Hera (born 1 April 1983 in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

) is a singer-songwriter from

who now lives in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand. She divides her time between her home in New Zealand and a regular European touring schedule. In 2002, she was named Best Female Singer at the Icelandic Music Awards. A unique physical characteristic is the varying facial art she applies before appearances. She says it is "inspired by

moko In the mythology of Mangaia in the Cook Islands, Moko is a wily character and grandfather of the heroic Ngaru. Moko is a ruler or king of the lizards, and he orders his lizard subjects to climb into the basket of the sky demon Amai-te-rangi Acco ...

and also by Celtic warrior paint". It is intended to represent both her Icelandic and New Zealand heritage. The symbols represent aspects of her life and family, but she keeps most of their meanings private.Hera Sings podcast 1 March, 2007

Biography

Hera was born in

and her family moved to

, New Zealand when she was 13. She started learning classical guitar at the age of eight, and then

jazz guitar Jazz guitar may refer to either a type of electric guitar or a guitar playing style in jazz, using electric amplification to increase the volume of acoustic guitars. In the early 1930s, jazz musicians sought to amplify their sound to be hear ...

after a neighbour taught her how to play ''

The Girl From Ipanema "Garota de Ipanema" ("The Girl from Ipanema") is a Brazilian bossa nova and jazz song. It was a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s and won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Por ...

''. Once she learned how to play and sing at the same time, she began writing her own songs. At 16 she released her first album ''Homemade'', so named because it was recorded at home. Two years later, Hera released her second independently produced album ''Not So Sweet'' and her career started to take off after a track from it, ''Itchy Palms'', was chosen as the title track for the award winning Icelandic film ''Hafið'' ('' The Sea''). The song resulted in her being nominated for two awards at the 2002 Icelandic Music Awards. She won for 'Best Female Singer', a category that had only ever been won by

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

Emilíana Torrini Emilíana Torrini (born 16 May 1977) is an Icelandic singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 2009 single "Jungle Drum", her 1999 album '' Love in the Time of Science'', and her performance of " Gollum's Song" for the 2002 film '' The Lo ...

in the ten-year history of the awards. Her song ''Makebelieve'' from her third album ''Not Your Type!'' was a finalist in the 2002 USA Songwriting Competition, and became the third most played song on Icelandic National Radio in 2003. Her third and subsequent studio albums have been released on Icelandic record label Sena. The year 2003 saw the release of her fourth studio album (and first Icelandic language recording) ''Hafið þennan dag''. Since that time she has toured Iceland and Europe extensively and has opened for artists such as

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...

and

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

. Her fifth album ''Don't Play This'' was released in 2005 and the same year, she played at the Glastonbury Music Festival. In 2007, she played her first gigs in the United States including a performance at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. Hera released her first live album in 2008 titled ''Live at AL's'', recorded on 16 May 2008 at Christchurch music venue Al's Bar. In June of that same year, she began her 2008 European tour with a repeat trip to perform at Glastonbury. Hera's latest album, ''Rattle My Bones'', was released on 15 June 2011. Her song ''Feels So Good'' features on the

Yike Bike The YikeBike mini-farthing is a type of folding electric motorbike released on 2 September 2009 at Eurobike, going into production mid 2010. It weighs and when folded, it is small enough to fit in a carry bag, so it can be transported in an urban ...

promotional video.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Homemade'' (1999) *''Not So Sweet'' (2001) *''Not Your Type!'' (2002) *''Hafið þennan dag'' (2003). Achieved Gold status in Iceland in 2005. *''Don't Play This'' (2005) *''Rattle My Bones'' (2011)

Live albums

*''Live at AL's'' (2008) *''Live at York St. (With Jed Parsons)'' (2013)

Singles

*''Talað við gluggann'' (2003 – Iceland) *''I Wanna Run (Live)'' (2004 – Iceland) *''Feathers in a Bag'' (2005 – Iceland) *''Feels So Good'' (2007 – Iceland) *''Issues'' (with Jed Parsons) (2013)

Compilations

*''Ljósalagið'' (2003) *''Íslensk ástarljóð'' (2003) *''Stóra stundin okkar'' (2004) *''Svona er sumarið 2005'' (2005) *''Svona er sumarið 2006'' (2006) *''Bubbi Morthens – 06.06.06'' (2006) *''Pældu í því sem pælandi er í'' (2006) *''Óskalögin 10'' (2006) *''Ballöður'' (2007) *''Ýmsir – 100 íslensk barnalög'' (2007) *''100 íslenskar ballöður'' (2009) *''100 íslensk í ferðalagið'' (2009) *''100 íslensk lög í fríið'' (2010) *''100 vinsæl barnalög'' (2010) *''Það er bara þú'' (2011)

Facial artwork

Here are some variations of the facial art:
2001 Painting the clouds2008 Iceland2004 without facial artVideo of Makebelieve Girl recording session
in Iceland without facial art

References

External links

Official websiteHera
at

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

Hera
at

Bebo Bebo ( ) was an American Social networking service, social networking website that originally operated from 2005 until its bankruptcy in 2013 and relaunched in February 2021. The site relaunched several times after its bankruptcy with a number ...

Hera
at YouTube
Tonlist.com Icelandic Music siteHera podcasts
at BigPod {{DEFAULTSORT:Hjartardottir, Hera 1983 births Living people Hera Hjartardottir Hera Hjartardottir Hera Hjartardottir 21st-century Icelandic women singers 21st-century guitarists 21st-century women guitarists