Aretha Franklin Wanted to Know If Eurythmics Singer Annie Lennox Was 'Totally Gay'

"Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" is one of the most iconic girl power songs in rock history, but apparently one of the sisters starring in the song was "very wary" of the other.

Eurythmics leading lady Annie Lennox famously teamed up with the Aretha Franklin to record the song. However, according to Eurythmics bandmate Dave Stewart, Franklyn had some questions about Lennox's sexuality.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Stewart recounted that Franklin was a put off by Lennox's androgyny and wanted to know if she was "totally gay."

"Aretha had stayed up half the night making fried chicken, and Annie was a vegan, so that was a bit awkward," he explained. "Aretha was very wary of Annie with her cropped hair.

And apparently the sisters didn't hit it off completely in the studio either.

"She said 'Look, these lyrics, 'ringing on their own bells', 'sisters doin' it for themselves,' what exactly are we supposed to be doing?'" Franklin allegedly asked. Stewart explained, "She was trying to work out if Annie was totally gay and she was doing a gay anthem."

Would that really have been so bad, Miss Franklin?

Stewart also went on to laud the "genius" of the late Sinead O'Connor.

"She had a great sense of humour and she would laugh a lot, falling about laughing, really enjoying herself," he said. "And then, you know, she might come in one day really worried, and she wanted to keep the door closed. She had that side to her."

He added, "But she was amazing. I've seen her make up songs on the spot, just sit there and sing, and all the words totally make sense, and everything rhymes, and it's really heartfelt, just genius. She was trying to explain what was going on, and everybody thought she was crazy. But she wasn't crazy."

Read Stewart's interview in full.