Annie Lennox isn’t pulling punches. At 70, the Eurythmics legend has once again raised the alarm on what she calls the “hypersexualised look” dominating modern pop. She says young artists like Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX—who’ve leaned hard into raunch—will have to live with the consequences of those choices. It’s a warning wrapped less in moral panic than in cold realism: once you brand yourself this way, you don’t get to take it back.
Her position isn’t new. Back in 2013, Lennox demanded age ratings for sexualised music videos, arguing they were closer to soft porn than pop. Now she points to the normalization of that imagery—labels once packaged it for profit, and today, artists themselves take it up as brand identity. For Lennox, the choice is clear: you can sell sex, but you’ll wear that decision like a tattoo, for better or worse.
But is she right? In a sense, yes. Pop is no longer just about the song—it’s about the persona, the visuals, the Instagram reels that get a million views before the track hits radio. Carpenter in lingerie or XCX writhing onstage isn’t an accident; it’s commerce dressed as empowerment. The question is whether this is exploitation by the industry, or ownership by the artist. Lennox once wore suits to avoid being “a piece of meat.” Today’s stars step willingly into the meat market and call it liberation.
For fans, the divide is generational. The young consume this content like oxygen, barely flinching at what Lennox calls hypersexualisation. Older audiences hear the echoes of record execs counting dollars behind the curtain. Lennox’s concern for kids is valid—what seven-year-old needs choreography straight out of a strip club? But trying to regulate sexuality in pop is like trying to dam a flood with a broom.
In the end, Lennox is right about one thing: there are consequences. Once an artist builds their empire on sex, the audience expects the heat to keep rising. That’s a tough bargain, and it doesn’t leave much room for age, evolution, or escape.
Celebrity Hot Chicks Music News Sabrina Carpenter
Last modified: September 19, 2025
