Name : Annie
Lennox
Profession : Musician, Singer, Songwriter
Date of Birth : 25 December 1954
Place of Birth : Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK
Height : 5' 9"
Claim to fame : The single 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)' (as
electronic pop duo Eurythmics) in the 1980s.
Annie Lennox - Detailed Biography
Following the disbandment of Eurythmics in 1991, vocalist Annie Lennox
began a solo career that rivaled Eurythmics' in terms of crossover
popularity. Born and raised in Aberdeen, Scotland, Annie Lennox began
playing music as child, learning how to play both the piano and flute.
In her late teens, she won a scholarship to London's Royal Academy of
Music but she dropped out of the school before she took her finals. For
the next several years, she worked around London, performing various
jobs during the day and singing at night. In the late '70s, she met
guitarist Dave Stewart through a friend. Stewart, who had previously
played with Longdancer, asked Lennox to join a new band he was forming
with a songwriter named Peet Coombes. The band was named the Tourists,
and they released three albums between 1979 and 1980 and scored a number
four U.K. hit with a cover of Dusty Springfield's "I Only Want to Be
With You."
While they were collaborating together in the Tourists, Lennox and
Stewart became lovers. Soon, tensions within the band grew and by 1980,
the pair had left the band to begin Eurythmics. During the early '80s,
the sleek synth pop of Eurythmics became one of the most popular sounds
of new wave, racking up a number of hits in both the U.S. and U.K.,
including "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," "Love Is a Stranger,"
"Who's That Girl," and "Here Comes the Rain Again." Midway through their
career, Eurythmics began pursuing a harder, more straightforward rock &
roll sound.
In 1990, following the release of Eurythmics' commercial disappointment
We Too Are One, Lennox announced that she was taking a two-year
sabbatical to have a child. During this time, the group quietly
dissolved, Lennox had a baby, and she began working on her first solo
album. Diva, her solo debut, arrived in 1992 and showcased a calmer,
more mature vocalist designed to cross over into the adult contemporary
audience. On the strength of the singles "Walking on Broken Glass"
(number 14) and "Why" (number 34), Diva sold over two million copies in
the U.S. alone; the album was also nominated for three Grammy awards.
Annie Lennox delivered her second solo album, a covers collection
entitled Medusa, in 1995. Peaking at number 11, Medusa spawned the hit
single "No More I Love You's," and went platinum by the end of 1995.