Annie Lennox says she wore suits to take 'male power' and equalize with Eurythmics partner
Lennox says her 1980s androgynous look was about equality, not sexuality
Annie Lennox has revealed that she deliberately created an androgynous look in the 1980s to claim equality with her Eurythmics partner Dave Stewart. Speaking on the BBC Woman's Hour podcast, the singer, now 70, said she wore suits to take 'male power' for herself and stressed that the style had nothing to do with sexuality. Lennox explained that her approach evolved after moving to London from a provincial upbringing, where she wore secondhand clothes and had a distinct edge, with the punk movement helping shape the persona she would develop as a performer.
She described that the choice of clothing was a conscious signal about who she was on stage. "You know, when you were a performer, you were informing people about yourself consciously or unconsciously," Lennox said. The evolution led to a persona that combined elements traditionally associated with both genders, reflecting a duo dynamic within the partnership. Lennox emphasized that the look was about equality within the team and not about sexuality, noting that some observers labeled her a gender bender, a term she described as reflecting how people viewed gender at the time. "It’s actually had nothing to do with my sexuality. It was more about taking the male power for myself and reinterpreting it and saying I am equal to my partner here. And we were a duo with a male and female DNA, you know, Dave and Annie."
The Eurythmics released seven studio albums between 1981 and 1989, and rejoined in 1999 to record a final album, Peace. They scored chart hits that defined the era, including Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), among others. The duo’s look in those years is cited as one of the defining visual identities of 1980s pop, with Lennox at the center of a shift toward more androgynous stage personas.
Lennox also reflected on how gender perceptions intersected with performance in the era. "When you’re called a gender bender, it tells you something about how people looked at that at the time," she said. "It’s actually had nothing to do with my sexuality. It was more about taking the male power for myself and reinterpreting it and saying I am equal to my partner here. And we were a duo with a male and female DNA." The conversation underscores how the artist linked fashion, gender, and collaboration to redefine her public persona while highlighting the collaborative balance at the core of the Eurythmics during their peak years.