Q & A With Annie Lennox

Annie Lennox has been nominated for an Academy Award for Into the West, a song in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Are designers offering to dress you for the Oscars?
Yes! It's a Faustian deal. As a neophyte, I find it all quite fascinating. But you have to understand, it's not really my planet.

What is your planet?
It's a different one than people might project. I'm not particularly attention-seeking. I love to make music and stay grounded ... The other day I came up with the term that I'm a thought factory. I think many of us are.

You'll turn 50 this year. How does the eccentric artist age?
It's like having grit in a shoe that you never quite get rid of. One wouldn't want to have the same dilemmas at 50 as one had at 15. And indeed I don't. I have a very different take on life. And yet I still have the same passion for musicmaking and for expression. I wouldn't say that I've mellowed. I'm less mellow, perhaps.

What kind of music are your two daughters into?
Whatever 11-and 13-year-olds listen to — Beyonce, Pink. I like [those singers], but it's interesting how quickly artists become assimilated into the corporate hard sell.

Is it true that MTV once asked to see your birth certificate to prove you were a woman?
I do remember being told that by my record company. At the time, in the '80s, because my presentation was kind of ambiguous sexually, there was quite a resistance to it. To me now, it looks so innocent.

Your manager, Simon Fuller, created American Idol. Has he ever asked you to take over Paula Abdul's gig?
Of course not.