Annie Lennox will join Aretha Franklin on stage for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert to be held in Madison Square Garden on Friday night. More details below. Annie also recently wrote about some great backstage memories from her time in The Tourists and Eurythmics.

The Madison Square Garden concert will be held over two nights later this week (29th and 30th October). According to the press release, “each night will highlight different artists that will not only celebrate their music, but invite musical guests to join them onstage for what will be two unforgettable evenings with unique collaborations.” The lineup includes: Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Simon and Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, U2, Metallica, Eric Clapton and a misspelled Annie Lenox.

VIP Benefit Packages are still available for the bargain ticket price of $25,000 to $100,000.

Annie Lennox’ Backstage Memories….

Eurythmics mid Eighties…Waking up with a very nasty dose of  flu in a hotel room in Perth (Australia), knowing that I have a gig in two days. Taking every single remedy under the sun to get over it, and deciding to go ahead with the show in any case, despite the fact that I’m ill. Halfway through the concert, my voice completely dries up, and I have to exit the stage… ( floods of tears)….Lots of disappointed/angry concert goers…horrible…

Flying to New York to perform on Good Morning America, which goes out to millions of people…getting up at 5.30am to drive to the studio…setting up/preparation….everyone’s ready to go( totally) live on air, to realize that one of the band  members has gone missing and is no where to be seen…blood draining panic abounds! We decide to brave it out, and go ahead in any case. Just as we’re stepping on stage….our missing link shows up!!! The greatest/ biggest PHEW all around!

The Tourists mid Seventies…We’re performing at a festival in Finland when some bright spark  decides to throw an empty vodka bottle at the stage, missing my head by centimeters…I stop the singing, and go ballistic at the crowd…(as you do when you’ve narrowly avoided losing an eye!)
Later..back at the hotel, the festival is still in full swing and word reaches us that The Jam are onstage and the some of the crowd have just  set fire to the PA system, and are throwing the speakers into a nearby lake.

The Tourists mid Seventies…Driving for hours on the autobhan through East Germany, heading towards West Berlin…We have to  stop the bus at Checkpoint Charlie so the soldiers  can inspect the vehicle… It’s an unsettling experience. Our driver bribes them with cassettes, and they’re happy to let us pass, like we’re good old friends. Handshakes and smiles all round.

Eurythmics early gigs…Driving back to London in a little rented van after a gig in someplace like Sheffield…It’s around four in the morning and there’s a dense soup like fog surrounding us, so we can’t see a thing, and have to crawl at a snail’s pace through the night as if we’ve reached the end of the world.

The Tourists early days…A friend is being assaulted outside a popular London venue ( karate kick to the head, which renders him unconscious) We’re locked in the venue meantime, and being threatened by the management of the aforesaid establishment, who go on to threaten our agent with a “knee cap job” if  charges are pressed.  Happy days!!

Philadelphia…Early Eurythmics..A young lady in the front row has had her feet up on the stage for most of the concert, giving me filthy/disgusted looks the whole way through, like I’m something that is stuck underneath her shoe….I find a jug of water…..hey ho!

Eurythmics playing outdoors at Red Rocks one night through a complete rainstorm… Thunder and lightning cracking the sky in two…everybody’s drenched…all our equipment is dangerously drenched, but we  battle on in any case….Ah…those were the days!

From Annie Lennox myspace blog, October 13, 2009

www.annielennox.com/

www.rockhall25.com/

The Tourists

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G3g_Xglr-8

Aretha

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L4Bonnw484

Photo credit : www.annielennox.com/