Annie Lennox: ‘Being called a gay icon is reductive’
By Sam Rigby
Annie Lennox has admitted that she finds labels like “gay icon” reductive.
The Eurythmics singer said that she would prefer people to be “liberated from these labels”, and for sexuality not to be an issue one way or the other.
Speaking to Attitude, she said of her status as a gay icon: “Well it’s not something I set out to do. I mean these labels that are put upon you, like icon, gay icon, they’re sort of forced upon you.
“It’s certainly not offensive to me, I will take the compliment, but at the same time it’s reductive because I think ultimately we all need to be liberated from these labels that say whether we’re gay or we’re straight, or whatever.
The 59-year-old continued: “I would like to see a world – which is coming much more than it was 20 years ago – where it really doesn’t matter what your orientation is sexually. That’s the planet I live on, it makes no difference to me what a person’s sexual orientation is.
“There’s a funny evolution that will have to take place, from my perspective, in the so called ‘gay world’ where you don’t even need to say gay or straight anymore because it really doesn’t matter.”
Annie Lennox’s new album Nostalgia is out now – find out more about the album here.
You can read the full interview with Annie Lennox in the new issue of Attitude, which also features cover stars Nick Jonas and Olly Murs, as well as an interview with Cheryl Fernandez-Versini.
The Pop Issue is available to download to your mobile, iPad or tablet device now at Pocketmags.com/Attitude, and will be available to buy in shops from next Wednesday (November 12).
You can also order the cover of your choice – Olly Murs or Nick Jonas – and have it delivered directly to your door at newsstand.co.uk/attitude.