'Fame it's not always easy' -

As former Eurythmics star Annie Lennox publishes a new memoir, she tells Charlotte Cripps about being diagnosed as neurodivergent and her view of the contemporary pop scene

- Charlotte Cripps

When Annie Lennox was a child, growing up in working-class Aberdeen, her parents and teachers were concerned she might not amount to much in life. “They would say, ‘If you don’t stick at it at school, you’ll end up in a factory,” she says. “My teachers were quite mean and very strict. And those voices are still in my head.” Scratch the surface of a hugely successful artist and you'll often find the needy, self-doubting child within. Yet Lennox – one of the great divas of British pop and formerly one half of the 1980s synth power duo Eurythmics – puts her feelings of general anxiousness mainly down to being neurodivergent. She was diagnosed in September last year after being tested for ADHD and passing with “flying colours”.

“I veer off on tangential roads, down rabbit holes,” she tells me, describing her tendency to daydream, lose her keys, or forget where her phone is, alongside difficulties with numeracy and… “what’s that word I’m looking for… this is typical… procrastination, yes! But I’m not interested in taking Ritalin or whatever people take,” she adds. “I don’t want to add more chemical pharmaceuticals to my system. Instead, by understanding it, I can be less hard on myself.”