After Dinner Speakers: Bjork, Sue Stockdale, David Letterman

Born Bjork Gudmundsdottir in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1965, the eccentric pop chanteuse known as Bjork grew up, not surprisingly, in a highly musical household. Bjork began playing traditional Icelandic folk songs at an early age and released her first album of folk standards when she was only 11. Over the next few years Bjork sang for a series of anarchist punk bands, including Kukl, who were aligned with Crass. In 1986 Bjork and fellow Kukl members Einer Orn and Siggi Baldurson formed the pop group the Sugarcubes. Joined by new members Thor Eldon (with whom Bjork conceived a child in 1986), Magg Ornotfsdottir and Bragi Olafsson, the Sugarcubes released their full-length debut, Life's Too Good, in 1988, winning a cult following in the U.K. and U.S. In 1990 Bjork recorded an album of Icelandic jazz titled Gling Glo, but within a year she had become interested in dance music and collaborated briefly with Graham Masseys of 808 State. As a result of Bjork's new fascination, the final Sugarcubes album, 1992's It's It, was actually a collection of dance remixes of earlier material. Bjork's solo debut album, 1993's aptly titled Debut, quickly became a club favorite and sold nearly three million copies worldwide, spawning the Top 20 singles "Human Behaviour" and "Big Time Sensuality." Relocating to London, Bjork returned in 1995 with Post, which topped sales of Debut thanks to innovative collaborations with techno gurus Graham Massey, Howie B and Tricky. In 2000, Bjork starred in the critically acclaimed film by Danish director Lars von Trier, Dancer In The Dark. The same year she released the album Selmasongs, containing music from the soundtrack. Bjork's latest album, Vespertine, came out in 2001 and was followed by a world tour.