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In 2011, Lennox was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for her "tireless charity campaigns and championing of humanitarian causes". Learn 50 things about Scottish singer Annie Lennox.
1. Annie Lennox, OBE, born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer, songwriter, political activist and philanthropist.
2. 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 major international success in the 1980s as Eurythmics.
3. With a total of eight Brit Awards, including Best British Female Artist six times, Lennox has won more than any other female artist.
4. Annie Lennox has also been named the "Brits Champion of Champions".
5. Annie 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".
6. To date, she has released six solo studio albums and a compilation album, The Annie Lennox Collection (2009).
7. Aside from her eight Brit Awards, she has also collected four Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award.
8. In 2002, Lennox received a Billboard Century Award; the highest accolade from Billboard Magazine.
9. In 2004, she won both 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.
10. In addition to her career as a musician, Lennox is also a political and social activist, notable for raising money and awareness for HIV/ AIDS as it affects women and children in Africa.
11. In 2011, Lennox was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for her "tireless charity campaigns and championing of humanitarian causes".
12. On 4 June 2012 she performed at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert in front of Buckingham Palace.
13. Lennox performed the song "Little Bird" during the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London on 12 August 2012.
14. Annie Lennox has been named "The Greatest White Soul Singer Alive" by VH1 and one of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone.
15. In 2012, she was rated No. 22 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Music.
16. Annie Lennoxhas earned the distinction of "most successful female British artist in UK music history" due to her commercial success since the early 1980s.
17. As of June 2008, including her work within Eurythmics, Lennox had sold over 80 million records worldwide.
18. Annie Lennox was born on Christmas Day 1954 in Summerfield Maternity hospital, Aberdeen, the daughter of Dorothy (née Ferguson) and Thomas Allison Lennox.
19. In the 1970s, Lennox won a place at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied the flute, piano and harpsichord for three years.
20. Annie Lennox lived on a student grant and worked at part-time jobs for extra money.
21. Annie Lennox was unhappy during her time at the Royal Academy and spent her time wondering what other direction she could take.
22. Lennox's flute teacher's final report stated: "Ann has not always been sure of where to direct her efforts, though lately 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."
23. She also played and sang with a few bands, such as Windsong, during the period of her course. In 2006, the academy made her an honorary Fellow. Lennox also was made a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama that year.
24. In 1976, Lennox was flautist with a band called Dragon's Playground, leaving before they appeared on TV's New Faces.
25. Between 1977 and 1980, she was the lead singer of The Tourists (initially known as The Catch), a British pop band and her first collaboration with Dave Stewart.
26. Lennox and Stewart's second collaboration, the 1980s synthpop duo Eurythmics, resulted in her most notable fame, as the duo's alto, soul-tinged lead singer.
27. Early in Eurythmics' career, Lennox was known for her androgyny, wearing suits and once impersonating Elvis Presley.
28. Eurythmics released a long line of singles in the 1980s, including "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (a US number one and UK number two), "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)" (UK number one), "Love Is A Stranger", "Here Comes the Rain Again", "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves", "Who's That Girl?", "Would I Lie to You?", "Missionary Man", "You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart", "Thorn in My Side", "The Miracle of Love" and "Don't Ask Me Why".
29. Although the Eurythmics never officially disbanded, Lennox made a fairly clear break from Stewart in 1990. Thereafter, she began her solo career.
30. Lennox and Stewart reconvened Eurythmics in the late 1990s with the album Peace, their first album of new material in ten years.
31. A subsequent concert tour was completed, with profits going to Greenpeace and Amnesty International.
32. Annie Lennox has received eight Brit Awards, the most of any female artist.
33. The 1988 single, "Put a Little Love in Your Heart", was a duet with Al Green recorded for the soundtrack of the movie Scrooged.
34. Annie Lennox performed the song "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye", a Cole Porter song, that same year for a cameo appearance in the Derek Jarman film Edward II.
35. Annie Lennox then made an 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".
36. Annie Lennox began working with former Trevor Horn protégé Stephen Lipson, beginning with her 1992 solo début album, Diva. It was a commercial and critical success, charting No. 1 in the UK, No. 6 in Germany, and No. 23 in the US where it went double platinum.
37. Lennox's profile was boosted by Diva's singles, which included "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass".
38. "Why" won an MTV Award for Best Female Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, while the video for "Walking on Broken Glass" set in the British Regency period, featured actors Hugh Laurie and John Malkovich.
39. In 2003, Lennox released her third solo album, Bare. The album peaked at No. 3 in the UK and No. 4 in the US - her highest charting album in the US to date.
40. Annie Lennox embarked on her first tour as a solo artist to promote the album. The tour, simply titled Solo Tour, pre-dated the release of the album and visited both the US and Europe, with only a two-night stop in the UK at Saddler's Wells Theatre in London.
41. 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, which she co-wrote with screenwriter Fran Walsh and composer Howard Shore.
42. In October 2014, Lennox released her sixth solo album Nostalgia. The album is a collection of Lennox's childhood favourite soul, jazz and blues songs.
43. In 1990, Lennox recorded a version of Cole Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" for the Cole Porter tribute album Red Hot + Blue, a benefit for AIDS awareness. A video was also produced.
44. Annie Lennox has been a public supporter of Amnesty International and Greenpeace for many years, and she and Dave Stewart donated all of the profits from Eurythmics' 1999 Peacetour to both charities.
45. Concerned by Tibet freedom, she supported Amnesty International campaigns for the release of Tibetan prisoners Palden Gyatso and Ngawang Choephel.
46. In 2006, in response to her humanitarian work, Lennox became patron of the Master's Course in Humanitarian and Development Practice for Oxford Brookes University.
47. In October 2006, Lennox spoke at the British House of Commons about the need for children in the UK to help their counterparts in Africa.
48. Lennox's 2007 song "Sing" was born out of her involvement with Nelson Mandela's 46664 campaign and Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), both of which are human rights groups which seek education and health care for those affected by HIV.
49. In December 2007, Lennox established The SING Campaign, an organisation dedicated to raising funds and awareness for women and children affected by HIV and AIDS.
50. On 11 December 2007, she performed in the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway together with a variety of artists, which was broadcast to over 100 countries.
Source: Wikipedia.org
