The discography of
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
ic singer-songwriter
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 voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...
consists of ten
studio albums
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...
, two
soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...
s, one
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
, six
remix album
A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson ('' Aerial Pandemonium Ballet'', 1971). As of 200 ...
s, eight
live albums, four
box set
A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists ...
s, three collaboration albums, forty-five
singles, ten
promotional single
A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...
s and eight remixes series. All of her recordings were released under
One Little Independent Records.
Björk started her career after a recording of her rendition of
Tina Charles' 1976 song "
I Love to Love" became popular on Icelandic radio. Her
first eponymous solo release, considered
juvenilia
Juvenilia are literary, musical or artistic works produced by authors during their youth. Written juvenilia, if published at all, usually appear as retrospective publications, some time after the author has become well known for later works. Bac ...
, was released under
Fálkinn label in 1977. Thereafter, Björk ventured into bands, singing as the lead vocalist of groups like
Tappi Tíkarrass
Tappi Tíkarrass is an Icelandic punk band which added elements of funk, rock and jazz to their music, marking a difference from other traditional bands at that time. The band is also considered the first serious music project of now renowned sing ...
,
Kukl,
the Elgar Sisters and, most notably,
the Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes () were an Icelandic alternative rock band from Reykjavík formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992. For most of their career, the band consisted of Björk Guðmundsdóttir (vocals, keyboards), Einar Örn Benediktsson (vocals, trumpe ...
. In 1990 she released ''
Gling-Gló'' alongside
Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar, a cover album of
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
standards.
Björk released her first solo studio album, titled ''
Debut'', in 1993. A
sleeper hit
In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...
in
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, the record eventually hit the top three in the
Official Charts Company
The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...
and received platinum certifications from
BPI,
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
and
ARIA
In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...
. The album included the singer's debut single "
Human Behaviour
Human behavior is the potential and expressed capacity ( mentally, physically, and socially) of human individuals or groups to respond to internal and external stimuli throughout their life. Behavior is driven by genetic and environmental ...
", which gained chart success on ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
Alternative
Alternative or alternate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''
* Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...
and
Dance
Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
charts. The album was later reissued to include the third single "
Play Dead", taken from the soundtrack of ''
The Young Americans'', which became her first top 20 single on BPI charts. Subsequent singles "
Big Time Sensuality" and "
Violently Happy" also obtained moderate chart success and recurrent rotation on
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
. Her second album, ''
Post'', was released in June 1995, and peaked at number two in the UK and was certified platinum by BPI and RIAA. The album spawned three top 10 singles in the UK, including "
Army of Me", "
Hyperballad
"Hyperballad" (sometimes written as "Hyper-Ballad") is a song by the Icelandic musician Björk, released as the fourth single from her second solo album, '' Post'' (1995). It was written by Björk and co-produced by her long time collaborator N ...
" and "
It's Oh So Quiet
"It's Oh So Quiet" is a song by American singer Betty Hutton, released in 1951 as the B-side to the single "Murder, He Says". It is a cover of the German song "Und jetzt ist es still", Select Work ID and search for 390157329. Performers include ...
", which became her best-selling single and was certified gold by BPI. The album was followed by a companion remix album, called ''
Telegram
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...
'' (1996). Björk focused on combining
electronic beats with
string instrument
In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners.
Musicians play some ...
s with her third album ''
Homogenic
''Homogenic'' is the third studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 22 September 1997 by One Little Indian Records. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell (British musician), Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B, and Markus Dra ...
'' (1997), which sold 1 million copies around
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
.
In 2000, Björk starred in
Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier (né Trier; born 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter.
Beginning in the late-1960s as a child actor working on Danish television series ''Secret Summer'', von Trier's career has spanned more than five decad ...
's feature film ''
Dancer in the Dark
''Dancer in the Dark'' is a 2000 musical psychological tragedy film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who suffers from a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to p ...
'', for which she also composed the companion soundtrack ''
Selmasongs''. "
I've Seen It All
"I've Seen It All" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for the ''Dancer in the Dark'' soundtrack, '' Selmasongs'' (2000). It was written by the singer, along with Sjón and Lars von Trier (who also directed the film). It was released a ...
", a promotional single from the album, received an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nomination for
Best Original Song. ''
Vespertine'', the singer's fourth studio album, was released in 2001 and was certified Gold in the UK. The following year, Björk released her ''
Greatest Hits
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...
'' compilation, a companion box-set, ''
Family Tree
A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms.
Representations of ...
'', and a series of live albums, collected in the ''
Live Box'' box set. In 2004, Björk released her fifth studio album, titled ''
Medúlla'', composed almost entirely using human voices and sounds. Its first promotional single, "
Oceania
Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...
", was commissioned by the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
for the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece.
The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
and debuted at the
2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
. The next year, Björk starred in and composed the soundtrack for
Matthew Barney
Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967) is an American contemporary artist and film director who works in the fields of sculpture, film, photography and drawing. His works explore connections among geography, biology, geology and mythology as well ...
's ''
Drawing Restraint 9''. Björk released her sixth studio album, ''
Volta'', in 2007. The album was her first to reach the top 10 on the
''Billboard'' 200 chart, while its first single "
Earth Intruders" is Björk highest charting single on the
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...
chart. The 2009 release ''
Voltaïc'', is a companion box-set consisting of live and remix recordings. Björk's seventh studio album ''
Biophilia'' (2011), was a multimedia project encompassing various apps for each song, a series of educational workshops in four continents, a
worldwide tour and a
documentary
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
. After releasing several remixes as a part of "The
Crystalline
A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macrosc ...
Series" and the "Biophilia Remix Series", Björk released a remix album titled ''
Bastards'' in 2012. After the end of the tour, the singer released her sixth live album, ''
Björk: Biophilia Live''.
Coinciding with a
MoMa
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
retrospective
A retrospective (from Latin ', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in software development, popular culture, and the arts. ...
on her career, Björk released her eighth studio album, ''
Vulnicura'' in 2015. The album was followed by the "Vulnicura Remix Series", an acoustic album called ''
Vulnicura Strings'', a live album, ''
Vulnicura Live'', and an immersive exhibition, ''
Björk Digital'', which culminated in the release of a
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...
video album, ''
Vulnicura VR''. Björk's subsequent ninth and tenth studio albums, ''
Utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...
'' and ''
Fossora'', were released in 2017 and 2022 respectively. Both were promoted through remixes and a theatrical concert tour,
Cornucopia
In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (; ), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts. In Greek, it was called the " horn of ...
. In 2025, the tour was released as a
concert film
A concert film or concert movie is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert, by either a musician or a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian.
Ea ...
, and as a
live and video album.
Albums
Studio albums
Soundtrack albums
Compilation albums
Remix albums
Live albums
Box sets
Collaboration albums
Video albums
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Promotional singles
Remixes series
Other recordings
See also
*
Björk videography
Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk has released 67 music videos (including 3 as a featured artist), 7 concert films, 5 music video compilations, 2 television performance video albums, 4 documentary videos and 2 video albums box sets. She also ap ...
*
List of songs recorded by Björk
Icelandic singer and songwriter Björk has recorded more than two hundred songs for ten studio albums, two soundtrack albums, a compilation album, six remix albums and three collaboration albums. She is the sole writer and producer of most of the ...
*
The Sugarcubes discography
* ''
Enjoyed: A Tribute to Björk's Post'', a
tribute album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...
released by
Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.
''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...
*
List of best-selling albums by country (Iceland)
Notes
References
External links
*
* Björk discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjork Discography
Discography
Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...
Discographies of Icelandic artists
Pop music discographies