Annie Lennox Calls For “Cease Fire, Peace” After Performing ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ During Grammys In Memoriam Segment

Lynette Rice
·2 min read
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Annie Lennox paid tribute to the late Sinéad O’Connor during the In Memoriam segment of the Grammys Sunday by performing the artist’s global smash “Nothing Compares 2 U” and channeling her activism.

At the end of the moody number, Lennox — with mascara running down her cheek – held her left hand to the sky and exclaimed, “artists for cease fire, peace in the world.”

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O’Connor, who died last July at the age of 56, spoke out about human rights, racism and organized religion. She was banned from Saturday Night Live for tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II during her performance two years later.

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“Nothing Compares 2 U” was culled from her second album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, which was No. 1 in the U.S. for six weeks and has gone double platinum. It won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance at the 33rd annual ceremony, but O’Connor wouldn’t attend the ceremony or accept the Grammy; instead, she wrote a letter to the Recording Academy that criticized how it promoted materialistic values over artistic merit.

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Viewers embraced Lennox’s decision to speak out about the Israel-Hamas conflict, with one calling it “the most meaningful and honest way to honor Sinéad memory.”

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