| Annie Lennox,
born and raised in Aberdeen,
Scotland, 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. |
