Eurythmics: Британиялық поп дуэтінің тарихы

British music duo
the musical group

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. 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. 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, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

Lennox and Stewart met in 1975 in a restaurant in London, where Lennox worked at that time. 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. Calling themselves Eurythmics (after the pedagogical exercise system that Lennox had encountered as a child), 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). 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.), 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. Eurythmics' commercial breakthrough came with their second album, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), released in January 1983. The successful title track featured a dark and powerful sequenced synth bass line and a dramatic video that introduced the now orange crew cut Lennox to audiences. The song reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, and the album was withdrawn from the market for a period while matters were litigated. The album's first single, "Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty Four)", was a top 5 hit in the UK,

Eurythmics released their next album, Revenge, in 1986. The album continued their move towards a band sound, verging on an AOR pop/rock sound. Sales continued to be strong in the UK and internationally, but were somewhat slower in the US, though "Missionary Man" reached No. 14 on the US Hot 100 chart and went all the way to No. 1 on the US Album Oriented Rock chart (AOR). Revenge would eventually certify double Platinum in the UK and Gold in the US, and spend 40 weeks in the Australian top 10 where it reached No. 2. The band went on a massive worldwide tour in support of the album, and a live concert video from the Australian leg of the tour was released. In 1987, Lennox and Stewart released the album Savage. This saw a fairly radical change within the group's sound, being based mainly around programmed samples and drum loops (Lennox would later say that where Revenge was more of a Stewart album in sound, Savage was more of a Lennox one). Lyrically the songs showed an even darker, more obsessive side to Lennox's writing. A video album was also made, directed by Sophie Muller, with a video for each song. This was largely a concept piece, following characters portrayed by Lennox, specifically one of a frustrated housewife turned vamp (as exemplified in "Beethoven (I Love to Listen To)", a UK top 30 and Australian No. 13 hit Parts of the tour (both on and off stage) were interspersed with promo videos for Eurythmics' 1990 video album We Two Are One Too.

After strenuous years of touring and recording (Eurythmics had released eight studio albums in eight years), a rift had developed between the duo and Eurythmics disbanded, although no formal notice was given. Stewart began writing film soundtracks and had a big international hit in 1990 with the instrumental track "Lily Was Here" (featuring saxophonist Candy Dulfer). The single reached No. 6 in the UK and the Top 20 throughout much of Europe and the US, and top 10 in Australia. A soundtrack of the same name was also released, produced and largely written by Stewart. He formed a band called the Spiritual Cowboys, releasing two albums with this group in the early 1990s. Lennox took time off from her career to have a baby and to consider a life after Eurythmics. Accordingly, the duo had very little communication with each other from 1991 to 1998. In 1991, Eurythmics' Greatest Hits collection was released, entering the UK album chart at No. 1 and spending a total of 10 weeks at that position, In 2007, Lennox resumed her solo career with her fourth album, Songs of Mass Destruction, which was a top 10 success in the UK and the US. In 2009, she released her first solo "greatest hits" package, The Annie Lennox Collection. The same year, Lennox stated that although she and Stewart remain friends, she does not foresee any further Eurythmics projects in the future.

In an interview with Reuters in September 2012, Stewart was quizzed on whether a new Eurythmics album is in the works, to which he replied: "We're not talking about one right now, but never say never." He added that he was considering developing a musical based on the music of Eurythmics.

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart performed as a duo for "The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles". The event was recorded at the Los Angeles Convention Center on 27 January 2014, the day after the Grammy Awards. They performed the Beatles song "The Fool on the Hill".

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, billed as Eurythmics, performed at Sting's 30th We'll Be Together benefit concert in aid of his Rainforest Foundation Fund on 9 December 2019 at New York City's Beacon Theatre. The group played "Would I Lie to You? ", "Here Comes the Rain Again", and "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", before returning to join in the finale performance of Journey’s "Don't Stop Believin' along with the night's other performers.

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart performed as Eurythmics at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California performing "Would I Lie to You? ", "Missionary Man" and "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" as part of the 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. They were inducted by U2's the Edge.