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Björk's musical career began at the age of eleven, when she began studying classical piano in elementary school. One of her instructors submitted a recording of Björk singing Tina Charles' song "I Love to Love" to Radio One, an Iceland radio station. The recording was aired nationally; upon hearing it, a representative of the record label Fálkinn contacted Björk with a record contract offer. With the help of her stepfather, who played guitar, she recorded her first album, eponymously entitled Björk, in 1977, which featured several Icelandic children's songs, and covers of popular songs such as the Beatles' "Fool on the Hill". The album became a smash hit in Iceland, though it was virtually unknown elsewhere.
Punk music began to have an influence on Björk; at the age of fourteen, she formed the all-girl punk band Spit and Snot, shortly followed by a jazz fusion group called Exodus in 1979. In 1980, she graduated from music school at the age of fifteen, and in 1981, she and Exodus bassist Jakob Magnússon formed another band, Tappi Tíkarrass, and released an extended single, Bitið fast í vitid in the same year. Their album Miranda was released in 1983.Björk next collaborated with Einar Örn Benediktsson and Einar Melax from Purrkur Pillnikk, and Guðlaugur Óttarsson , Sigtryggur Baldursson and Birgir Morgensen from Þeyr. After writing songs and rehearsing for two weeks they performed under the name KUKL (which means 'witchcraft' in Icelandic). The group found that they worked well together, and decided to continue, developing a sound that some have described as resembling Goth music. Björk began to show indications of what would become her trademark singing style, punctuated with howls and shrieks.
KUKL toured Iceland with UK anarchist band CrassCrass was an influential English anarchist punk rock band. Overview Bristol, September 1981 Crass formed in 1977, based around Dial House, an anarchist community near Epping, Essex, in England. They were progenitors of a militant anarcho-pacifism that bec, and later visited the UK in a series of performances with Flux of Pink Indians . The band produced two albums as a result of these collaborations: The Eye in 1984, and Holidays in Europe in 1986, both on Crass RecordsCrass Records was a record label set up by the anarchist punk band Crass. The band set up the label after encountering problems over the release of their first 12" EP, The Feeding Of The 5000 on the Small Wonder label in 1978. Workers at the pressing plan. In the summer of 1986, several members of KUKL went on to form the Sugarcubes.
Björk singing during the 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremonyAs part of the theatrics, The Olympic rings are seen burning in a pool of water. The Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on August 13, 2004 at the Olympic Stadium in Maroussi, Greece, a suburb of Athens. 72,000 spectators attended the ev in AthensAcropolis in central Athens is home to ancient monuments of Athens — a mainstay of its thriving tourism industry Athens ( Greek: Athina is the capital of Greece, and also the capital of the Attica region of Greece. A cosmopolitan modern city, Athens is al The Sugarcubes' first single, "Ammæli" (or "Birthday" in English), became a huge hit in England. 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 , and recorded their first album, Life's Too GoodLife's Too Good released in April 1988, was the first album by the Icelandic alternative rock- pop band The Sugarcubes, which brought fame to lead vocalist Bjork. Through the first single, "Birthday", the Sugarcubes received attention in Europe and the Un, 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-Glo, a collection of popular jazz and original work, with the bebopBebop or bop is a form of jazz which uses a fast tempo and complex improvisational techniques. It was developed in the early and mid- 1940s. Hard bop later developed from bebop combined with blues and gospel music. History Many big band musicians in New Y group Trio Guðmundar Ingólfssonar , released in Iceland. Björk also contributed vocals to 808 State808 State are an English electronic music outfit formed in 1988 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. Widely regarded as being one of the pioneers of British acid house they were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Ge's recording Ooops, a collaboration which cultivated her interest in house music.
Tensions steadily mounted between Björk and Einar Örn, however, and by 1992 the Sugarcubes dissolved. Björk moved to London and began thinking about a solo career; to this end, she began working with producer Nellee Hooper , who had produced for Massive Attack, among others. Their partnership produced Björk's first international solo hit, "Human Behaviour." Her solo debut album, simply entitled Debut, was released in June of 1993, to positive reviews; it was named album of the year by New Musical Express, and eventually went gold in the United States. Debut was a mix of songs Björk had written since she was a teenager as well as newer lyrical collaborations with Hooper.
The success of Debut led her to collaborate with other artists on one-off tracks; she worked with David Arnold on "Play Dead", the theme to the 1993 film The Young Americans (which appeared as an extra track on a re-release of Debut) and also appeared on a track on the 1997 album Not For Threes by Plaid, which was released on the cult Warp Records label.
Björk returned to the studio during 1994 to work on her next solo album with Nellee Hooper, Tricky, Graham Massey of 808 State, and electronic music producer Howie B . The album, Post, contained songs based on Björk's relationships and songs about love (one of her favorite subjects), as well as some angry and confrontational material. Like "Debut," it was a collection partly made up of songs she had written in past years.
She wrote the title track for Madonna's 1994 album Bedtime Stories - Madonna had sought an entire album's worth of material from Björk- and performed on MTV Unplugged during this time. By 1995, the new album Post was ready; it was released in June, reaching number two on the UK's pop charts, and also went gold in the United States. January of 1997 saw the release of Telegram, an album of uncharacteristic remixes of songs from Post.
Later that year, the minimalist electronic album Homogenic was released. Björk worked with producers Mark Bell of LFO and Howie B on the album, as well as Eumir Deodato; numerous remixes followed. Homogenic was her first conceptually self-contained album is regarded as one of Björk's most experimental and extroverted works to date, with enormous beats that reflect the landscape of Iceland. The album contained a string of memorable music videos, several of which even received some airplay on American MTV. "All Is Full of Love" even became an alt-rock hit in 1999.
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, Inuit choirs, very hushed vocals and personal, vulnerable themes. She collaborated with experimental sound manipulators Matmos, a DJ from Denmark Thomas Knak , and an experimental harpist Zeena Parkins for the album. Lyrical contributions came from American poet e. e. cummings and independent filmmaker Harmony Korine.
The album spawned three singles: "Hidden Place", "Pagan Poetry", and "Cocoon". MTV2 regularly played the album's first video, "Hidden Place", though the later video for "Pagan Poetry" was rarely aired due to controversial imagery and nudity, while "Cocoon" was not played at all.
In 2003 Björk released a series of low-priced DVDs and CD boxed sets containing a plethora of unreleased material. Greatest Hits saw the release of a retrospective of the previous 10 years of her solo career. A DVD edition of the CD was also released; it contained all of Björk's solo music videos up to that point. "It's In Our Hands" was released in the winter of 2003, flying to #20, and the singer found herself with an American smash-hit.
Suddenly the topic of deafening buzz in America, Björk decided to throw all musical rules out the window. 2004 saw the release of her new album titled Medúlla, in late August. "Medúlla" was a more impromptu piece of work after two concept albums, and in the midst of production, Björk decided the album would work best as an entirely vocal-based album. She used the vocal skills of Hip hop Beatboxer Rahzel, avant-rocker Mike Patton, Soft Machine drummer/singer Robert Wyatt, and several choirs; she again appropriated text from poet e. e. cummings for the song Sonnets/Unrealities XI.
In August 2004 she performed the song "Oceania" (from her Medúlla album) at the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The song was written especially for the occasion. It became a club hit, but was never released as a single. However, the singles "Who Is It?" and "Where Is The Line?" almost met the success of "It's In Our Hands."
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