Björk

Releasing her first album in Iceland at the age of eleven, Björk found fame with alternative indie stars The Sugacubes before moving to London where she discovered electronic music and a vibrant dance culture, which was an inspiration for her first major solo album 'Debut' in 1993. Named NME's Album of the Year, it was full of bouncy, eccentric club hits like 'Human Behaviour', 'Big Time Sensuality' and 'Venus As a Boy', but Björk's sound soon began to mimic the stark, volcanic beauty of her homeland, using Inuit choirs, throat singers and orchestras to create ethereal, ambient soundscapes.

Renowned for her eclectic range of rhythmic samples and belting soprano voice, it was the uncharacteristic vibrant excitement of big band tune 'It's Oh So Quiet' that brought her biggest hit (a UK number four), while albums 'Post', 'Homogenic', 'Vespertine', 'Medulla' and 'Volta' all broke into the UK top ten. Soundtracking and starring in the musical film 'Dancer in the Dark', Björk won the Cannes Film Festival Palm d'Or for Best Actress in 2000 before causing controversy in China when she chanted "Tibet" while performing the track 'Declare Independence' during a gig in Shanghai.

'Biophilia', a music and technology project, was revealed in 2011 at the Manchester International Festival. The album project saw Björk and her collaborator, Syrian musician Omar Souleyman, invent their own instruments on which they performed the innovative music. She also released the album's tracks as a series of interactive apps designed for school children. Her eighth studio album, 'Vulnicura', followed in 2015, but ended up being released early due to an online leak. Later in the year she released 'Vulnicura Strings', an acoustic offering of the music. 'Utopia', her ninth album offering, was released in 2017, preceded by the single 'The Gate'.