Annie Lennox is embracing a natural appearance as she gets older, and in a move that will hopefully inspire other women, the music icon goes Photoshop-free on her latest album cover by refusing to allow her image be retouched.
In an interview with Yahoo! ‘s Bobbi Brown, Annie Lennox explains her decision to ask that editors not remove her wrinkles for the cover of her new album, Nostalgia . According to the 60-year-old performer, she just wanted to look like herself.
“I just wanted to represent myself at my age in a nice way, obviously. There’s lights and there’s makeup, and there’s a probably a tiny, tiny bit of manipulation here and there. But I said, ‘Please, I just want to look as I am.’”
Lennox, a staunch woman’s rights activist, tells Brown that although wearing a bit of makeup is sometimes needed to cheer us up as we age, women should embrace getting older and looking it too.
“The process of getting older doesn’t have to be submission to becoming frail…at the same time, we don’t have to feel desperate that we have to be young. It’s not about that either. It’s just about finding the balance within yourself, and having the right kind of attitude and a healthy approach to who you are as a human being, going through the journey of life with gratitude.”
Lennox says going under the knife is not the answer to growing old gracefully, at least not for her right now because it is readily apparent when a male or female has had work done. She does admit, however, that if the day ever comes when doctors have perfected plastic surgery techniques, she may give it a try.
“I have no problem with plastic surgery. I don’t think it’s done very well because it kind of screams at you from hundreds of yards away…I haven’t done it yet, I might. But if I did, I wouldn’t want to end up with this frozen mask, which is Botox, which is surgery. I think, the day they get it right will be the day that you can’t really tell.”
The ex-Eurythmics singer, who put on a jaw-dropping performance at the 2015 Grammy Awards last month, is featured in an upcoming PBS documentary, Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert, which premieres April 3.
In the meantime, fans can watch Lennox perform the song “I Put A Spell On You” from her latest album below.
[Image by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]
