Annie Lennox

Scots-born Annie Lennox ranks at No.9 on the VH1 list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll (1999). She is probably best known as half of 80s duo the Eurythmics and for her androgynous style during that time, but she has also known significant commercial success as a solo artist.

Lennox began her career in the late 70s with the moderately successful folk-pop band The Tourists who emerged from The Catch after just one single. It was in The Catch that Lennox met Dave Stewart, who first became her lover and eventually became her musical partner. After the break-up of The Tourists due to creative tensions, Lennox and Stewart formed Eurythmics, deciding also to break off their romantic relationship in favour of their musical partnership.

During the early 80s, the Eurythmics were an unstoppable force in the UK charts, with six albums selling at least platinum. But by the end of the decade their success began to waver; Lennox and Stewart's relationship had become fraught with tension and in 1990 they decided to take an indefinite hiatus.

Lennox's solo debut album was 1992's Diva, which garnered critical praise for her soul-pop sound, and achieved multi-platinum status in both the UK and US. It also produced several hit singles including "Why" and "Walking on Broken Glass". After the success of Diva, Lennox took a short break to raise her two children with then-husband, director Uri Fruchtmann. She returned in 1995 with Medusa, a covers album of songs by a diverse range of artists from The Temptations to The Clash, and Paul Simon to Bob Marley.

In 1999 former Tourists frontman Peet Coombes died after years of alcohol and drug abuse and Lennox was reunited with Stewart at his funeral. Together they decided to record a new album, their first as Eurythmics in ten years. Peace (1999) was a quieter acoustic album, but although critics were generally pleased with the album, sales did not reflect this.

In 2003 Lennox released another solo effort, Bare, which peaked at No.4 on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Album.

On October 1, 2007 Lennox released her fourth solo album Songs of Mass Destruction, which debuted in the Top 10 in both the US and UK. The second single from the album "Sing" was a mass collaboration between Lennox and 23 other prominent female vocalists, including Anastacia, k.d. lang and Madonna.