Björk Guðmundsdóttir is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress from Reykjavík. She is known for a distinctive voice, a three-octave vocal range, and an unconventional public image, and she builds an eclectic body of work drawing on electronic, pop, dance, trip hop, jazz, and avant-garde music. Her work is widely associated with electronic and experimental music, and her catalogue also spans alternative dance, alternative pop, alternative rock, ambient, ambient pop, and art pop.

Career

Björk begins her music career at the age of 11 and first gains international attention as the lead singer of the alternative rock band the Sugarcubes in the late 1980s. She also performs with KUKL, Tappi Tíkarrass, Jam-80, The Elgar Sisters, Draumsýn, and Háspenna Lífshætta. After the Sugarcubes disband in 1992, she establishes a solo career that becomes known for frequent stylistic change and a willingness to combine electronic and avant-garde ideas with pop forms.

Solo albums and collaborations

Her solo albums include Debut (1993), Post (1995), and Homogenic (1997), which are followed by Vespertine (2001), Medúlla (2004), Volta (2007), Biophilia (2011), Vulnicura (2015), Utopia (2017), and Fossora (2022). These records reflect different approaches, including glitch, a largely a cappella format, and more pop-oriented writing. Biophilia is accompanied by an interactive iPad application. After the death of her longtime collaborator Mark Bell, she works with the Venezuelan producer Arca on Vulnicura and Utopia. Fossora is her first album on which she is credited as sole producer.

Recognition and impact

Björk sells more than 40 million records worldwide and is regarded as one of the best-selling alternative artists. Several of her albums reach the top 20 of the US Billboard 200, and 31 of her singles reach the top 40 on international pop charts, including 22 top 40 entries in the United Kingdom. Her highest-charting UK singles include the top 10 hits “It’s Oh So Quiet”, “Army of Me”, and “Hyperballad”, along with the top 20 singles “Play Dead”, “Big Time Sensuality”, and “Violently Happy”. She receives the Order of the Falcon, five Brit Awards, and 16 Grammy Award nominations, nine of them for Best Alternative Music Album. Time includes her in its list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and Rolling Stone ranks her among the greatest singers and songwriters of all time.

Film and other work

She stars in Lars von Trier’s 2000 film Dancer in the Dark and wins the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for the role. She also receives an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for “I’ve Seen It All”. Outside music and film, she is active in environmental advocacy in Iceland. In 2015, the Museum of Modern Art in New York holds a retrospective exhibition devoted to her work.

Labels

Her releases are associated with Bapsi Ltd, Björk Overseas Ltd., Wellhart Ltd, Elektra Entertainment, One Little Indian Records, and AllPoints France.