Hozier and Annie Lennox give mindblowing surprise performance at emotional fundraiser

Annie Lennox’s performance was a total surprise at the Royal Albert Hall (Picture: Vianney Le Caer)

Annie Lennox hosted a special fundraising concert for The Circle at the Royal Albert Hall on Thursday night – featuring surprise guest Hozier.

The event marked the 70-year-old Walking On Broken Glass singer’s first UK headline since 2019, and she did not disappoint, proving her powerhouse vocals remain fully intact.

Lennox was joined by the likes of Paloma Faith, Celeste, Ríoghnach Connolly, and Nadine Shah for musical performances, as well as photographer and activist Misan Harriman who spoke to the clearly impassioned crowd of 5,000 women.

Award-winning broadcaster Clara Amfo hosted the concert, which crescendoed in energy as Beverly Knight took to the stage, declaring: ‘Tonight we’re celebrating women… women who understand their power and harness it.’

Ending her set with a performance of Everything Is Going to Be Alright, Beverley told the eomtional crowd: ‘We are going through tough times right now – madness is going on – but we are a forced to be reckoned with. Everything is going to be alright, do you hear me?’

The evening was a funraiser for The Circle, a charity for women faced with violence across the world (Picture: Vianney Le Caer)

Eventually, Lennox launched into her classic hits with obvious feeling, performing Walking On Broken Glass, Little Bird, and No More I Love Yous while the classic music videos for each song played behind her.

‘Be still my heart,’ the icon said as a round of applause loud enough to blow the roof off the iconic venue erupted from the audience.

But the true highlight of the night came when Lennox took to the stage to sing Hozier’s hit song Take Me to Church, accompanied by the Irish singer-songwriter himself in a suprise appearance.

The pair also sang a remarkable rendition of No More I Love You before Lennox brought Paloma Faith out on stage to add even more star power.

Hozier and Annie performed the hit song Take Me to Church (Picture: Vianney Le Caer)

While on stage Nadine Shah said: ‘It is inspirational to be here tonight performing with such incredible women. If only everyone could just be a little bit more Annie.’

This Is Not Right

On November 25, 2024 Metro launched This Is Not Right, a year-long campaign to address the relentless epidemic of violence against women.

Throughout the year we will be bringing you stories that shine a light on the sheer scale of the epidemic.

With the help of our partners at Women's Aid, This Is Not Right aims to engage and empower our readers on the issue of violence against women.

You can find more articles here, and if you want to share your story with us, you can send us an email at [email protected].

Read more:

Introducing This Is Not Right: Metro's year-long violence against women campaign Yvette Cooper's message to abusers and rapists: The streets don't belong to you Remembering the women killed by men in 2024 Stories about violence against women don't make an impact - this is why Men - we need your help to end violence against women What to do if your loved one is at risk from domestic abuse

Lennox founded the Circle in 2008, an organisation that fights for the rights of women and girls facing violence and injustice across the world. So it was only right that the musical pioneer also sang a duet with one of the young women she’s seeking to empower: Her own daughter.

Lola Lennox’s soulful voice gave her famous mother’s a run for its money as the pair shared an intimate moment sitting on the stage as they crooned There Must Be An Angel.

‘Women and girls everywhere we want freedom,’ declared Annie (Picture: Vianney Le Caer)

The pair performed hand in hand, enchanting the audience with their effortless harmonizing and matching black sequin outfits.

‘That was my baby,’ Lennox tenderly told the crowd as her daughter made her way off stage.

Finally, the powerful event ended with Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves, which saw all the high-profile performers taking to the stage at once to sing statistics about the violence women and girls suffer all over the world to the tune of the song.

As the audience all rose to their feet to join in, Lennox powerfully declared: ‘Women and girls everywhere we want freedom!’

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