Björk

"There are lots of misconceptions about my music. People always want to classify what you do. I feel what I'm doing now is a natural continuation of what I've been doing in Iceland for the last 10 years. So I would rather everyone just think of this music as 'Björk music'.

"Björk music is very flexible, very intense and very rich, but also very whimsical and always changing. I get bored very easily, I think... Yes, I think that is the reason why I do what I do: I get bored very easily."

Bjork released her self-titled debut album in her native Iceland at the age of 12 in 1977. In her teens she formed the bands Exodus, Tappi Tikarrass and Kukl, before the latter morphed into the unholy pop ensemble known as Sugarcubes. They released three brilliantly quirky albums before their singer decided to go it solo.

Debut (1993) topped many critics' end-of-year polls and remains one of the most influential and highly regarded albums of all time. Post followed in 1995, with the icy Homogenic album appearing two years later. In 2000, Bjork starred in Lars Von Trier's exceptional film Dancer Of The Dark, also penning the soundtrack, entitled Selmasongs after the name of her character. While continually wowing critics and breaking ground musically, Bjork found herself at a creative turnstiles with Vespertine (2001), which seemed to tread water somewhat. Nevertheless, her Greatest Hits package of 2002 was near flawless.