Annie Lennox isn’t sold on celebrating turning 70 as her mind is full of more pressing matters - namely, changing the world for the better.
The Scottish singer-songwriter and activist, who swapped the UK for Los Angeles, is a staunch feminist and vocal supporter of women’s rights, who practices what she preaches.
She’s set to headline SISTERS: Annie Lennox and Friends at London’s Royal Albert Hall on 6 March 2025, which will mark her first UK show since 2019.
The special event is in support of non-profit organisation The Circle, raising funds to help women and girls facing violence and injustice accross the world.
Lennox founded The Circle in 2008 and since then, it has supported over 1.4m people directly on women’s rights and empowered more than 700,000 women and girls facing violence, discrimination and fear.
Sharing her trepidation around her milestone birthday, the Sweet Dreams hit-maker told The Standard: “I’m going to turn 70, I’ve been on the planet quite a while. I don’t know if I should celebrate it!
“Nowadays days, you wake up and things are changing all the time and the word ‘tumultuous’ is a really good one and unfortunately it does describe in so many instances that [womens] rights are being reversed, that rules are being changed and that women do not have the autonomy over their bodies.”
The former Eurythmics star continued: “I am really, really deeply concerned as I always have been about women and girls. It just seems to so quickly evaporate from the front pages of newspapers and media and we need this to be in the sight, we need this conversation everywhere to understand why there is a need for global feminism, not as opposed to anything but as an extension of western feminism that seems to sometimes have gone a little bit quiet since hashtag Me Too.”
While Lennox believes MeToo did help and “brought into focus very sharply the kinds of challenges that every day women face everywhere around the globe - whether you live in Luton or you live in Afghanistan,” there is still much more work to be done.
The inaugral SISTERS event comes during Women’s History Month and two days before International Women’s Day - a day which The Circle helped to popularise following a tireless campaign.
Raakhi Shah, CEO of The Circle, explained: “Nobody was talking about International Women’s Day because people didn’t want to cover it, people didn’t want to have guest editors and now, you can’t move for that period.
“[SISTERS] is going to be such an incredible moment to also think about why it started because it started over 100 years ago by garment workers protesting on the streets of New York for equal pay.”
Ms Shah also revealed the poignant reason that their concert’s venue was chosen was because it’s where The Suffragette’s used to regularly meet.
She continued: “The next phase of global feminism, to be there and for people to feel that at an iconic venue that has contributed to change as well, I think is going to be incredible.”
Lennox agreed: “There are so many issues that women face but we’re looking for solutions and we hope to be part of the picture of change.
“Once you’re an activist, you don’t even think about it, it just becomes part of you, it’s a natural thing and is part of the work you do on a daily basis. It’s not like I just drop in from the skies and do something once in a while. It’s not a performative, it’s a deep, deep commitment on my part.”
The line-up of who will be joining Lennox has yet to be announced, but Lennox has assured it will be “a fab evening”.
Despite it being reported that she is working with musical duo Wendy & Lisa on a new project, fans hoping to get a listen won’t find it here.
While Lennox confirms that new music “is going on at the moment”, for this show she’s intending to stick to the hits.
“New material very often doesn’t go down too well,” she explained. “I think most of the time people are expecting to hear the music that they’ve been brought up with, that they relate to.
“As long as I’m still able to stand up unaided and my voice is okay, I’ve always loved taking part in events that are bigger than mere entertainment.”
For more information about SISTERS: Annie Lennox and Friends and to buy tickets, click here. To find out more about The Circle and to get involved, go to www.thecircle.ngo
