Annie Lennox pleads for ceasefire during moving Grammys tribute to Sinéad O’Connor

Scottish singer-songwriter and political activist Annie Lennox found the perfect opportunity to address the Israel-Gaza war during the Grammys on Sunday night — while paying tribute to equally outspoken artist Sinéad O’Connor, who died on July 26, 2023. 

At the end of an extra somber rendition of O’Connor’s beloved song, “Nothing Compares 2 U,” off of her 1990 album “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got,” Lennox raised an arm in the air and called out, “Artists for ceasefire. Peace in the world.” At the time of her performance, she was the only artist during the awards event to mention the war at all, including host, Trevor Noah.

In December, Lennox opened up about her feelings towards the conflict in a post to Facebook, writing, “Dear Friends, From the late 80’s I had several occasions to visit Israel, and therefore became highly aware of the legacy of tensions, challenges and complexities that lay between the two communities. Back then, it seemed as if there might be hope for the ‘Peace process’ – but tragically, that never came into fruition. Politics subsequently took a hard turn and now, almost 40 years later, we’re watching a situation described by many as ‘genocidal ethnic cleansing.’ With the abject destruction of Gaza and the deaths of over 20,000 citizens and 53,688 wounded, that tragically appears to be the case. Armageddon has been normalized. How many more thousands of babies, children, women and men must be killed until ‘Hamas is destroyed’?

Watch Lennox at the Grammys here: