Bjork inspires Army of fans

Icelandic singer Bjork, who is bringing her live show to Wolverhampton's Civic Hall on April 25, is a "force of nature", according to her biographer.

See also: Singer Bjork's amazing outfits

The star has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award and two Golden Globe awards. Her hits include It's Oh So Quiet, Army of Me and Hyper-ballad.

Author Ian Gittins, who wrote Human Behaviour: Bjork The Stories Behind Every Song, puts her on a par with some of the most acclaimed musicians in the world.

"With the possible exception of Radiohead, no other artist of her stature - 15m album sales and rising - wilfully goes so far off the beaten track and infiltrates the avant-garde into the mainstream so adeptly," he says.

"Bjork has always fascinated me because she is such a unique and idiosyncratically inventive artist.

"Although she is a hugely sophisticated musician, there is a very beguiling, ingenuous honesty at the core of what she does."

Mr Gittins co-wrote Motley Crue star Nikki Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries, which spent more than three months of the New York Times bestseller list. He says Bjork's appeal is simple.

"It really does seem to me that she makes music that deals with the human condition in a way that virtually nobody else does.

"Her voice is a force of nature, of course, an incredible instrument, and musically she is constantly questing, never resting on her laurels."

Bjork is touring to promote Volta, her sixth full-length studio album. Biographer Mr Gittins says fans can expect a treat when they see her live - just don't expect her to play a standard rock concert.

"She puts on a cracking live show, brilliant costumes and over-the-top instrumentation," he explains.

"She is currently touring with an all-female Icelandic brass band with flags flying proudly from their hair!"

The singer was sent up by the likes of French and Saunders for being flighty, but her biographer is in no doubt of her talent.

"The lazy media perception of her as a kooky Icelandic pixie is lazy, patronising and utterly misguided," says Mr Gittins.

"There is no more astute and sussed artist out there."