Annie Lennox, the modern day Shakti.

Photo Source: Oxfam International

For those of you unfamiliar with Shakti, Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power. And with it being International Women’s Day yesterday, I thought to myself, who better to represent both of these than Annie Lennox, creative, talented, powerful and inspirational on more than just a musical platform. It’s hard to encompass all of her achievements within an entire website let alone a single blog post.

Born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1954, Annie showed great promise in musical from a very early age and her parents showed massive support for her. During her teens, she became very interested in Motown music, once playing ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ when she was a DJ for a night because she said it ‘always went down a storm’, covering it many years later on her Medusa album.

By the age of 17, she had gained a place at the prestigious London Royal Academy of Music. She spent the next 3 years of her life there studying classical music, but left a few weeks before her final exams, later explaining that she was unhappy with the direction her life was going in.

Following countless subsequent jobs and several appearances in different bands, Annie met David Stewart and formed a band named The Tourists, however after only 5 singles, they disbanded in early 1981 due to musical differences and an ongoing battle with their record label. But due to the strong connection between Annie and David, they continued as a duo, and Eurythmics were born. With a career spanning 2 and a half decades, the Eurythmics contributed many classics to the Brit pop-rock world, including the iconicSweet Dreams (are made of these).

As for her charity work, she has been an active member of Amnesty International and Greenpeace for a number of years, with David Stewart and herself donating all proceeds from their 1999 Peace tour to both charities. 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. Also, 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.

In June 2011, Annie Lennox was awarded an OBE by the Queen for her humanitarian work.

On a personal level, my Dad has always been a massive fan of Lennox’s work and so I’ve again grown up around her music. A firm favourite of both his and mine is ‘Why’ , released in 1992, it has been covered and remixed numerous times. My Dad’s favourite version, and one which I think perfectly defines her talent can be found here. Although I have to say, I am also partial to Walking on Broken Glass , from her Diva album.

For me though, she is an inspiration to many people across the globe by using her fame to help other people rather than become just another victim of the celebrity culture. I really wish more celebrities would follow in her footsteps and give back as much as she does, because lets face it, if it wasn’t for the fans, they wouldn’t be famous in the first place.

Long live Annie Lennox – a true icon.