Björk Guðmundsdóttir , (born November 21, 1965 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is an Icelandic singer/songwriter with a great expressive range and an interest around several kinda music including popular, trip-hop, alternative rock, jazz, electronica, folk, and classical music.

Early Career

Björk's musical career began at a age of eleven, after she began researching authoritative piano in elementary school. One of her teacher submitted the recording of Björk singing Tina Charles' song "I Love to Love" to Radio 1, an Iceland radio station. the recording was aired nationally; upon hearing it, the representative of the record label Fálkinn contacted Björk by using a record contract offer. By using a facilitate of her stepfather, world health organization played guitar, she recorded her number one album, eponymously entitled Björk, inside 1977, which featured several Icelandic babies's songs, & covers of popular songs like the Beatles' "Fool on the Hill", sung in Icelandic. the album became a megahit around Iceland, though it was virtually unknown elsewhere.

Punk music began to have an influence in Björk; at the age of 14, she formed a everthing-girl crummy b& Spit and Snot, shortly followed by a jazz fusion group called Exodus inside 1979. Around 1980, she graduated from either music school at a age of xv, & within 1981, she & Exodus bassist Jakob Magnússon formed a second band, Tappi Tíkarrass (which means "Cork the Bitch's Ass" within Icelandic), & discharged a long individual, Bitið convenient í vitið in the equivalent month. Their album Miranda was freed within 1983.

Björk next collaborated using Einar Örn Benediktsson and Einar Melax from Purrkur Pillnikk, and Guðlaugur Óttarsson, Sigtryggur Baldursson and Birgir Mogensen from Þeyr. Fallowing writing songs & rehearsing for fortnight, it (under a title KUKL which means "sorceror" in Icelandic) obtained it worked swell together, & decided to prove my point, getting the healthy that occasionally develop described when resembling Goth music. Björk began to show indications of what would get her trademark singing style, punctuated by owning howls & shrieks.

KUKL toured Iceland by having UK anarchist band Crass, and late visited the UK within a series of performances by owning Flux of Pink Indians. A band produced ii albums following one collaborations: A Eye around 1984, & Holidays witharound Europe in 1986, each in Crass Records. In the summertime of 1986, many members of KUKL went in to form the band known as Pukl but soon changed a title to Sugarcubes.

Popularity

The Sugarcubes

A Sugarcubes' number one individual, "Ammæli" (or even "Birthday" within English), became a brobdingnagian hit inside England. It gained the important cult following in the US and UK, and calls from either record corporations began coming within. Yet a band signed by using One Little Indian in the UK and by owning Elektra Records in the United States, and recorded their number one album, ''Life's Too Good, in 1988. A album propelled a children into international stardom--the number one Icelandic rock group to achieve such popularity. When by using the Sugarcubes, Björk participated within a total of side projects. She recorded Gling-Gló'', a collection of popular jazz & original act, by owning a bebop group Trio Guðmundar Ingólfssonar, released around Iceland. Björk likewise contributed vocals to 808 State's album Ex:El, a collaboration which cultivated her interest inside house music.

Solo career/Debut

Tensions steadily mounted between Björk & Einar Örn, however, & by 1992 the Sugarcubes dissolved. Björk moved to London & began mentation just about the solo career; to this prevent, she began working by having producer Nellee Hooper, who experienced produced for Massive Attack, among others. Their partnership produced Björk's 1st international solo hit, "Human Behaviour". Her solo debut album, only entitled Debut, was released inside June of 1993 to positive reviews; it was known as album of the season by New Musical Express, and in time went platinum in the United States. Debut wwhen the mix of songs Björk experienced written since she was the teen also as newly lyrical collaborations by owning Hooper.

A profits of Debut led her to collaborate using more creative persin on of these-off tracks; she worked sustaining David Arnold on "Play Dead", the theme to the 1993 film The Young Americans (which appeared as an extrthe track in a re-release of Debut) & too appeared in the track on the 1997 album Not For Threes by Plaid, which was released on the cult Warp Records label.

Post

Björk returned to the studio when you took 1994 to work in her next solo album using Nellee Hooper, Tricky, Graham Massey of 808 State, and electronic music producer Howie B. A album, Post, contained songs according to Björk's relationships & songs just about love (one of her favourite cases), too when a bit of angry & confrontational poop. Such as "Debut," it was the collection part processed higher of songs she experienced written inside preceding years.

She wrote a song "Bedtime Story" for Madonna's 1994 album Bedtime Stories, which became Madonna's first lone freed inside 1995 and performed on MTV Unplugged during this time. By 1995, the recently album Post was ready; it was freed within June, reaching benumb ii on the UK's popular stock & index charts, and as well went atomic number 78 in the United States. January of 1997 saw the release of Telegram, an album of uncharacteristic remixes of songs from either Post.

Homogenic

Late that season, a minimalist electronic album Homogenic was released. Björk worked by using producers Mark Bell of LFO and Howie B on the album, when well as Eumir Deodato; numerous remixes followed. Homogenic was her foremost conceptually self-contained album & is esteem one of Björk's virtually all experimental & extrospective works up to now, by using tremendous beats that reflect a landscape of Iceland. the album contains a string of memorable music in line videos, many of which received airplay on U.s. MTV. "All Is Full of Love" became an alt-rock hit inside 1999. A album one of these days reached gold status around the States in 2001.

Vespertine

Within 2001 the album Vespertine was released. This album saw Björk creating an self-examining, internal, family globe of microbeats & flyspeck rhythms. A album featured chamber orchestras, Inuit choirs, very muted vocals & home, vulnerable themes. She collaborated by using experimental healthy manipulators Matmos, a DJ from Denmark Thomas Knak, and a experimental harper Zeena Parkins for the album. Lyrical sources involved a American poet E. E. Cummings and the American independent filmmaker Harmony Korine.

Vespertine spawned threesome singles: "Hidden Place", "Pagan Poetry", & "Cocoon". Usa's so-other independent & artistic music streaming channel, MTV2, played the album's foremost streaming, "Hidden Place", jolly heavy, despite its somewhat controversial lyrics & imagination. Notwithstanding, a next streaming, for "Pagan Poetry", brought Björk to an potentially higher level of disceptation by owning a channel. A song's streaming video features graphic piercings, blurred sex scenes, & Björk's involved nipples. Following, a clip was at first seldom shown by MTV, & certain area (e.g., Björk's breasts) were censored retired whenever you took a uncommon occasions when it was played. Inside 2002, the clip eventually enjoyed unedited Our contries airing when the share of a late nighttime favorite in MTV2 entitled Most Controversial Music Videos. Antecedently prohibited or even censored video cd were shown in their integrality when you took a TV-MA-rated special which aired in MTV2 regularly in weekends between One & Five AM, until a notorious Janet Jackson incident at the 2004 Super Bowl. A streaming videos for "Cocoon" besides featured the naked Björk, this instance using her nipples secreting the red thread that within time enveloped the singer herself in a cocoon. A videos was too non aired by MTV.

Family Tree/Greatest Hits

2002 saw the appearance of the Video pack placed Family Tree containing a "these-are-my-roots" retrospective of Björk's career, comprising numbers of antecedently unreleased versions of her compositions, including the bit of super quietly function using a string quartet, the Brodsky Quartet. Besides discharged that month was a album Greatest Hits, a retrospective of A former Decade years of her solo career when deemed per public: The songs on the album were chosen by Björk's fans across the poll in [http://www.bjork.com/ Björk's website]. The DVD edition of the Video was besides freed; it contained a lot of Björk's solo music on line videos as much as that point.

Inside 2003 Björk released the series of online-low-cost DVDs & Video pack placed known as Live Box containing live recordings of her previous albums.

Medúlla

2004 saw the release of Björk's Medúlla, in late August. Medúlla was a further spontaneously piece of function when 2 construct albums, & midmost of production, Björk decided the album would operate better as an completely vocal-depending album. She utilized a vocal skills of Hip hop Beatboxer Rahzel, avant-rocker Mike Patton, Soft Machine drummer/singer Robert Wyatt, and many choirs; she again appropriated text from either poet E. E. Cummings for the song "Sonnets/Unrealities XI."

Within August 2004 Björk performed the song "Oceania" (from either her Medúlla album) at a Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Within average Björk style, her performance was one of a sir thomas more unique of the event. When she sang, her dress slowly unravelled to reveal the 10,000 square foot (900 m²) map of the globe, which she let flow on top tons of the Olympic atheletes. A song "Oceania" was written especially for the occasion. Shortly fallowing, an surrogate version of the song began circulating using your internet browser sustaining extra vocals by Kelis. Though occasionally were confused when to the genuineness of this collaboration, Björk's camp confirmed its legitimacy. A watch-higher of "Oceania" was "Who is it" which following at There is no.Xxvi in the UK followed by "Triumph of a Heart" around 2005 charting at No.31. The videos for the possible next individual, "Where is the Line?", was filmed unitedly by having a Icelandic artist Gabríela Fridriksdóttir in late 2004.

Army of Me-Xes

When the calamitous tsunami which struck southeastern Asia around late 2004, Björk began working in a newly task, Army of Us-Xes. This fresh plan recruited fans & musicians from either about a world when Björk posted in her web site the want for the covering & remixing of the 1995 hit, "Army of Me". Björk was overwhelmed by having a 600 reactions which come flooding around. Away from these Björk also when co-writer Graham Massey, picked a better Xx to pop up on the album. A album was freed withwithin April in a UK & in late Can 2005 the America. It peaked at There are no.Fourteen on the dance albums chart in the UK.

Drawing Restraint 9

In July 25 2005 in the UK and in August 23 in a US, Björk freed the album Drawing Restraint 9. These are the soundtrack to her swain Matthew Barney's movie of the same title, and discovered Björk researching traditional Japanese music styles to complement the experimental film, in which them lovers locate themselves in the whaling ship & cut off every more's feet.

Signifying her status when one of pop music's confessedly originals & one of a virtually all daring, innovative, & idiosyncratic creative person of a previous 2 decades, Björk was awarded a prestigious Inspiration Award at the Annual Q Magazine Awards in October 2005, accepting the prize from either Robert Wyatt, by using whom she collaborated in 2004's Medúlla album.

Currently

It was recently reported in Björk's [http://www.bjork.com official website] that she is working in the recently album & that charted its completion she might start up the drawn-out tour.

Björk in Film

Björk's intermittent acting career began around 1990, after she appeared within Juniper Tree, a tale of witchery according to a Brothers Grimm story of the same title. Björk played the role of Margit, a girl whose mother has been flushed for practising witchery. Björk likewise experienced an uncredited role within 1994's Prêt-à-Porter.

Inside 1999, Björk was asked to write & make a musical score for the film Dancer in the Dark, a pseudo-musical just about an immigrant known as Selma world health organization is struggling to invite an operation to check her boy from either running unsighted. Director Lars von Trier eventually asked her to consider swimming the role of Selma, a proposal she at the start turned down. He so threatened to prevent a design, which would use processed all the musical act she experienced already done useless. One of these days, she accepted. Cinematography began around early 1999, & a film debuted around 2000 at a 53rd Cannes Film Festival. Björk received a better actress award for her role, & eventually she described a shoot when thus physically & emotionally trying that she has sworn dispatch acting ever over again. This was the rumor, even so that was put to rest inside many interviews. Björk late stated that she universally wanted to wash 1 musical theater within her life, & this was a a single. She too said that she may not wash picture & music at a equivalent instance. A soundtrack Björk created for a film was freed by having the title Selmasongs. She was invited to record Gollum's Song for the film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, but declined the invitation, as she was then pregnant; the track was instead recorded by her fellow Icelander Emiliana Torrini.

Inside 2005, Björk collaborated by having her Future York-depending long-instance swain Matthew Barney on the experimental art film Drawing Restraint 9, a there is no-dialogue exploration of Japanese culture. She was as well responsible the film's soundtrack, her 2nd fallowing 2000's Selmasongs.

Her Name

Björk unremarkably goes by her number one title single. This is non a stage title or even even mannerism; these are normal for an Icelander to become referred to by his or her 1st title, when a cognomen only indicates the title of the father. View Icelandic naming conventions.

Björk means "a birch tree" in Icelandic (the meaning of Icelandic list is typically transparent), cognate using Old English beorc and a modern English word. Though numbers of English-speakers pronounce her title "Byork", the supplementary precise approximation would become "Byerk", which she has pointed retired rhymes using "jerk". [http://ebweb.at/ortner/tia/97/babe9706/babe9706.html] Guðmundsdóttir is pronounced about "Gvuth-muns-doe-tir", & means "Guðmundur's daughter".

Personal Life

Björk & her contemporary media creative person swain Matthew Barney have a daughter, Isadora, innate October Three, 2002. Björk too has the boy, Sindri, natural June 8, 1986, by Þór Eldon world health organization was her bandmate in the 1980s post-punk group "The Sugarcubes"

Partial Discography

With The Sugarcubes

''Life's Too Good (1988) Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week! (1989) Stick Around for Joy (1992) It's It (1992) The Great Crossover Potential (1998)

Solo albums

Björk (1977) Gling-Gló (with Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar) (1990) Debut (1993) Post (1995) Telegram (1997) Homogenic (1997) Selmasongs: Music From the Motion Picture Soundtrack Dancer in the Dark (2000) Vespertine (2001) ''Björk's Greatest Hits (2002) Family Tree (2002) [Box Set] The Live: 1993-2002 (2003) [Box Set] Medúlla (2004) Army of Me: Remixes and Covers (2005) Drawing Restraint 9 (2005) [Original Soundtrack]

Television

1987 - Glerbrot character: María. (Ríkisútvarpíð) - National Icelandic Television.

Films / Shortcuts

1987 - The Juniper Tree, character: Margit. (Rhino Home Video) 1994 - Prêt-à-Porter, featuring Björk as a model. (???) 2000 - Dancer in the Dark, character: Selma Jezková. (Zentropa Entertainment) 2005 - Anna and the Moods, Björk performs the voice of Anna Young. (CAOZ Ltd.) 2005 - Drawing Restraint 9, character is known as a "Guest." (Matthew Barney)

Bibliography

1984 - Um Úrnat frá Björk (free distribution) 2001 - Björk (Little-i) 2003 - Björk Live Book (???)

Related Bibliography

Post, by Sjón Sigurðsson/Björk Ltd. Bloomsbury (1995). Björk - A Illustrated Story, by Paul Lester. Hamlyn (1996). Björk - An Illustrated Life history, by Mick St. Michael. Omnibus Click (1996). Björk Björkgraphy, by Martin Aston. Simon & Schuster (1996). Björk, Colección Imágenes delaware Rock, N°82, by Jordi Bianciotto. Editorial La Máscara (1997). Dancer in the Dark, by Lars von Trier. Film 4 (2000). Lobster or even Fame, by Ólafur Jóhann Engilbertsson. Bad Taste (2000). Army of She, by Evelyn McDonnell. Random Home (2001). Person Behaviour, by Ian Gittins. Carlton (2002). Bjork: There's Other to Life Than This : A Stories Behind Each Song, by Ian Gittins. Imprint (2002). Riot & Flutter'', by Mark Pytlik. ECW (2003).

See Also

4um, the official Björk discussion board Björk Guðmundsdóttir & Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar List of best-selling music artists List of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States) List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart