Celebrating Pop Moms: Bjork
As a countdown to Mother's Day May 14th, I will be celebrating a pop mom, a pop music artist who also happens to be a mom, each day this week. Today's pop mom is Bjork.
Bjork first came to the attention of the pop music world as lead vocalist for the Icelandic group the Sugarcubes. Since going solo in 1993 she has become a world-recognized pop music personality. She has 20 top 40 pop hit singles to her credit in the UK with 3 reaching the top 10. In the US Bjork has hit #1 on the dance music chart 3 times with "Big Time Sensuality," "Hyper-Ballad," and "I Miss You." Her idiosyncratic appearance and taste for the avant-garde has made Bjork a highly visible personality in music and art circles.
Born Björk Guðmundsdóttir in Reykjavik, Iceland, Bjork's musical career began at the age of 11 when she began to learn piano. Shortly thereafter a recording of her singing was broadcast on radio throughout Iceland. It resulted in a recording contract and the release of Bjork's first album in 1977 at the age of 12. After performing with a string of bands, Bjork joined the group KUKL which later changed its name to the Sugarcubes. The Sugarcubes were soon an international success. 3 albums reached the UK top 20 and the single "Hit" topped the modern rock chart in the US.
Internal disputes broke the Sugarcubes apart in 1992. Bjork released her first solo album the following year. Her music incorporates wide-ranging interests in pop, jazz, electronica, folk, and classical music. In addition to her work as a musician, Bjork has demonstrated an interest in film leading to a Best Actress winning role at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. She has also drawn attention to her idiosyncratic taste in clothing - most notably the swan dress worn to the 2001 Academy Awards ceremony.
Bjork's first child, a boy named Sindri, was born in 1986. His father is Þór Eldon, another member of the Sugarcubes. Bjork took him along with her on tour from the age of 6 months. Asked if it would be easier to leave him home in an interview published in the magazine The Face in 1993, she said ""No, not at all. When you have a baby it's like the purest love there is, so you don't ever, ever think about things like that. It's instinctive and reassuring to have him with you. And it means you're always trying to do something brilliant, for his sake almost more than yours."
In the years to follow Bjork had a procession of ill-fated relationships including broken engagements to musicians Goldie and Tricky. Then, in 2001, she met contemporary artist Matthew Barney. Today they remain life partners. Their daughter, Isadora, was born in October, 2002. Bjork and Matthew Barney have collaborated on the film project Drawing Restraint 9. They fiercely guard their private life. Sindri is following in the musical footsteps of his mother playing bass with his own band.
Please join me in celebrating pop mom Bjork.
More pop moms:
Photo © Warren du Preez and Nick Thornton-Jones.
Comments
thank you for choosing bjork, someone who personifies the most basic maternal instinct we posses as human beings.