Sjonni's Friends ( is, Vinir Sjonna) were an Icelandic

tribute band A tribute act, tribute band or tribute group is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act. Tribute acts include individual performers who mimic the songs and style of an artist, such as Elvi ...

also known at times as Sigurjón's Friends. The band formed in early 2011 when the Icelandic singer

Sjonni Brink Sigurjón Brink (29 August 1974 – 17 January 2011), better known as Sjonni Brink or just the mononym Sjonni, was an Icelandic musician and singer. He was one of the founders of the Icelandic theatre group Vesturport, which received the honourabl ...

(real name Sigurjón Brink) died just days before he was to perform his entry "

Aftur heim "Coming Home" ( is, "Aftur heim") is the Icelandic entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. It was performed by the tribute band Sjonni's Friends ( is, Vinir Sjonna, link=no), made up of musicians Hreimur Örn Heimisson, Gunnar Ólason, Benedi ...

" at Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins, the Icelandic national final for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2011

On 12 February 2011, the group won the Icelandic national selection; ''Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2011'' with the song "

". The original artist was meant to be

Sigurjón Brink Sigurjón Brink (29 August 1974 – 17 January 2011), better known as Sjonni Brink or just the mononym Sjonni, was an Icelandic musician and singer. He was one of the founders of the Icelandic theatre group Vesturport, which received the honourabl ...

himself, however on 17 January 2011 before he was set to compete in the third semi-final, Sigurjón unexpectedly died, due to natural causes, at his home in

Garðabær Garðabær () is a municipality in the Capital Region of Iceland. History Garðabær is a growing town in the Capital Region. It is the sixth largest town in Iceland with a population of 13,872 (Sept 1, 2013). The site of Garðabær has been inha ...

. Sigurjón's family decided, on reflection that they would like for the song to remain in the competition, and that it should be performed by a tribute band, formed after his death, consisting of Sigurjón's real life musician friends. The group made it past the first semi-final into the final, where the group won the right to represent

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 ...

in the

. Band member Gunnar Ólason had previously represented Iceland in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2001 The Eurovision Song Contest 2001 was the 46th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song " Fly on the Wings of Love" by Olsen Brothers. Organised by the E ...

as part of the band

Two Tricky 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

Eurovision Song Contest 2011

The actual Eurovision competition was held in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in May 2011 where the formation Sjonni's Friends sang " Coming Home", an English version of "Aftur heim". The first semi-final took place in

Esprit Arena Merkur Spielarena (stylized as MERKUR SPIEL-ARENA), previously known as the Esprit Arena (until 2 August 2018), the LTU Arena (until June 2009), and as the Düsseldorf Arena (during the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest), is a multi-functional footb ...

in Düsseldorf on 10 May 2011. Nineteen country entries, including Iceland, took part. Sjonni's Friends performed fourteenth, finishing 4th (6th at the televoting and 3rd with the jury vote). They moved to the finals of the competition that were held on 14 May 2011 with 25 finalists taking part. They were the 21st entry to perform. They came 20th overall with 61 points.

Members

Members of the band were: *Gunnar Ólason *Vignir Snær Vigfússon *Pálmi Sigurhjartarson *

Matthías Matthíasson Matthías Matthíasson is an Icelandic musician best known for being the vocalist of the Icelandic tribute band Sjonni's Friends and being the singing voice of Sportacus in the children's television series '' LazyTown''. Life and career Matth� ...

*Hreimur Örn Heimisson *Benedikt Brynleifsson Some have continued with solo singing careers. Vignir Snær Vigfússon came back in 2014 to take part in Söngvakeppnin 2014, the qualification rounds for selecting Icelandic song for the

2014 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European B ...

with the song "Elsku þú", but failed to win. Matthías Matthíasson also returned in Söngvakeppnin 2020 with the song "Dreyma", but also failed to win.

Discography

;Sjonni's Friends *2011: "

" retitled " Coming Home" ;Member releases *2014: Vignir Snær Vigfússon - "Elsku þú"

References

{{Authority control Icelandic pop music groups Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2011 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Iceland Tribute bands