Annie Lennox explains her 'HIV Positive' t-shirt
by Mike Bruno
Categories: About Last Night, American Idol
by Mike Bruno
Categories: About Last Night, American Idol
A lot of heads were turned last night when Annie Lennox showed up on “Idol Gives Back” wearing a t-shirt with the words “HIV POSITIVE” emblazoned on the front (she also wore the shirt to events last year, including the 2009 Edinburgh Festival of Politics and the 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concert in New York last October). The good news is she herself is not HIV positive, but simply showing solidarity with the millions of people who are.
In the video below, which was actually created last November, Lennox explains that she first saw someone wearing a bold “HIV POSITIVE” t-shirt in South Africa in 2004, and she thought it was such a “clever, brilliant” idea, she decided to run with it herself. “In a country like South Africa, where HIV is so prevalent, and yet you have stigma where people are afraid to openly come out and say that they’re HIV positive,” she says, ”this t-shirt, whoever wears it, is making a statement of solidarity, and they’re saying, ‘We’re coming out from behind the shadows. We’re trying to normalize what is a preventable thing. It doesn’t need to have the stigma.’”
Lennox at a concert on 5 September 2004
Annie Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish musician and recording artist. She began her recording career as a member of the British pop band The Tourists, and subsequently formed the duo Eurythmics with former bandmate David A. Stewart. The duo gained international prominence over the course of the 1980s with singles such as "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" and "Here Comes the Rain Again".
In the 1990s, Lennox embarked on a solo career beginning with her debut Diva (1992), which produced the hit singles "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass". In 2004, she won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Into the West", written for the original soundtrack to the feature film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.[Following the release of her fourth studio album Songs of Mass Destruction (2007), Lennox released her first compilation album The Annie Lennox Collection in 2009.
In addition to her career as a musician, Lennox is also a political and social activist, leading such events as an anti-war rally in London on 3 January 2009 in response to the Gaza War. She also objected to the unauthorised use of the 1999 Eurythmics song "I Saved the World Today" in an election broadcast for Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
Known as a pop culture icon for her distinctive contralto vocals and visual performances, 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. She has earned the distinction of 'most successful female British artist in UK music history' due to her global commercial success since the early 1980s. Including her work within Eurythmics, Lennox is one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 80 million records worldwide.
Lennox was born on Christmas Day, 1954, in Torry, Aberdeen. Her father worked at the shipyard, and her mother was a cook until she became a housewife. Lennox was an only child and the family lived in a small two-roomed apartment in a block of flats with communal laundry facilities. Despite her family's financial status, Lennox had piano lessons at school from the age of seven years at the cost of £4.00 per term. She was interested in singing and, with plenty of time to herself, passed some of the time by singing along to the popular music of the time, including music by The Beatles. She was an unhappy teenager, partly because of a struggle over boundaries for her independence with her overprotective father. She attended Aberdeen High School for Girls, now Harlaw Academy. In 1964, her early talent was demonstrated when she came second in a talent contest at a Butlins holiday camp. She sang the song "Mairi's Wedding".
In the 1990s, Lennox embarked on a solo career beginning with her debut Diva (1992), which produced the hit singles "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass". In 2004, she won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Into the West", written for the original soundtrack to the feature film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.[Following the release of her fourth studio album Songs of Mass Destruction (2007), Lennox released her first compilation album The Annie Lennox Collection in 2009.
In addition to her career as a musician, Lennox is also a political and social activist, leading such events as an anti-war rally in London on 3 January 2009 in response to the Gaza War. She also objected to the unauthorised use of the 1999 Eurythmics song "I Saved the World Today" in an election broadcast for Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
Known as a pop culture icon for her distinctive contralto vocals and visual performances, 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. She has earned the distinction of 'most successful female British artist in UK music history' due to her global commercial success since the early 1980s. Including her work within Eurythmics, Lennox is one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 80 million records worldwide.
Early life
Lennox was born on Christmas Day, 1954, in Torry, Aberdeen. Her father worked at the shipyard, and her mother was a cook until she became a housewife. Lennox was an only child and the family lived in a small two-roomed apartment in a block of flats with communal laundry facilities. Despite her family's financial status, Lennox had piano lessons at school from the age of seven years at the cost of £4.00 per term. She was interested in singing and, with plenty of time to herself, passed some of the time by singing along to the popular music of the time, including music by The Beatles. She was an unhappy teenager, partly because of a struggle over boundaries for her independence with her overprotective father. She attended Aberdeen High School for Girls, now Harlaw Academy. In 1964, her early talent was demonstrated when she came second in a talent contest at a Butlins holiday camp. She sang the song "Mairi's Wedding".
Royal Academy of Music
In the 1970s, Lennox won a place at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied the flute and classical music for three years. She lived on a student grant and worked at part-time jobs for extra money. Lennox was unhappy during her time at the Royal Academy partly because she was lonely and shy, and she missed many history-of-music lessons.
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." 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.
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." 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.
Music career
The Tourists and Eurythmics
Between 1977 and 1980, Lennox was the lead singer of The Tourists, a moderately successful British pop band and her first collaboration with Dave Stewart. During the time they were in The Tourists, Stewart and Lennox were involved in a relationship, though this had ended by the time they formed Eurythmics.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. Early in Eurythmics' career, Lennox was known for her androgyny, wearing suits and once impersonating Elvis Presley. Eurythmics released a long line of singles in the 1980s, including "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", "Here Comes the Rain Again","Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves", "Who's That Girl?", "Would I Lie to You?", "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)", "Missionary Man", "You Have Placed a Chill in My Heart", "Thorn in My Side", "The Miracle of Love" and "Don't Ask Me Why", among others. Though Eurythmics never officially disbanded, Lennox made a fairly clear break from Stewart in 1990. Thereafter, she began a long and equally-successful solo career.
Lennox in the mid 1980s
Lennox and Stewart reconvened Eurythmics in the late 1990s with the album Peace, their first album of new material in ten years. A subsequent concert tour was completed, with profits going to Greenpeace. Lennox and Stewart later collaborated on two new pieces for their 2005 Eurythmics compilation album, Ultimate Collection, of which "I've Got a Life" was released as a single in October 2005. The promotional video for the song features Lennox and Stewart performing in the present day, with images of past Eurythmics videos playing on television screens behind them. Lennox also appears in a man's suit with a cane, reminiscent of her "Sweet Dreams" video image from 1983. The single peaked at number fourteen in the UK singles chart and was a number-one U.S. Dance hit.
Lennox has received eight BRIT Awards, the most of any female artist. Four of the awards were given during her time with Eurythmics, and another was given to the duo for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 1999. The closest any other female artist has come to this record is Dido, with four awards.
From the beginning of her career, Lennox has experimented with her image - both as an artist and as a woman. She matured as a public figure in the late 20th century, just as MTV and the medium of video were becoming the obvious vehicles for selling contemporary popular music. She has managed her image astutely, both as a means of interpreting and marketing her music; this was most obviously (and expertly) emphasised in the music video for "Little Bird" in 1992, in which many Lennox lookalikes were featured...all dressed as her many different personae from past videos - both solo and Eurythmics eras.[citation needed]
Though it was produced by Dave Stewart, the 1988 single with Al Green, "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" (a cover version of Jackie DeShannon's 1969 hit), was recorded for the soundtrack of the movie Scrooged. Credited to Lennox and Green, it therefore can be considered her first release outside a band identity. This one-off single peaked at #2 on the US Adult Contemporary chart, #9 US Hot 100 and was a top 40 hit in the UK. Lennox performed the song, "Everytime We Say Goodbye," a Cole Porter song, that same year for a cameo appearance in the Derek Jarman film Edward II. She then made a memorable 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".
Diva (1992 - 1995)
Lennox has received eight BRIT Awards, the most of any female artist. Four of the awards were given during her time with Eurythmics, and another was given to the duo for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 1999. The closest any other female artist has come to this record is Dido, with four awards.
From the beginning of her career, Lennox has experimented with her image - both as an artist and as a woman. She matured as a public figure in the late 20th century, just as MTV and the medium of video were becoming the obvious vehicles for selling contemporary popular music. She has managed her image astutely, both as a means of interpreting and marketing her music; this was most obviously (and expertly) emphasised in the music video for "Little Bird" in 1992, in which many Lennox lookalikes were featured...all dressed as her many different personae from past videos - both solo and Eurythmics eras.[citation needed]
Though it was produced by Dave Stewart, the 1988 single with Al Green, "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" (a cover version of Jackie DeShannon's 1969 hit), was recorded for the soundtrack of the movie Scrooged. Credited to Lennox and Green, it therefore can be considered her first release outside a band identity. This one-off single peaked at #2 on the US Adult Contemporary chart, #9 US Hot 100 and was a top 40 hit in the UK. Lennox performed the song, "Everytime We Say Goodbye," a Cole Porter song, that same year for a cameo appearance in the Derek Jarman film Edward II. She then made a memorable 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".
Diva (1992 - 1995)
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