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Diva (Annie Lennox album)

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Diva
Studio album by
Annie Lennox
Released6 April 1992
StudioMayfair and The Church (London)
Genre
Length49:55
LabelRCA
ProducerStephen Lipson
Annie Lennox chronology
Diva
(1992) 		Medusa
(1995)
Singles from Diva
  1. "Why"
    Released: March 1992
  2. "Precious"
    Released: May 1992
  3. "Walking on Broken Glass"
    Released: August 1992
  4. "Cold"
    Released: October 1992
  5. "Little Bird"
    Released: February 1993

Diva is the debut solo studio album by Scottish singer Annie Lennox, released on 6 April 1992 by RCA Records. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number one and has since sold over 1.2 million copies in the UK alone, being certified quadruple platinum.[1] In the United States, it reached number 23 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified double platinum.[2] Diva won the Brit Award for British Album of the Year at the 1993 Brit Awards. The album received nominations for Album of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Long Form Music Video, winning the latter award at the Grammy Awards the same year.

Background and reception

Following the informal dissolution of Eurythmics in 1990, Lennox took some time away from the music industry, during which she gave birth to her eldest daughter. She commenced working on her first solo album in 1991 with producer Stephen Lipson. Though she had been accustomed to co-writing material with Dave Stewart during her years with Eurythmics, eight of the ten tracks on Diva were written solely by Lennox herself, with two tracks being co-written by her. Upon its release, the album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and would eventually yield five hit singles, three of which reached the Top 10 (although they had continued to achieve number one albums, Eurythmics had not scored a UK Top 10 single since 1986). Diva was ultimately certified quadruple platinum in the UK, more than any of Eurythmics' studio albums.

The song "Keep Young and Beautiful" was included on the CD release as a bonus track (the original vinyl album had only ten tracks). Another bonus track, "Step by Step", appeared on the Mexican and Japanese editions of the album and was also included as the B-side on the single "Precious". The song was later recorded by Whitney Houston for the 1996 film soundtrack The Preacher's Wife and subsequently became a hit single.

The headdress worn by Lennox on the album's cover (and seen in several of the album's videos) was obtained from the London-based costume company Angels. It had been used previously in the James Bond film Octopussy.[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Chicago Sun-Times[5]
Entertainment WeeklyC[6]
Los Angeles Times[7]
Pitchfork8.0/10[8]
Q[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]
Slant Magazine[12]
The Village VoiceC+[13]

In 1993 the album was included in Q magazine's list of the "50 Best Albums of 1992". Rolling Stone described the album as "...state-of-the-art soul pop..." and it is included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's" list.

In their review, Rolling Stone commented:

State-of-the-art soul pop, Annie Lennox's solo debut is sonically gorgeous; it also declares her aesthetic independence. Ace sessionmen polish Diva's gloss, and producer Stephen Lipson (Pet Shop Boys, Propaganda) operates in hyperdrive, but these eleven songs are fiercely those of a sister doing things for herself. Three years after her last outing with Dave Stewart, her cohort in Eurythmics, Lennox voids any notion that he was her Svengali and she merely the MTV beauty with stunning pipes. Writing nearly all of Diva, she manages a whirlwind tour of mainstream R&B and retains her singular persona – an ice queen thirsting to be melted by love.[10]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Annie Lennox, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Why" 4:53
2."Walking on Broken Glass" 4:12
3."Precious" 5:08
4."Legend in My Living Room"
3:45
5."Cold" 4:20
6."Money Can't Buy It" 5:00
7."Little Bird" 4:48
8."Primitive" 4:19
9."Stay by Me" 6:28
10."The Gift"
4:52
Total length:47:45
CD bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Keep Young and Beautiful"
2:17
Total length:50:02
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Step by Step"4:49
Total length:52:34

Video album

Diva
Video by
Annie Lennox
Released
  • 6 April 1992 (VHS)
  • 26 September 2000 (DVD)
LabelBMG Video
DirectorSophie Muller

Lennox simultaneously released a video album for Diva, featuring promotional videos for seven of the album's tracks along with an excerpt of a track entitled "Remember", which has never been released elsewhere. The video album was directed by Sophie Muller, who had worked with Lennox during her later years with Eurythmics.

Later in 1992, the video album was reissued as Totally Diva, featuring two additional videos that had been made since the original release in April: "Precious" and "Walking on Broken Glass". Totally Diva was subsequently released on DVD in 2000.[14]

The only omissions from the video album were "Little Bird" (the video for which had not yet been made at that time), and the album track "Stay by Me", for which no video was made.

Track listing

Original release
No.TitleLength
1."Why" 
2."Legend in My Living Room" 
3."Money Can't Buy It" 
4."Cold" 
5."Remember" (excerpt) 
6."Primitive" 
7."The Gift" 
8."Keep Young and Beautiful" 
Totally Diva
No.TitleLength
1."Why" 
2."Legend in My Living Room" 
3."Precious" 
4."Money Can't Buy It" 
5."Cold" / "Remember" (excerpt) 
6."Primitive" 
7."The Gift" 
8."Walking on Broken Glass" 
9."Keep Young and Beautiful" 

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Diva.[15]

Musicians

Technical

  • Stephen Lipson – production
  • Heff Moraes – engineering, MIDI management
  • William O'Donovan – mixing assistance
  • Ian Silvester – digital technician
  • Ian Cooper – mastering

Artwork

Charts

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for Diva
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[45] Platinum 70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[46] Gold 25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[47] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[48] Platinum 20,000‡
Germany (BVMI)[49] Gold 250,000^
Ireland (IRMA)[50] Platinum 15,000^
Italy (FIMI)[50] Platinum 250,000[51]
Netherlands (NVPI)[52] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[53] Platinum 15,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[54] Gold 25,000*
Sweden (GLF)[55] Platinum 100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[50] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[1] 4× Platinum 1,200,000^
United States (RIAA)[2] 2× Platinum 2,700,000[56]
Summaries
Worldwide — 7,000,000[57]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Accolades

Brit Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1993
[58]		 Diva Best British Album Won
Annie Lennox (performer) Best British Female Artist Won
Stephen Lipson (producer) Best British Producer Nominated
"Walking on Broken Glass" Best British Video Nominated

Grammy Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1993 Diva Album of the Year[59] Nominated
Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female[60] Nominated
Diva
(Performer: Annie Lennox; Director: Sophie Muller; Producer: Rob Small)		 Best Long Form Music Video[61] Won

References

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  2. ^ a b "American album certifications – Annie Lennox – Diva". Recording Industry Association of America.
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  4. ^ Parisien, Roch. "Diva – Annie Lennox". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  5. ^ Sachs, Lloyd (24 May 1992). "Annie Lennox, 'Diva' (Arista)". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  6. ^ Zacharek, Stephanie (15 May 1992). "Diva". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  7. ^ Hunt, Dennis (24 May 1992). "Annie Lennox; 'Diva' Arista". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  8. ^ Gordon, Arielle (18 July 2021). "Annie Lennox: Diva Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  9. ^ Cranna, Ian (May 1992). "Annie Lennox: Diva". Q. No. 68. p. 79.
  10. ^ a b Evans, Paul (25 June 1992). "Annie Lennox: Diva". Rolling Stone. No. 633. p. 41. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  11. ^ Randall, Mac (2004). "Annie Lennox". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 483. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
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  13. ^ Christgau, Robert (1 December 1992). "Turkey Shoot". The Village Voice. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  14. ^ Diva at Discogs (list of releases)
  15. ^ Diva (liner notes). Annie Lennox. RCA Records. 1992. PD 75326.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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