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Eurythmics

Eurythmics were a British pop duo formed in 1980, consisting of Scottish vocalist Annie Lennox and English musician and producer Dave Stewart. They were both previously in the Tourists, a band that broke up in 1980. They released their first studio album, In the Garden, in 1981 to little success, but achieved global acclaim with their second album, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (1983). The title track became a worldwide hit, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart, and number one in Canada and the US Billboard Hot 100. Eurythmics went on to release a string of hit singles and albums, including "Love Is a Stranger", "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)" and "Here Comes the Rain Again", before splitting in 1990.

This article is about the musical group. For the system of musical pedagogy, see Dalcroze eurhythmics. For the art movement, see Eurythmy.

Eurythmics

London, England[1]

  • 1980–1990
  • 1999–2005
  • 2014
  • 2019
  • 2022

Stewart became a sought-after record producer, while Lennox began a solo recording career in 1992 with her debut album Diva. After almost a decade apart, Eurythmics reunited to record their ninth album, Peace, released 1999. They reunited again in 2005 to release the single "I've Got a Life", as part of a new compilation album, Ultimate Collection.


Eurythmics have sold an estimated 75 million records worldwide.[2] Their awards include the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in 1984, the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1987, and the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 1999. They were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020,[3] and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.[4]

History

1976–1982: Formation and In the Garden

Lennox and Stewart met in 1975 in a restaurant in London, where Lennox worked at that time.[5] They first played together in 1976 in the punk rock band the Catch. After releasing one single as the Catch in 1977, the band evolved into the Tourists. Stewart and Lennox were also romantically involved. The Tourists achieved some commercial success, but the experience was reportedly an unhappy one. Personal and musical tensions existed within the group, whose main songwriter was Peet Coombes, and legal wrangling happened with the band's management, publishers and record labels. Lennox and Stewart felt the fixed band line-up was an inadequate vehicle to explore their experimental creative leanings and decided their next project should be much more flexible and free from artistic compromise. They were interested in creating pop music, but wanted freedom to experiment with electronics and the avant-garde.


It was in a hotel in Wagga Wagga, Australia, while playing around with a portable mini-synthesizer that Lennox and Stewart decided to become a duo.[6] Calling themselves Eurythmics (after the pedagogical exercise system that Lennox had encountered as a child),[7] they decided to keep themselves as the only permanent members and songwriters, and involve others in the collaboration "on the basis of mutual compatibility and availability". The duo signed to RCA Records. At this time, Lennox and Stewart also split as a couple. During the period that Lennox and Stewart were in the Tourists, and later as Eurythmics, they were managed by Kenny Smith and Sandra Turnbull of Hyper Kinetics Ltd.


They recorded their first album, In the Garden, in Cologne with Conny Plank (who had produced the later Tourists sessions).[8] The album, released in October 1981, mixed psychedelic, krautrock and electropop influences, and featured contributions from Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit (of Can), drummer Clem Burke (of Blondie), Robert Görl (of D.A.F.),[8] and flautist Tim Wheater. A couple of the songs were co-written by guitarist Roger Pomphrey (later a TV director). The album was not a commercial success (though the debut single "Never Gonna Cry Again" made the UK charts at No. 63).[9] Lennox and Stewart then activated their new Eurythmics mode of operation by touring the record as a duo, accompanied by backing tracks and electronics, carted around the country by themselves in a horse-box.


During 1982, the duo retreated to Chalk Farm in London and used a bank loan to establish a small eight-track studio above a picture framing factory, giving them freedom to record without having to pay expensive studio fees. They began to employ much more electronics in their music, collaborating with Raynard Faulkner and Adam Williams, recording many tracks in the studio and playing live using various line-up permutations. However, the three new singles they released that year ("This Is the House", "The Walk" and "Love Is a Stranger") all performed badly on initial release in the UK. Although their mode of operation had given them the creative freedom they desired, commercial success still eluded them and the responsibility of personally running so many of their affairs (down to transporting their own stage equipment) took its toll. Lennox apparently suffered at least one nervous breakdown during this period, while Stewart was hospitalised with a collapsed lung.[5]

(1981)

In the Garden

(1983)

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

(1983)

Touch

(1985)

Be Yourself Tonight

(1986)

Revenge

(1987)

Savage

(1989)

We Too Are One

(1999)

Peace

Sweet Dreams Tour (1983)

Touch Tour (1983–1984)

Revenge Tour (1986–1987)

Revival Tour (1989–1990)

Peace Tour (1999)

1984: – Songwriters of the Year

Ivor Novello Award

1987: Ivor Novello Award – Songwriters of the Year

1987: Ivor Novello Award – Best Contemporary Song for "It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back)"

2000:

Silver Clef Award

2000: for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"

ASCAP Award

2003: Kindred Spirit Music Award

2005: Inducted into

UK Music Hall of Fame

2008: ASCAP Award for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"

2009: ASCAP Award for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"

2010: ASCAP Award for "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"

[30]

Billboard Music Awards


Brit Awards


Grammy Awards


MTV Video Music Awards


Music & Media Year-End Awards

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Official website