Born in Iceland, Björk Guðmundsdóttir was destined to be a household name. At age 11, she released her first album, had cycled through a number of semi-successful Icelandic punk and new wave bands by 20, and by 23 had become an international success with The Sugarcubes. 1993 brought her aptly named international debut solo record, ‘Debut’, but this was just the start of Björk’s famed innovation. The follow-up, ‘Post’, was heavily inspired by techno, with the likes of Tricky and Howie B providing industrial trip-hop instrumentals as Björk entered her most experimental period.
Post-‘Post’, Björk scored and made her motion picture debut in the critically acclaimed ‘Dancer in the Dark’, winning the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress alongside Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for her original song, ‘I’ve Seen It All’. Her solo career continued to blossom as she explored minimalism (‘Vespertine’ – 2001), vocals as an instrument (‘Medúlla’ – 2004), and the avant-garde (‘Biophilia’ – 2011), each album forming its own unique identity.
In the modern day, Björk is recognised as not just a musician, but an artist with a profound idiosyncratic participation in film, fashion, photography and humanitarian causes.
