"Sing" is a song recorded by Scottish singer

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...

for her fourth solo studio album, ''

Songs of Mass Destruction ''Songs of Mass Destruction'' is the fourth solo studio album by Scottish singer Annie Lennox, released on 1 October 2007 by RCA Records and 19 Recordings. It was her first album of new material since 2003's '' Bare'' and to date her most rece ...

'' (2007). It was released as the second single from the album on 1 December 2007 by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. Lennox was inspired to write the track after seeing South African activist

Zackie Achmat Abdurrazack "Zackie" Achmat (born 21 March 1962) is a South African activist and film director. He is a co-founder the Treatment Action Campaign and known worldwide for his activism on behalf of people living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa. ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

46664 46664 was a series of AIDS benefit concerts played in honour of Nelson Mandela by South African and foreign musicians between 2003 and 2008. Origin The second time that Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island was in 1964, and he was the 466th ...

HIV/AIDS concert. She wanted the track to be a source of empowerment for people without a voice of their own. It also gave rise to her SING Campaign which aimed to raise funds and awareness for issues surrounding HIV/AIDS. "Sing" was produced by

Glen Ballard Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's 1995 album ''Jagged Little Pill'', which won Grammy Awards for Grammy Award fo ...

and interpolates the South African tune "Jikelele"; the music was given to Lennox by an activist group called The Generics. Lennox personally invited other musicians and singers to work on the track. Ultimately 23 singers were enlisted, who recorded guest vocals on the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

of the song in different locations. Among them, American singer

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

also sang the second

verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse, an occasional synonym for poetry * Verse, a metrical structure, a stanza * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict me ...

. "Sing" was accompanied by a number of remixes released on the same date. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

was also released to promote the track. Lennox also performed it throughout the United States as part of her SING campaign.

Music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

noted the empowering and anthemic nature of the track, recalling Lennox's previous work. It had minor chart placements on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, and the US

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

and

Dance Club Songs Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

charts.

Background and release

file:Zackie Achmat 2013 (cropped).JPG, left, up

was the main inspiration behind "Sing". Lennox was attending a benefit held by former South African president

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

campaign in 2003. There she was surprised to see a man wearing a black t-shirt with the message "I am HIV positive" written in capital letters. She found it to be a bold statement and inquired about the man, who turned out to be

, a South African

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

, and co-founder of the

Treatment Action Campaign The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is a South African HIV/AIDS activist organisation which was co-founded by the HIV-positive activist Zackie Achmat in 1998. TAC is rooted in the experiences, direct action tactics and anti-apartheid background ...

(TAC). Although the singer had been associated with the

campaign, being introduced to Achmat gave her an opportunity to do more for the campaign and the project.

We need people like chmat he fights the fight... He refused to take his anti-retroviral medication unless it was made affordable and available to everyone—a hugely courageous thing to do. Before then, I'd been frustrated because I wanted to be more hands-on. I just feel that TAC are doing it where it needs to happen. It really needed to be given support, and I thought that perhaps I might be well-placed to do it.

Lennox was ultimately inspired to develop "Sing" based on Achmat's activism on behalf of HIV and AIDS afflicted people. A group of activists called The Generics had given her a CD of music, and Lennox combined her inspiration and one of the songs from the CD to compose "Sing". It ultimately became a collaboration between Lennox and 23 prominent female singers. Afterwards, it was included on Lennox's fourth solo studio album, ''

'' (2007). "Sing" was released as the second single from the album for digital download on 1 December 2007. Afterwards, Lennox developed The SING Campaign which aimed to raise funds and awareness for issues surrounding HIV/AIDS. She also wrote on her official website that the song is about raising money and awareness for what she considers to be an HIV/AIDS genocide. Citing Mandela's speech in which he said, "Let us use the universal language of music, to sing out our message around the world", Lennox wanted "Sing" to be an anthem and symbol of unity and empowerment, to help spread awareness in the world. "Because the incidence of HIV AIDS is on the rise for women, especially in the pandemic across the whole of the African continent, I thought perhaps I could be of benefit by writing a song and empowering those women who do not have an international voice," the singer clarified.

Recording and composition

"Sing" incorporates the South African activist song "Jikelele", which translates into "global treatment". Developed by The Generics, "Jikelele" was used as theme for Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programs across South Africa. After writing it, Lennox wanted to ask other renowned artists to contribute vocals to the song. She wrote a generic letter to many and waited for a response. Although some of the artists were not available, many answered in the affirmative, and ultimately 23 singers were enlisted. "Sing" features" primary vocals by Lennox and American singer

; the latter sings solo on the second

. Apart from them, the line-up consists of:

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, Fergie,

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and,

Martha Wainwright Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums. Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III a ...

. Since accommodating all the singers would have posed a scheduling challenge, Lennox asked them to contribute vocals on the chorus of the song. When she received the recorded vocals from Madonna, Lennox found that Madonna had not only sung during the chorus, but also contributed by singing the second verse. She "was really touched – for Madonna is very rigorous in what she gets involved in and for her to do that for me, I was thrilled to bits". Lennox also admitted that featuring Madonna would bring a bigger audience for the song, thereby helping the cause. The refrain consists of an "empowering message" with the group of singers belting the line "Sing my sister Sing! / Let your voice be heard" while interpolating "Jikelele" in between. According to

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', "Sing" consists of a piano played in the background reminiscent of

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

's 1968 single, "

I Heard It Through the Grapevine "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for Motown Records in 1966. The first recording of the song to be released was produced by Whitfield for Gladys Knight & the Pips and released as a ...

". In an interview with ''Performing Songwriter'' magazine, producer

recalled that he completed the recording of the featured artists in various locations, conducting the sessions through the

Integrated Services Digital Network Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the digitalised circuits of the public switched telephone network. W ...

(ISDN): "Shakira in Puerto Rico, Pink in Zurich, Madonna in London etc". Lennox contacted

British Indian British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian origin as well as Indians who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians comprise about 1.4 mil ...

musician

Nitin Sawhney Nitin Sawhney , D.Mus (; born 1964) is a British musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, among multiple international awards throughout his career. Sawhney's work combines Asian ...

to work on an alternate version of the song. Her official website also announced the release of special remixes of the track on 1 December 2007, with contributions from Moto Blanco, Dean Coleman and Harry "Choo Choo" Romero among others.

Reception and promotion

Thom Jurek from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

described "Sing" as a "huge

feminist anthem This is a list of songs described as feminist anthems, celebrating women's empowerment, or used as protest songs against gender inequality. These songs range from airy pop affirmations such as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper, to s ...

" and described it as consisting of a "killer

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

, a big bad

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

refrain, and a beat that, once it gets into the spine, will not be easily dismissed". ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''s Sarah Rodman compared it to the

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. They were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980. The duo released their first studio album, '' In the Garden'', in 1981 to little succ ...

' 1985 single "

Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" is a song by British pop duo Eurythmics and American singer Aretha Franklin. A modern feminist anthem, it was written by Eurythmics members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart and featured on both Eurythmic ...

" adding that it carried Lennox's characteristic messages of "optimism and empowerment". Liz Hoggard of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called the song a "showstopper" and the collaboration as "incandescent". Sal Cinquemani of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' also noted the anthemic nature of the track and its "smartly plays more like a broad-spectrum sisters-are-doin’-it-for-themselves" nature, while believing that it would have been better suited as the album's title song than ''Songs of Mass Destruction''. Similar thoughts were echoed by Chris Jones of

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

who felt that "Sing" was able to "overcome its weighty agenda to take life as a great song in its own right". Stephen Errity from ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who co ...

'' called "Sing" the album's "magnum opus" and a return to Lennox singing

torch songs A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end, which is ignited and used as a light source. Torches have been used throughout history, and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggling entertainment. In ...

. He described it as a female point of view version of Band Aid's " Feed the World" but felt that the message got lost in the actual "

-tinged" composition. A

for the song was released on the

MSN MSN (meaning Microsoft Network) is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24, 1995, alongside the release of Windows 95. The Microsoft Net ...

website on 29 November 2007. Lennox toured throughout the United States promoting the SING campaign, and also performed the song.

Track listing

*;CD single #"Sing" – 4:21 #"Sing" (

remix) – 4:49 *;CD maxi single, 12" picture disc #"Sing" – 4:21 #"Sing" (Nitin Sawhney remix) – 4:49 #"Sing" (Dean Coleman Silent Sound vocal remix) – 6:55 #"Sing" ( Harry "Choo Choo" Romero club remix) – 8:29 *;Digital download – Remixes # "Sing" (Dean Coleman Silent Sound radio edit) – 4:20 # "Sing" ( Moto Blanco radio remix) – 3:33 # "Sing" (Harry "Choo Choo" Romero radio mix) – 3:59 # "Sing" (Harry "Choo Choo" Romero HCCR mix show) – 5:30 # "Sing" (Moto Blanco Club remix) – 8:35 # "Sing" (Moto Blanco dub) – 8:26 # "Sing" (Dean Coleman Silent Sound vocal remix) – 6:54 # "Sing" (Harry "Choo Choo" Romero club mix) – 8:26

Credits and personnel

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

–

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

* Mike Stevens –

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

, additional production *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

–

audio mastering Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via met ...

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground f ...

– mixing * The Generics – background vocals *

Simon Fuller Simon Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer renowned for nurturing and inspiring world class entertainment talent. He is the creator of the ''Idols'' TV format, including the UK s ...

–

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

* Allan Martin – design * Nick Fletcher – photographer Credits adapted from CD single liner notes.

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2007 singles 2007 songs All-star recordings Anastacia songs Annie Lennox songs Beth Orton songs Beverley Knight songs Bonnie Raitt songs Celine Dion songs Charity singles Dido (singer) songs Faith Hill songs Fergie (singer) songs Joss Stone songs KT Tunstall songs Madonna songs Melissa Etheridge songs Pink (singer) songs Sarah McLachlan songs Shakira songs Sugababes songs Songs written by Annie Lennox Song recordings produced by Glen Ballard Sony BMG singles Songs about HIV/AIDS