"Universal Child" is a single by

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

recording artist

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart w ...

, released worldwide on 12 October 2010 on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

. It is the lead single from her fifth studio album, '' A Christmas Cornucopia''.

Background

"Universal Child" was the one original composition from '' A Christmas Cornucopia'', her first

Christmas album Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of carols, may employ lyrics about the nativity of Je ...

. Lennox was planning on recording some carols, and hadn't written new material since 2007's '' Songs of Mass Destruction''. During recording the words "Universal Child" came into her mind and during a break, chords and a melody presented themselves. Lennox donated all royalties from the song to The Annie Lennox Foundation. Lennox is herself a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

child.

Release

"Universal Child" was released digitally on 12 October 2010.

Live performances

In August 2010, Lennox signed a new contract with

in the UK and

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

in the US (both part of the

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

). Her first release was a Christmas album entitled '' A Christmas Cornucopia'', issued 15 November 2010. The album is a collection of Lennox's interpretations of traditional festive songs such as "

Silent Night "Silent Night" () is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO The United Nations Educati ...

" and "

The First Noel "The First Nowell" (or Nowel), modernised as "The First Noel" (or Noël), is a traditional English Christmas carol with Cornish origins most likely from the early modern period, although possibly earlier.. It is listed as number 682 in the Ro ...

", along with one new composition, "Universal Child", which was released as a download-only single on 13 October 2010. Lennox had previously showcased the song on the '' American Idol Gives Back'' TV show in April 2010. She also performed the song live for several TV audiences during the week of the album's release in November. These included ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

'' and ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. She sang "Universal Child" and "

Gloria in Excelsis Deo "" (Latin for "Glory to God in the highest") is a Christianity, Christian Hymn#Christian hymnody, hymn known also as the Greater Doxology (as distinguished from the "Minor Doxology" or Gloria Patri) and the Angelic Hymn/Hymn of the Angels. The na ...

" from the album for the

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

special ''

Christmas in Washington ''Christmas in Washington'' was an annual Christmas television special that originated on NBC and later aired on TNT. It ended in 2015 after a 33-year run. Background One of two annual holiday specials produced by George Stevens Jr. (the othe ...

''.

Track listings

CD single # "Universal Child" (Radio edit) Digital single # "Universal Child" – 4:14

Chart performance

References

{{Annie Lennox 2010 singles Annie Lennox songs British Christmas songs Songs about children Song recordings produced by Stephen Lipson 2010 songs Island Records singles Songs written by Annie Lennox