Bjork

Releasing her first album in Iceland aged only 11, Bjork 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 (1993). Named NME album of the year, it was full of bouncy, eccentric club hits like Human Behaviour, Big Time Sensuality and Venus As A Boy, but Bjork'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 4), while albums Post (1995), Homogenic (1997), Vespertine (2001), Medulla (2004) and Volta (2007) all broke into the UK Top 10. Soundtracking and starring in the musical film Dancer In The Dark, Bjork 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.