|10 \|align="left" valign="top"\|Gold \|align="left" valign="top"\|Gold \|- \|align="left" valign="top"\|2007 \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Songs of Mass Destruction'' \|align="center" valign="top"\|7 \|align="center" valign="top"\|9 \|align="center" valign="top"\|TBR \|align="left" valign="top"\| \|align="left" valign="top"\|115,266 \|-

Singles

!align="center" valign="top" width="40"\|Year !align="left" valign="top"\|Song !align="center" valign="top" width="40"\|U.K. !align="center" valign="top" width="40"\|U.S. !align="center" valign="top" width="40"\|U.S. Dance !align="center" valign="top" width="30"\|AUS !align="left" valign="top"\|Album \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|1988 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"Put a Little Love in Your Heart" ''(with Al Green)'' \|align="center" valign="top"\|28 \|align="center" valign="top"\|9 \|align="center" valign="top"\|29 \|align="center" valign="top"\|6 \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Scrooged'' soundtrack \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|1992 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"Why" \|align="center" valign="top"\|5 \|align="center" valign="top"\|34 \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|17 \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Diva'' \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|1992 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"Precious" \|align="center" valign="top"\|23 \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|83 \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Diva'' \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|1992 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"Walking on Broken Glass" \|align="center" valign="top"\|8 \|align="center" valign="top"\|14 \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|58 \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Diva'' \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|1992 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"Cold" \|align="center" valign="top"\|26 \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|80 \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Diva'' \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|1993 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"Little Bird" / "Love Song for a Vampire" \|align="center" valign="top"\|3 \|align="center" valign="top"\|49 \|align="center" valign="top"\|1 \|align="center" valign="top"\|38 \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Diva'' ''Bram Stoker's Dracula'' \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|1995 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"No More I Love You's" \|align="center" valign="top"\|2 \|align="center" valign="top"\|23 \|align="center" valign="top"\|1 \|align="center" valign="top"\|16 \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Medusa'' \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|1995 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"A Whiter Shade of Pale" \|align="center" valign="top"\|16 \|align="center" valign="top"\|101 \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|58 \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Medusa'' \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|1995 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"Waiting in Vain" \|align="center" valign="top"\|31 \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Medusa'' \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|1995 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"Something So Right" ''(with Paul Simon)'' \|align="center" valign="top"\|44 \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Medusa'' \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|2003 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"Pavement Cracks" \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|1 \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Bare'' \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|2004 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"A Thousand Beautiful Things" \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|1 \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Bare'' \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|2004 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"Wonderful" \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|1 \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Bare'' \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|2007 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"Dark Road" \|align="center" valign="top"\|58 \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|- \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Songs of Mass Destruction'' \|- \|align="center" valign="top"\|2007 \|align="left" valign="top"\|"Sing" \|align="center" valign="top"\|TBR \|align="center" valign="top"\|TBR \|align="center" valign="top"\|TBR \|align="center" valign="top"\|TBR \|align="left" valign="top"\|''Songs of Mass Destruction'' \|-

Awards

Major awards received as an artist:

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