Annie Lennox Says 'Strange Fruit' Controversy Was Overblown
LatestAnnie Lennox is sad that The Internet chastised her for not acknowledging the real roots of Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit,” which she covered on a latest album, Nostalgia.
According to Billboard, Lennox was recently asked about the controversy surrounding her odd comments about “Strange Fruit” during an interview with PBS host Tavis Smiley last October. When Smiley asked “When you hear Billie Holiday sing that, what do you hear?,” Annie said a lot of things that didn’t include lynching, about which the song was written. She said that were they friends, she and Holiday—a woman notorious for not suffering fools—would’ve gabbed about women’s issues and clothes.