Emilíana Torrini

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Emilíana Torrini

Background information
Birth name Emilíana Torrini Davíðsdóttir
Born May 16, 1977 (1977-05-16) (age 31)
Website www.emilianatorrini.com

Emilíana Torrini Davíðsdóttir (born May 16, 1977) is an Icelandic singer, best known for her 1999 album Love in the Time of Science and for performing "Gollum's Song", for the end credits of Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Torrini grew up in Kópavogur, where at the age of 7, joined a choir as a soprano, until she went to opera school at the age of 15. In 1994, she became well-known in Iceland after winning the song competition of junior colleges in Iceland (Icelandic: Söngkeppni framhaldsskólanna), at the age of 17, singing "I Will Survive". Her father is Italian and her mother Icelandic, with whom she grew up in Iceland. Her father owns and operates a well-known Italian restaurant in Iceland, where she once worked as a waitress.

[edit] Music career

From 1994 to 1996, Torrini released three albums in Iceland, Spoon (with a band of the same name), Crouçie d'Où La, and Merman. But she gained fame only in 1999 with Love in the Time of Science (produced by Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears). Torrini was able to sing "Gollum's Song", the end theme of Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers when fellow Icelander Björk backed out due to pregnancy. In 2005 she released the album Fisherman's Woman featuring the singles "Sunny Road" and "Heartstopper." In 2006, Torrini was nominated for the Icelandic Music Awards held in Reykjavík in four categories: Pop Album of the Year, Song of the Year (Sunny Road), Singer of the Year and Video of the Year (Sunny Road, Directed by Ali Taylor at Sherbet). She won all except Song of the Year. In January of 2007, a demo of her song Beggars Prayer was featured in an episode of the tv-series Grey's Anatomy. It remains unreleased. She intends to release a new album, currently untitled, in September 2008.

[edit] Collaborations

She has been a member of Icelandic artist group GusGus, and contributed vocals to several songs on their debut Polydistortion (1997), most notably "Why", which she sometimes still performs live. She co-wrote Kylie Minogue’s "Slow" and "Someday" off her Body Language album in 2003. She also produced "Slow" along with Dan Carey; the two were nominated for a Best Dance Recording Grammy Award in 2005 for their work on the track. Prior to these, she contributed vocals to songs on Thievery Corporation's 2002 record The Richest Man in Babylon. Torrini has toured with Moby, Sting, Dido, Travis, Tricky, and Adem.

[edit] Discography

Torrini at the Orange Music Experience Festival, Fisherman's Woman tour, Haifa, Israel, 2005-06-28
Torrini at the Orange Music Experience Festival, Fisherman's Woman tour, Haifa, Israel, 2005-06-28

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

[edit] Collaborations

[edit] Songs on compilations

[edit] References

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[edit] External links