Adopted name of Björk Gudmundsdóttir (1966-)
Icelandic pop singer and songwriter with a highly distinctive soprano vocal style. She became known internationally as lead singer with Sykurmolar/the Sugarcubes (1986–92) and released solo albums Debut 1993 and Post 1995. In her solo work Björk abandoned the guitar-pop of the Sugarcubes in favor of jazz, house, techno, and world-music influences.
Björk was born in Reykjavik. She released her first album at the age of 11 and sang with local bands, most notably Kukl, throughout her teens. Her skittish vocal swoops and shrieks made indie stars of the Sugarcubes with the release of the single ‘Birthday’ and their first album, Life’s Too Good 1988. Their subsequent releases Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week 1989 and Stick Around for Joy covered little new ground and the group disbanded. She writes lyrics in Icelandic and English, and has written film scores and experimental music for Icelandic release.