Annie Lennox Backs Into O.R.

Singer recovering at London home after undergoing spinal surgery to release an impinged nerve

By Gina Serpe Aug 18, 2008 7:55 PMTags
Annie LennoxAP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

The ever-charitable Annie Lennox is devoting some time to a whole new cause: her own recovery.

The ethereal songbird is currently recovering at her London home after undergoing spinal surgery last week to release an impinged nerve, an injury that cut short her appearance at an AIDS conference in Mexico and left her feeling "a bit like Elizabeth Taylor."

"The surgery went as planned, and Annie is now recuperating at home," an official statement posted to her website read. "Annie would like to send her thanks and appreciation to all that have sent their well wishes in the past few days."

The 53-year-old former Eurythmics frontwoman has been chronicling her malady on her official blog, first revealing her pain on Aug. 10.

"I should have been attending the final press blitz of the week, but my back suddenly went into spasm last night, giving me more pain than I've ever experienced in my life, and a totally numb left foot!!" she wrote, adding that, coincidentally enough, a chiropractors' conference was being held at her Mexico City hotel, providing some much-needed onsite medical assistance.

"A very nice doctor from Cancun had given my aching vertebra some adjustments, and a great big cortisone shot, which should help me to get to the airport tonight!! I'm gutted, of course, because I was really primed up to attend the media event, but at this point in time, I'm actually having difficulty getting out of bed."

She followed up with another post the next day.

"I came back to the U.K. and got wheeled off the plane...A first I must say! Felt a bit like Elizabeth Taylor! Got an MRI scan this morning, and am now sitting up in bed with my left foot like a dead fish...freezing and numb. I'm going to have to get myself a crutch and a parrot, so I can fob myself off as a pirate."

As a result of her injury, the release of Lennox's forthcoming album, a retrospective of 14 hit songs, has been postponed from next month to next year.

"Some of my plans and schemes have had to be put on hold," she said, "because there's not much I can do if I can't walk properly."