Ann Lennox OBE (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart went on to achieve international success in the 1980s as Eurythmics. Appearing in the 1983 music video for “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” with orange cropped hair and wearing a man’s business suit, the BBC states, “all eyes were on Annie Lennox, the singer whose powerful androgynous look defied the male gaze”. Subsequent hits with Eurythmics include “There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)” and “Here Comes the Rain Again”.
Lennox embarked on a solo career in 1992 with her debut album, Diva, which produced several hit singles including “Why” and “Walking on Broken Glass”. The same year, she performed “Love Song for a Vampire” for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Her 1995 studio album, Medusa, includes cover versions of songs such as “No More ‘I Love You’s'” and “A Whiter Shade of Pale”. To date, she has released six solo studio albums and a compilation album, The Annie Lennox Collection (2009). With eight Brit Awards, which includes being named Best British Female Artist a record six times, Lennox has been named the “Brits Champion of Champions”. She has also collected four Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award. In 2002, Lennox received a Billboard Century Award; the highest accolade from Billboard. In 2004, she received the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Into the West”, written for the soundtrack to the feature film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Lennox’s vocal range is contralto. She has been named “The Greatest White Soul Singer Alive” by VH1 and one of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone. In 2012, she was rated No. 22 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Women in Music. In June 2013 the Official Charts Company called her “the most successful female British artist in UK music history”. As of June 2008, including her work with Eurythmics, Lennox had sold over 80 million records worldwide. As part of a one-hour symphony of British Music, Lennox performed “Little Bird” during the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London. At the 2015 Ivor Novello Awards, Lennox was made a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, the first woman to receive the honour. Lennox (and Eurythmics partner Dave Stewart) was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020 and the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
In addition to her career as a musician, Lennox is also a political and social activist, raising money and awareness for HIV/AIDS as it affects women and children in Africa. She founded the SING Campaign in 2007 and founded a women’s empowerment charity called The Circle in 2008. In 2011, Lennox was appointed an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II for her “tireless charity campaigns and championing of humanitarian causes”. On 4 June 2012, she performed at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert in front of Buckingham Palace. In 2017, Lennox was appointed Glasgow Caledonian University’s first female chancellor
Medusa is the second solo studio album by Scottish singer Annie Lennox, released on 6 March 1995 by RCA Records. It consists entirely of cover songs. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 1 and peaked in the United States at number 11, spending 60 weeks on the Billboard 200. It has since achieved double platinum status in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
The album yielded four singles in the United Kingdom: “No More I Love You’s” (which entered the UK Singles Chart at number 2, becoming Lennox’s highest-peaking solo single), “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, “Waiting in Vain” and “Something So Right”.
Lennox explains the origins of the album in the liner notes:
This album contains a selection of songs I have been drawn to for all kinds of reasons. There were not chosen with any particular theme or concept in mind—the method was more by instinct than by design. The work undertaken was truly a labour of love for me and I feel privileged to have been given this opportunity.
The album was nominated for Best Pop Album at the Grammy Awards of 1996, losing to Turbulent Indigo by Joni Mitchell. Lennox took home the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance award for her work on the first single “No More I Love You’s”. This album was re-released in late 1995 in a double jewel case containing the album Medusa and a nine-track bonus CD featuring the studio version of Paul Simon’s “Something So Right” (with Simon guesting on vocals and guitar) and eight tracks recorded live from the concert in Central Park: “Money Can’t Buy It”, “Legend in My Living Room”, the Eurythmics singles “Who’s That Girl?”, “You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart” and “Here Comes the Rain Again”, along with “Why”, “Little Bird” and “Walking on Broken Glass”.
Professional reviews for Medusa were mixed, ranging from favourable to outright hostile. AllMusic notes that critics “savaged” the album upon release: Trouser Press was probably the most severe in its criticism, characterising Lennox’s interpretations of classic material as “obvious”, “milquetoast” and “willfully wrongheaded”. Reviewer Ira Robbins did single out the track “No More I Love You’s” for genuine, if backhanded, praise: “The only song here that benefits from her ministrations is ‘No More ‘I Love You’s,’ a minor 1986 hit for Britain’s otherwise forgotten The Lover Speaks, and that’s only by dint of the original’s obscurity.” (wikipedia)
Meanwhile, Rolling Stone gave the album a more favourable, though still mixed review:
Annie Lennox called her justifiably popular solo debut Diva, but it’s actually on the follow-up effort Medusa that she really starts acting like one. This wildly uneven album of cover versions starts with perhaps its highest point—a truly wonderful interpretation of “No More I Love You’s”, a relatively obscure British hit by The Lover Speaks. Unfortunately, Lennox doesn’t work the same magic with more familiar material like Al Green’s “Take Me to the River” and Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale”.
The critics savaged Annie Lennox’s sophomore effort when it first came out, and it’s easy to see why: it’s not that an all-covers album was a bad idea, but she did pick some rather large shoes to fill and she did kind of run roughshod over the songs themselves, taking gritty material by the likes of Neil Young and the Clash and turning it into super-slick electro-pop ear candy. But on the other hand, candy sometimes really hits the spot, and Lennox’s rendition of “No More I Love You’s” by the ultra-obscure British pop band the Lover Speaks is ravishingly, heartbreakingly lovely. Those who have never heard the Clash’s original version of “Train in Vain” might not find her version as objectionable as the critics did, either. But there’s no arguing with the critics when it comes to her anemic take on the Al Green classic “Take Me to the River” or her equally numb rendition of Neil Young’s “Don’t Let It Bring You Down.” Those who have given up on looking cool, however, might find themselves able to enjoy her gentle arrangement of “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” Don’t pay full price for this, but snap it up if you find it in a bargain bin somewhere. (by Rick Anderson)
Personnel:
Annie Lennox (vocals, keyboards, flute)
Stephen Lipson (programming, guitar, keyboards, bass)
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Neil Conti (drums)
Matthew Cooper (keyboards)
Dann Gillen (drums)
Danny D (programming)
Pandit Dinesh (tabla)
Mark Feltham (harmonica)
Luís Jardim (percussion, bass)
Judd Lander (harmonica)
James McNally (accordion)
Tony Pastor (guitar)
Andy Richards (keyboards)
Steve Sidelnyk (programming)
Kirampal Singh (santoor)
Peter-John Vettese (keyboards)
Marius de Vries (keyboards, programming)
Doug Wimbish (bass)
Tracklist:
01. No More ‘I Love You’s (Freeman/Hughes) 4.52
02. Take Me To The River (Green/Hodges) 3.33
03. A Whiter Shade Of Pale (Brooker/Reid) 5.16
04. Don’t Let It Bring You Down (Young) 3.38
05. Train In Vain (Strummer/Jones) 4.44
06. I Can’t Get Next To You (Whitfield/Srong) 3.08
07. Downtown Lights (Buchanan) 6.44
08. Thin Line Between Love And Hate (Richard Poindexter/Robert Poindexter/Members) 4.54
09. Waiting In Vain (Marley) 5.40
10. Something So Right (Simon) 3,56
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Live In Central Park 1995:
11. Money Can’t Buy It (Lennox) 4.41
12. Legend In My Living Room (Lennox/Vettese) 3.48
13. Who’s That Girl? (Lennox/Stewart) 4.25
14. You Have Placed A Chill in My Heart (Lennox/Stewart) 5.20
15. Little Bird (Lennox) 5.23
16. Walking On Broken Glass (Lennox) 3.56
17. Here Comes The Rain Again (Lennox/Stewart) 5.52
18. Why (Lennox) 5.04
19. Something So Right (studio version) (featuring Paul Simon) (Simon) 3.48
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20. Live In Central Park, New York City, September 9th, 1975 (uncut edition) 43.17
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321. Heaven (single B-side) (R.Butler/T.Butler) 4.58
The official website:
Boys on the Side is a 1995 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross (in his final film as a director). It stars Whoopi Goldberg, Drew Barrymore and Mary-Louise Parker as three friends on a cross-country road trip. The screenplay was written by Don Roos.
Promotion pic
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