• 1994-

  Jon Thor Birgisson (Jonsi)Vocals, guitar1994-

  Georg HolmBass1994-

  Kjartan SveinssonKeyboards1998-2013, 2022-

  Orri Pal DyrasonDrums1999-2018
• The band is from Iceland. "Sigur Rós" in Icelandic means "Victory Rose." It also happens to be a very popular girl's name in that country. Lead singer Jón ór Birgisson's little sister is named Sigur Ros.
• Their songs are in Icelandic and the lyrics are a made-up gibberish language that they have created and called "Hopelandic." Jon Jonsi Birgisson told Uncut magazine: "I don't like to go into much detail about the songs, but as a broad rule the faster ones are the happy ones and they are mostly about achievement. And the slower ones are sad, and they are mostly about failure."
• Three of their songs were featured in the soundtrack to the Tom Cruise movie Vanilla Sky. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Shannon - Kathleen, GA, for all above
• Their 1997 debut album, Von, they paid for by painting the studio in exchange for studio time.
• The string quartet that plays with Sigur Rós is called Amiina. Most of their arrangements are improvised.
• Birgisson has been blind in one eye since birth. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Dane - Kaneohe, HI, for above 3
• Jon Thor Birgisson explained the band's Hopelandic language to Q Magazine: "It has a structure that I do sing the same things all the time, but there's no grammar," he said. "When I sing the songs that are in Hopelandic I am singing the same words, the same sounds. It's more similar to English than Icelandic in some ways, it has a similar flow, but you can't translate it."
• Sigur Rós appeared as musicians in the HBO TV series Game of Thrones Season 4 episode "The Lion and the Rose" on April 13, 2014. They performed Tyrion Lannister's song "The Rains of Castamere" at the wedding of King Joffrey and Margaery.
• Sigur Rós first used their Hopelandic language on their 1999 Ágætis byrjun song "Olsen Olsen" and the last section of the title track. The band's subsequent album, ( ), used Hopelandic exclusively for its vocals. Georg Holm told Uncut:
  
  "Jonsi had been singing these songs for a couple of years, and we'd never written lyrics for them. He was just babbling. We tried to write lyrics, and then we thought, why are trying to add something and trying to change it? It sounded great as it was."
  
  Jonsi added: "It was never the idea of singing this gobbledygook language to acquire any special significance. It was really just a way of avoiding being pinned down to having to write words and then having those words tied to meaning."
• After artist Megan Boyd claimed in a now-deleted Instagram post that she was assaulted by the band's drummer Orri Páll Dýrason in Los Angeles in 2013, he announced on October 1, 2018 that he'd left Sigur Ros.
• In March 2018, the Icelandic government accused Sigur Rós of evading 151m króna (£840,000) of tax between 2010 and 2014. The band denied the allegations and said that they had been unaware of the tax evasion, blaming their accountant for the incorrect tax filings. The band also paid back the full amount of tax owed, plus interest.
  
  The case against Sigur Rós was dismissed in May 2021, but an appellate court later overruled it. Three band members were cleared, but the charges against Jónsi and his company Frakkur proceeded. All charges were finally dismissed in March 2023.
  
  The tax evasion case against Sigur Rós was a major scandal in Iceland and damaged the band's reputation. The group said the ongoing saga caused them to lose faith in Iceland after years promoting their country.
• After releasing their 2013 album Kveikur, their tax scandal, along with COVID, kept Sigur Rós from putting out another one until 2023, when they returned with Átta.

Comments: 5

• Kaitlyn from Brick, NjIt should also mention that Jonsi is a vegetarian. Also, not all lyrics are in Hopelandic. Many are, but some are actually in Icelandic.
• Lexie from St. Louis, MoJFY: They have a new ablum coming out mid September (17th I think). Should be good-- i think the tracks have names this time.. heh.
• Michel from Appingedam, NetherlandsThis band rules but you gotta love it!
• Stephanie from La Mirada, CaI love the info provided. Rare bands are sometimes hard to find info for. I'm glad this website has been able to help me. Thanks!
• Cody from San Antonio, TxI can't believe that bands like this are on here, and yet ones like Stve Miller Band, Supertramp, The Yardbirds, and Thin Lizzy aren't.

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