Annie Lennox 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 lounge suit, the BBC wrote, “all eyes were on Annie Lennox, the singer whose powerful androgynous look defied the male gaze.”
Lennox was born on Christmas Day 1954 in Torry, Aberdeen, Scotland. She went to the Aberdeen High School for Girls (which since became Harlaw Academy secondary school) where she was encouraged by her parents to explore her artistic qualities. She excelled at music, poetry and artwork. Here she learned to play the flute and the piano. She also sang in the choir and later played in symphony orchestras and military bands, and each year took part in the Aberdeen Music Festival. Lennox attended Dalcroze Eurhythmics classes while at high school. Eurhythmics, with its English spelling, is an approach to music education developed by the Swiss composer Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. The word Eurhythmics is derived from Greek and means “good flow.” The band, Eurythmics, adopted the French spelling.
In 1971, Lennox began studying on a three-year Music Performance degree course at the Royal Academy of Music in London. It is one of a small number of quite elite British music conservatories predominantly for classical music study at third level. At college in London she studied flute, piano and harpsichord for nearly three years. Although Lennox studied for close to the duration of the course she did not finish her studies at the college. She found the amount of time devoted to music practice required to become a professional classical musician obsessive and felt that she was unconnected with the “whole cultural aspect.” Lennox lived on a student grant and worked at part-time jobs for extra money. She was unhappy with the direction she was going in and doubted her own talent when compared to her student contemporaries while at the Royal Academy and deliberated on what other direction she could take.
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.” Lennox attended the Dalcroze Eurhythmics Spring Course of 1974. She also played and sang with a few bands, such as Windsong, during the period of her course.
In 2017, the academy awarded her an honorary degree of Doctorate. In her acceptance speech of her honorary Doctorate, Lennox said, “Many of my life experiences can be described as unconventional, idiosyncratic and synchronistic – as this event [graduation ceremony] proves to be no exception. By rights, I feel I’m not entitled to be here – but as John Lennon once famously said… ‘Life is what happens to you while you’re making other plans.’”
