Mainstream success

The Sugarcubes

The Sugarcubes' first single, "Ammæli" (or "Birthday" in English), became a huge hit in the UK. They gained a significant cult following in the US and UK, and calls from record companies began coming in. Eventually the band signed with One Little Indian in the UK and with Elektra Records in the United States, and recorded their first album, Life's Too Good, in 1988. The album propelled them into international stardom — the first Icelandic rock band to achieve such popularity. While with the Sugarcubes, Björk participated in a number of side projects. She recorded Gling-Gló, a collection of popular jazz and original work, with the jazz group Trio Guðmundar Ingólfssonar (an octogenarian jazz group), released in Iceland. Björk also contributed vocals to 808 State's album Ex:el, a collaboration which cultivated her interest in house music. The song "Ooops" was released as a single in the UK and was later included on 808 State's best of, "808:88:98".

Solo career / Debut

Post

Homogenic

Vespertine

In 2001 the album Vespertine was released. This album saw Björk creating an introverted, internal, personal world of microbeats and tiny rhythms. The album featured chamber orchestras, choirs, very hushed vocals and personal, vulnerable themes. She collaborated with experimental sound manipulators Matmos, a DJ from Denmark Thomas Knak, and the experimental harpist Zeena Parkins for the album. Lyrical sources included the American poet E. E. Cummings and the American independent filmmaker Harmony Korine.

Family Tree / Greatest Hits / Live Box

2002 saw the appearance of the CD box set Family Tree containing a "these-are-my-roots" retrospective of Björk's career, comprising many previously unreleased versions of her compositions, including some very quiet work with a string quartet, the Brodsky Quartet. Also released that year was the album Greatest Hits, a retrospective of the previous ten years of her solo career as deemed by the public: The songs on the album were chosen by Björk's fans through a poll on Björk's website. A DVD edition of the CD was also released; it contained all of Björk's solo music videos up to that point. The new single from the set, "It's In Our Hands", charted in the UK at number thirty-seven.

Medúlla

Army of Mixes

Drawing Restraint 9

On July 25, 2005 in the UK and on August 23 in the U.S., Björk released the album Drawing Restraint 9. It is a soundtrack to her boyfriend Matthew Barney's movie of the same title; Björk explores traditional Japanese music styles to complement the experimental film, where two lovers find themselves on a whaling ship and cut off and eat pieces of each other's legs, before making love, turning into whales, and swimming away.

(____surrounded):

Released June 27, 2006, Björk remastered in 5.1 surround sound her first three solo studio albums (Debut, Post, Homogenic) and her two soundtrack albums (Selmasongs and Drawing Restraint 9) in 5.1 surround sound for a re-issue in a new box-set titled (____surrounded):. Vespertine and Medúlla were already available in 5.1 as either DVD-A or SACD but are also included in the box set in repackaged format. The dual discs were also released separately. [4].

Currently

Björk is still recording material for her next album, of which nothing has been said of the content or theme. Unlike for previous albums, songs are being mixed straight after recording with each collaborator, instead of mixing all in one go when the whole album is finished. [6]

Björk in film

Her name

Björk usually goes by her first name only. This is not a stage name or affectation; it is normal for an Icelander to be referred to by his or her first name, as the last name simply indicates the name of the father. See Icelandic naming conventions.

The Swan Dress

At the 2001 Academy Awards, Björk raised eyebrows when she arrived wearing the flamboyantly quirky "swan dress", designed by Marjan Pejoski, that was later featured on the "Vespertine" album cover. The dress drew widespread media attention—both derision and praise—and perhaps will go down as one of the most memorable dresses at an award show. That night's Academy Awards Host, Steve Martin joked, "I was going to wear my swan but to me they're so last year." Joan Rivers has commented that "Björk was brilliant [for] showing up in that swan dress." Ellen DeGeneres later wore it for comic effect at the 2001 Emmy Awards and at the 2006 Academy Awards Jon Stewart alluded to it in reference to the Dick Cheney hunting incident: "Björk couldn't be here tonight... she was trying on her Oscar dress and Dick Cheney shot her."

Personal life

Björk and her partner, contemporary media artist Matthew Barney, have a daughter, Ísadóra, born October 3, 2002. Björk also has a son, Sindri Eldon Þórsson, born June 8, 1986, with Þór Eldon, who was her bandmate in the Sugarcubes. Sindri is a journalist and plays bass for several bands at present.

Discography

See Björk discography or the official website for an extensive listing of albums and singles.

Solo studio albums

• 1977 - Björk
• 1993 - Debut
• 1995 - Post
• 1997 - Telegram
• 1997 - Homogenic
• 2001 - Vespertine
• 2004 - Medúlla

Virtual Albums

• iTunes Originals - Björk

Soundtrack albums

• 2000 - Selmasongs: Music From the Motion Picture Soundtrack Dancer in the Dark
• 2005 - Drawing Restraint 9 [Original Soundtrack]

Singles information

• Björk has had three Top 10 singles and seven Top 20 singles in the UK. All of her chart-eligible singles have charted within the Top 40, aside from "Hunter", which is on Homogenic.
• The first single from Homogenic, "Jóga", had a limited release of 3000 copies, meaning that it did not chart.
• "Play Dead" was not included on the initial release of Debut. After the release of the single, Debut was re-issued with the song as a bonus 12th track in the UK and Europe.
• "Oceania", from Medúlla, was released only as a radio-single and did not have a full commercial single release, although a limited number of CD singles were released in parts of Europe and Australia.
• A fourth single from Medúlla, "Where is the Line", was pencilled in for release, but because of the release of the Drawing Restraint 9 soundtrack and the Army of Me: Remixes and Covers album it did not make sense to market all these projects together. Björk decided against releasing it, to give the DR9 soundtrack maximum exposure. [19]
• It's Not Up To You, was also scheduled to be the fourth single from Vespertine, however the imminent arrival of her daughter, Isadora, resulted in the single being shelved, though rumours have it that remixes were made.^{[citation needed]}

DVD

• 2002 - Greatest Hits - Volumen [DVD]
• 2002 - Vessel - Debut Live Documentary [DVD]
• 2002 - Shepard's Bush Empire - Post Live [DVD]
• 2002 - Cambridge - Homogenic Live [DVD]
• 2002 - Vespertine Live - Royal Opera House [DVD]
• 2002 - Later - 1995-2001 seven TV appearances [DVD]
• 2002 - MTV Unplugged - Debut album performed [DVD]
• 2002 - Miniscule - The making of Vespertine [DVD]
• 2003 - Inside Björk - A Documentary [DVD]
• 2004 - The Inner or Deep Part of an Animal or Plant Structure - Making of Medúlla [DVD]
• 2005 - The Medúlla Videos [DVD]
• 2005 - Screaming Masterpiece [DVD]

Television

• 1987 - Glerbrot character: María. (Ríkisútvarpíð) - National Icelandic Television.
• 2001 - Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, Björk appears as Space Ghost's wife who is continually hounding him talking nonsense.

Films, including cameos

• 1982 - Rokk í Reykjavík (Íslenska Kvikmyndasamsteypan), film directed by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson.
• 1983 - Nýtt Líf (Nýtt Líf ehf.), film directed by Þráinn Bertelsson.
• 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 - Drawing Restraint 9, character is known as the "Guest." (Matthew Barney)
• 2005 - Screaming Masterpiece, herself.
• 2006 - Anna and the Moods, Björk performs the voice of Anna Young. (CAOZ Ltd.)

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 - The Illustrated Story, by Paul Lester. Hamlyn (1996).
• Björk - An Illustrated Biography, by Mick St. Michael. Omnibus Press (1996).
• Björk Björkgraphy, by Martin Aston. Simon & Schuster (1996).
• Björk, Colección Imágenes de Rock, N°82, by Jordi Bianciotto. Editorial La Máscara (1997).
• Dancer in the Dark, by Lars von Trier. Film Four (2000).
• Lobster or Fame, by Ólafur Jóhann Engilbertsson. Bad Taste (2000).
• Army of She, by Evelyn McDonnell. Random House (2001).
• Human Behaviour, by Ian Gittins. Carlton (2002).
• Björk: There's More to Life Than This: The Stories Behind Every Song, by Ian Gittins. Imprint (2002).
• Wow and Flutter, by Mark Pytlik. ECW (2003).