The Bjork

Background information
Birth name Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Born November 21, 1965 (1965-11-21) (age 41)
Origin Reykjavík, Iceland
Genre(s) Pop
Rock
Electronica
Alternative
Dance
Jazz
Trip hop
Occupation(s) Vocalist, musician, producer, arranger, programmer, actress
Instrument(s) Vocals, keyboards
Years active 1977 — present
Label(s) One Little Indian
Elektra/Atlantic
Polydor
Mother
Smekkleysa
Associated
acts The Sugarcubes, Tappi Tíkarrass, KUKL, Spit and Snot, Exodus, Jam80
Website bjork.com
Notable instrument(s)
Piano, flute, harp

(born November 21, 1965 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is an Icelandic singer-songwriter, composer, and actress.

She is best known for her expressive range and an interest in many kinds of music, including pop, alternative rock, jazz, ambient music, electronica, and folk. She has won numerous awards, and has received 12 Grammy Award nominations and an Academy Award nomination.

Her record label, One Little Indian, reported in 2003 that she had sold more than 15 million albums worldwide.[1] Her most recent album, Volta, was released worldwide on May 8, 2007. She was ranked #36 on VH1's "The 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll" and #8 on MTV's "22 Greatest Voices in Music".

Personal life
Björk and her partner, artist Matthew Barney, have a daughter, Ísadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney, born October 3, 2002. Björk also has a son, Sindri Eldon Þórsson, born June 8, 1986, with Þór Eldon, who was her bandmate in the Sugarcubes. Sindri is a journalist and plays bass for several bands at present.

Björk has complained of being hounded by paparazzi and in 1996 two separate incidents brought media attention. First, after a long flight to Thailand an exhausted Björk emerged from her aircraft at Don Muang Airport with her then ten-year-old son to find a group of journalists and cameramen waiting to greet her. When one reporter went straight to her son Sindri, with the words "Welcome to Bangkok", Björk attacked the reporter and landed several blows before the mêlée was broken up. Björk even tried to go back and continue attacking the woman, but was helped onto a bus. Björk claimed that this reporter stuck a microphone in her son's face, prompting her to attack, though many have said that there is no evidence of this on tape. Her record label said the reporter had been pestering her for four days. Björk later called the reporter and apologized.

Later that year, a fan mailed an acid bomb to Björk's London home and then killed himself, but the package was intercepted by the London police. Ricardo López of Florida filmed himself in the process of making an acid bomb intended to kill Björk. The nearly 22 hours of videotape describe López's obsession with Björk, the construction of the device, his thoughts on love and other subjects. The video footage continues after his mailing the bomb to Björk's London home and ends dramatically as López applies facepaint, shaves his head and commits suicide by shooting himself on camera.

Already a private person, Björk was reluctant to comment on either of these incidents and later told The Guardian: "It just got a bit much."