Born in 1965 in the Icelandic capital city of Reykjavik, the daughter of Gudmundur Gunnarsson (an electrician) and Hildur Hauksdóttir who divorced before her second birthday, Björk grew up in a hippie-type community with her mother and her seven siblings. She started to study classical music at the age of 5 and released her first album in 1977 (mainly traditional Icelandic folk songs and international hits translated to Icelandic) when she was only 11. During her teenage years Björk became involved in several bands, most of them punk: Spit & Snot (1977), Exodus (1979-80), Jam 80 (1980), Tappi Tíkarrass (1981-83) (featured the documentary Rokk í Reykjavík) and Kukl (1984-86). She then formed the pop group The Sugarcubes with Einer Orn and Sigtryggur Baldursson and eventually other members 'Thor Eldon' (with whom she had a son in 1986), Margrét Örnólfsdóttir and 'Bragi Olafsson'. The band released its first single in 1986 and its first album, "Life's Too Good", in 1988, and discovered international success, especially in UK. During her Sugarcubes years, Björk also collaborated with the Icelandic jazz group Gudmundar Ingólfssonar Trio for the album "Gling-Glo" in 1990, and featured 808 State's "Ooops", which was the start of her electronic music interest. The Sugarcubes eventually split after a few albums in 1992 and in 1993. Björk released her first solo album, "Debut", in collaboration with producer Nellee Hooper. The worldwide success of the album (nearly 3 million copies sold) made possible her second album, "Post", in 1995, also with help of not only Nellee Hooper but techno gurus Graham Massey (from 808 State), Howie B. (aka Howie B) and Tricky, followed by the remix album "Telegram" the year after. After some problems in the UK, where she lived, she decided to go to Spain to record her third album, "Homogenic", released in 1997. Her main collaborators were the 'Icelandic String Octet', Mark Bell (from LFO), 'Mark "Spike' Stent' and again Howie B, and the album may be her most electronic. After Danish director Lars von Trier discovered her in the music video of "It's Oh So Quiet", he asked her to play the main role and to compose the music for his new movie Dancer in the Dark. She won the Best Actress Prize in the Cannes Festival, and said that it would be her only cinema performance (although she'd already acted in the Icelandic movie _Juniper Tree (1990)_) because it was too painful for her and because she considered herself a music artist and not a cinema artist. The original soundtrack was re-worked by her before being released as an album under the title "Selmasongs" in September 2000 (including a new version of the duet song "I've Seen it All" with Thom Yorke). Her fourth album, probably the most quiet, "Vespertine", featured a chamber orchestra, an Icelandic choir and harpist Zeena Parkins, and was also a successful collaboration with Matmos. She then successively released a book of photos and texts, series of DVD, a Greatest Hits album and two special boxes ("Family Tree" and "Björk Box"). She also took time to marry artist Matthew Barney, with whom she had a daughter in 2002. In August 2004 she composed and sang "Oceania" for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens. This song was featured on her fifth album, "Medúlla", released about two weeks after the ceremony. It is mostly made with vocals and some titles are close to experimental music, featuring choirs, Inuit singer Tanya Tagaq, Japanese artist Dokaka, Robert Wyatt, Rahzel and Mike Patton, but also collaborating again with programmers Matmos, Mark Bell and Mark "Spike" Stent.


Singer / songwriter. Was stalked by a man who suffered from severe mental problems. He attempted to kill her by mailing her a book that had been hollowed out and filled with an explosive device. The police intercepted it before she received it. The stalker committed suicide. As of September 2002, MTV has ranked Björk's music video Pagan Poetry (2001) (V) as one of the channel's most controversial videos ever as it depicts several shots of not only Björk's breasts, but also multiple body piercings on her arms and back. In recognition of her contribution to promoting Iceland abroad, the government gave her the island of Ellidaey, off the coast of Iceland. Received much criticism at the 73rd Annual Academy Awards when she arrived on the red carpet with her now famous "swan dress" which "laid an egg" literally -- a large ostrich-sized egg dropped from under it! Her favorite housework around the house is washing clothes because that's when a tune usually comes into her head. In 2002, her mother, Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir, went on a short-lived hunger strike to protest the development of an aluminum smelter at Reyðarfjörður, on the Icelandic coast. Reyðarfjörður was the setting of one of her music videos. Some of her favorite movies include Tampopo (1985), An Angel at My Table (1990), Sweetie (1989), and Die Blechtrommel (1979). Former boyfriend Stephane Sednaoui directed some of her music videos and live performances. Has been quoted as saying that Story of the Eye by surrealist writer Georges Bataille was her main inspiration and reason behind the broken eggs featured in her Venus as a Boy music video. She was named the world's most eccentric star in a poll by the BBC in January 2006. Mad TV character Miss Swan (played by Alex Borstein) is partially based on her. Winner of the 2005 Q Inspiration Award. She said her first name is pronounced "Byerk" (rhymes with jerk), and not the commonly mispronounced "Byork".