Lennox fuels mega-diva recording invasion

Annie Lennox isn't taking any chances on her upcoming fourth solo album, the whimsically titled "Songs of Mass Destruction." Apparently convinced that having guest stars -- the more the better -- is a good way to boost your appeal (rather than, say, to dilute your music), she has assembled a cast of accompanists that features almost every female pop vocal star in the known world, including Madonna, Pink, Shakira, Faith Hill, Mary J. Blige, Kelis and, um, Celine Dion.

They are each featured as part of the all-female chorus that backs Lennox on a song that will either be titled "Sing" or "Sing My Sister" and was inspired by South African leader Nelson Mandela's continuing campaign to combat AIDS in Africa. Joining Lennox, Madonna, et al, are Joss Stone, Sarah McLachlan, Bonnie Raitt, Dido, Gladys Knight, Fergie, KT Tunstall, k.d. lang, Anastasia and Angelique Kidjo. A total of 23 women artists will be featured on the song, although Britney was apparently unavailable, unwanted or both. The album, Lennox's first in four years, is due out in the fall.

Conspicuously absent from "Sing/Sing My Sister" are the recently reunited Spice Girls, who would add nothing vocally or otherwise, but were inexplicably hailed by Mandela in 1997 as his "heroes." Mandela recently invited the Spice Girls to perform at his 89th birthday party on July 29, at which Lennox is already set to appear with Peter Gabriel.

However, the advanced pregnancy of Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton is believed to make a Spice Girls' performance unlikely. We, if not Lennox, should consider the impending birth of Bunton's child a musical blessing.