''The Annie Lennox Collection'' is the first greatest hits album by Scottish singer-songwriter

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 ...

. It was released on 17 February 2009 and contains two brand-new songs, "

Shining Light "Shining Light" is a song by Ash, which was released as the first single from their album ''Free All Angels''. It was released on 29 January 2001. It was released as a single CD (released on 2CD formats) and as a 7-inch vinyl (which came with a ...

", originally a song by

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

, and a cover version of Keane's B-side "

Closer Now Closer or Closers may refer to: Film and television * Closer (2000 film), ''Closer'' (2000 film), a documentary by Tina Gharavi * Closer (2004 film), ''Closer'' (2004 film), a 2004 adaptation of Patrick Marber's play (see below), directed by Mi ...

", retitled "

Pattern of My Life "Pattern of My Life" is a 2009 song performed by Annie Lennox. It is a cover version of "Closer Now" by Keane which was a B-side to their debut single "Call Me What You Like". Lennox retitled the song, referring to a lyric in the song. It was o ...

". The artwork was shot by Canadian rock singer

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

Background

About the album, Lennox said, "It seems like the time has come to release the Collection this year. The songs are timeless, and have become "classics" in their own right." Finishing her contract with

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyou ...

, Lennox released the compilation album ''The Annie Lennox Collection''. Initially intended for release in September 2008, the release date was pushed back several months to allow her to recuperate from a back injury. It was eventually released in the United States on 17 February 2009 by

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertain ...

and in the United Kingdom and Europe on 9 March 2009 by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

. Included on the album are songs from her four solo albums, one from the

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busi ...

's ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...

'' soundtrack and two new songs. One of these is a cover version of the Northern Irish band

's 2001 song "

", which became Lennox's first UK top forty solo hit since 1995, peaking at number 39. The other is a cover version of the English band Keane's song "Closer Now" (originally the B-side to their 2000 single "

Call Me What You Like Call Me What You Like may refer to: * Call Me What You Like (Keane song) * Call Me What You Like (Lovejoy song) {{disambiguation ...

"), retitled "

". The track was released digitally in the UK on 24 May 2009 as the album's second single. A limited three-disc edition of the album was released only in the UK on the same day, containing a second CD with unreleased live

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

s of R.E.M.'s " Everybody Hurts" with

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

and

Jimmy Cliff James Chambers OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, t ...

's "

Many Rivers to Cross "Many Rivers to Cross" is a song written and recorded in 1969 by Jimmy Cliff. It has since been recorded by many musicians, including Harry Nilsson, John Lennon, Joe Cocker, Percy Sledge, Little Milton, Desmond Dekker, UB40, Cher, The Br ...

". Also on the disc is Lennox's

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning song " Into the West" from the 2003 film '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King''. Other songs were drawn from multi-performer compilation albums including " Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye", written by

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

, originally released in 1990 on '' Red Hot + Blue'', "Mama", written by

the Sugarcubes The Sugarcubes ( Icelandic: Sykurmolarnir) were an Icelandic alternative rock band from Reykjavík formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992. For most of their career, the band consisted of Björk Guðmundsdóttir (vocals, keyboards), Einar Örn Bene ...

, originally released in 1995 on ''Ain't Nuthin' But A She Thing'', the traditional lullaby " Dream Angus" on ''Carnival!'' in 1997 and " Ladies of the Canyon" on ''A Tribute To Joni Mitchell'', planned for release in 1999, but not released until 2007. The Paula Cole-penned "Hush, Hush, Hush" was taken from

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...

's 2005 album '' Possibilities'' The third disc is a DVD compilation containing most of Lennox's solo videos from 1992 to 2009 and two live performances.

Commercial performance

''The Annie Lennox Collection'' debuted at number two on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, Lennox's fifth top-10 solo album and fourth top-three album. It spent seven weeks in the top 10 and 25 weeks in the top 100. The album peaked at number 34 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the US. Elsewhere, it reached the top five in Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and Norway, and the top 10 in Australia, Croatia and Denmark.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Annie Lennox Collection, The 2009 greatest hits albums Albums produced by Glen Ballard Albums produced by Stephen Lipson Annie Lennox albums Arista Records compilation albums RCA Records compilation albums