Iceland-born musician, Bjork
VITALS
Born Bjork Gudmindsdettir on November 21, 1965, in Reykjavik, Iceland
Bjork began her singing career as an 11-year-old child prodigy who covered Beatles songs. As she grew into adolescence, she got together with an outfit called Tappi Tikarrass, which recorded two albums between 1981 and 1983. Soon after that, she was introduced to the future members of the Sugarcubes, the band which would bring her a degree of popularity during the late '80s and early '90s. After the Sugarcubes broke up, Bjork left the Cubes' former base of operations in the UK for Iceland, where she began to pay herself out of debt.
It was in Iceland in 1993 that Bjork release Debut, a house-oriented album which yielded four hit singles. The songs on that album got huge play at dance clubs; remixes by some big-name DJs also helped propel it to the top of the charts. Bjork didn't shy away from her success, and by the time her second solo effort, Post, was released, she had co-written the title track for Madonna's Bedtime Stories, attacked a roving reporter and hooked up with jungle artist Goldie.
After releasing her third album Homogenic, Bjork made the move to acting and landed a role in Dancer in the Dark, a movie by Lars von Trier, which received rave reviews. For her role as Selma and for her soundtrack, Selmasongs, Bjork also received praise from film critics.
Her most recent release is Vespertine, which has been hailed by some as her best album yet.