Björk

Background

Björk was born in Reykjavik, Iceland. Her mother, Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir, was an activist who opposed the construction of Iceland’s Kárahnjkar Hydropower Plant. Guðmundsdóttir Gunnarsson, a union leader and electrician, is her father. Björk’s parents divorced when she was a child and she lived with her mother. Björk enrolled in Reykjavik’s Barnamskskóli at the age of six, where she studied classical piano and flute. Following a school recital in which Björk performed Tina Charles’s 1976 hit ‘I Love to Love,’ her teachers sent a recording of her singing the song to Iceland’s only radio station at the time, the R.V. radio station. After hearing the recording, a representative of the Fálkinn record label approached Björk and offered her a recording contract. “Björk,” her debut album, was released in Iceland in December 1977 when she was 11 years old.

Björk formed the all-girl punk band “Spit and Snot” in her teens, following the spread of punk rock music in Iceland. She formed “Exodus,” a jazz fusion group, in 1980. Björk graduated from music school and collaborated with another group, “JAM80.” “Tappi Tkarrass” was formed in 1982 by her and bassist Jakob Magnússon, and the E.P. “Biti fast viti” was released in August 1982. “Miranda,” their debut album, was released in December 1983. The group was featured in the documentary “Rokk Reykjavik,” with Björk on the V.H.S. release’s cover. Björk left the band and released her debut solo album, “Debut,” which earned her two Brit Awards, one for Best International Female and one for Best International Newcomer. She collaborated with David Arnold on the theme of the 1993 film “The Young Americans.”

In 2004, Björk released “Medúlla,” her fourth studio album, and it debuted at number 14 in the United States. Björk released a previously unreleased song called ‘Trance’ as the backing track for a short film directed by Nick Knight on December 7, 2010. “Bastards,” her 2012 remix album, featured remixes by Death Grips and Omar Souleyman. During the summer of 2018, Björk embarked on the brief Utopia Tour, performing at several European festivals. “Cornucopia,” a new concert production centered on the album, was announced by Björk in November 2018. “Cornucopia” premiered in May 2019 at New York’s newly built The Shed and was described as Björk’s most elaborately staged concert to date. Her stay in New York began in May 2019 and she traveled to Mexico and Europe for additional dates.

Björk will next be seen in “The Northman,” Robert Eggers’ upcoming feature film, co-written with Sjón alongside her daughter Sadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney in her debut film role. Björk stated in an interview with ‘The Mercury News’ published on January 19, 2022, that she was wrapping up work on her upcoming tenth studio album, which she expected to be released in the summer of 2022.