Sigur Rós are a post rock band from Reykjavík, Iceland. They were formed in 1994 by guitarist and vocalist Jón Þór 'Jónsi' Birgisson, bassist Georg Hólm and drummer Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson. The band were joined in 1998 by keyboard player Kjartan Sveinsson.
The band's debut album, Von ('hope'), was released in 1997. Although not a huge commercial success in Iceland at the time, after they had built a following it was re-released in the UK and the US in 2004. The follow-up Ágætis byrjun ('an alright start') took the band to international audiences and opened the door to support slots for Radiohead.
2002 saw the release of the band's enigmatically untitled concept album. The unnamed album contains unlisted tracks, (although an unofficial track listing was published subsequently). The album is sung in a made-up language ('Hopelandish') and the listener is encouraged to put their interpretation of the tracks in an insert book with blank pages which was supplied with the album.
Sigur Rós’ fourth album Takk... ('thank you') was released in 2003 and featured a more rock-orientated sound. The album debuted in the Top 30 in the States. In the UK some of the tracks were used on TV programmes, helping to take the album to over 100,000 sales. Both Takk and the band's second album Ágætis byrjun went platinum in Iceland. Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust ('with a buzz in our ears we play forever') was released in 2008.
Sigur Rós’ music has appeared in the films Vanilla Sky, The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou and in the TV series 24 and C.S.I..
