Annie Lennox Finally Opened Up Her Archive. We Got An Exclusive Look.

Photo courtesy of Rizzoli New York.

Despite soundtracking the ’80s and ’90s both in her solo work and with The Eurythmics, four-time Grammy-winning artist Annie Lennox has maintained an elusive and enigmatic aura. Now, after nearly 50 years in the music industry, she’s published her first visual memoir: Annie Lennox: Retrospective, out this month with Rizzoli. The book features over 200 iconic and mostly never-before-seen photos from the Scottish songtress’ archives, with lyrics from her some of her greatest hits scattered throughout. But don’t take it from us—below is a selection of photos from the book, along with Lennox’s own foreword, in which she reflects on her “tendency to daydream” and a life in music.

———

I’ve always wanted to release a book, but it was never quite the right time, place or situation to go ahead with the notion. I love books. I love picking them up and turning through the pages—usually starting at the back and working through till the beginning.

I do lots of things in a “back-to-front” kind of way. I’ve always been like that. Maybe it has something to do with being left-handed… or because I’m apparently neurodivergent (a fact I recently discovered after being tested for ADHD and coming out with flying colors!). It explains why I’ve always had a tendency to daydream, and why I often have difficulty concentrating on subjects I have no capacity for, like maths, sports and science. My boredom threshold is pretty low, but then I rarely get bored because there’s always something that interests me.

Photo courtesy of Astair Thain.

In my seventh decade, I think it’s time to unleash this book into the world.

There have been countless images flying in the ether somewhere—in magazines, newspapers, through live performances, television, and video clips. Several years ago, an angel called Rosie Crombie came along to collate as many of those images as possible to be chronicled and uploaded to the “cloud.” A couple of years ago, I finally went ahead and started exploring them. They illustrate parts of the spaces of days and weeks and months and years of my life, from the very beginning going forwards till this very day.

Photo courtesy of Annie Lennox.

Beginning with my great-grandparents (on my mother’s side), without whom there would have been no A.L. I’m grateful and appreciative for each and every one of them. Only three generations before, when most women had to cook and clean and do all the domestic chores by hand, come rain, hail, or shine. They ALL had to work extremely hard in this way and I wish to honor them, as I’m probably the first in my female lineage to have ended up under the bright lights of the stage.

Photo courtesy of Annie Lennox.

We all come from somewhere, through an infinite range of possibilities: circumstance, location, language, family, and culture. I was born towards the end of Christmas Day in 1954 at Summerfield Maternity Hospital in the city of Aberdeen, North-East Scotland. The only daughter of Dorothy Farquharson Ferguson and Thomas Allison Lennox.

Photo courtesy of Annie Lennox.

I don’t know exactly how old I was when the first picture in this book was taken, but what really intrigues me is the look in that baby’s eyes. Very intently staring at the camera. Pre-verbal.

Before vocabulary or concepts, in a totally different moment in time. I can hardly believe I’ve lived through seven decades and I’m looking back at my life’s experiences through some of the many pictures that were taken. If it were possible to have a crystal ball through which you could see your future, what changes would you want to make? Which mistakes would you choose to avoid? Which paths would you never set off to journey on?

Photo courtesy of Annie Lennox.

Photo courtesy of Annie Lennox.

Photo courtesy of Javier Vallhonrat.

It’s easy in hindsight to look back and see all these things, but you’ll never know what would have happened if you’d made different decisions and choices. In my case, I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I’d decided to go back to Scotland after years of what I’d seen as a succession of mistakes and failures. I was very close to heading back to Scotland. But then Dave struck a compelling drum beat, and I became intrigued.

That was how “Sweet Dreams” was born, and the course of my life was about to radically change.

Photo courtesy of Pamela Hanson, Trunk Archive.