Emilíana Torrini

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Emilíana Torrini

Background information
Birth name Emilíana Torrini
Born May 16, 1977 (1977-05-16) (age 32)
Origin Iceland
Genres Alternative, Pop
Occupations Singer, Songwriter
Instruments Voice
Years active 1994-present
Labels EMI, Rough Trade Records
Associated acts Kylie Minogue, Sneaker Pimps
Website www.emilianatorrini.com

Emilíana Torrini (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", during the ending 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, she 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. Because of name regulations in Iceland, her father Salvatore Torrini was forced by the Icelandic Name Committee to change his name to "Davíð Eiríksson", which also implied that Emilíana Torrini had to use the surname after her father in the traditional way; "Emilíana Torrini Davíðsdóttir". A few years later, the name regulations were changed [1], and she was again allowed to use her original surname[2][3].

She grew up with her parents in Iceland. Her father owns and operates a well-known Italian restaurant in Iceland (Italia, located at Laugavegur 11 in Reykjavik) where she once worked as a waitress. After playing a session of gigs in London, Torrini decided to stay and live there.

[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" from 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. Also in 2002, Torrini sang vocals on Paul Oakenfold's song "Hold Your Hand" taken from his Bunkka album[4]. 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

[edit] Albums

[edit] EPs

[edit] Singles

[edit] Collaborations

[edit] Songs on compilations

[edit] References

  1. ^ Information on Icelandic Surnames
  2. ^ Excerpt in fan forum from an interview by Mark Radcliffe at BBC, January 17. 2005
  3. ^ Icelandic names
  4. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUSuPe0Kcbg
  5. ^ Zobbel (2007-06-16). "Chart Log UK". Zobbel. http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_T.HTM. Retrieved 2008-09-10. 
  6. ^ "Official Album Chart for the week ending 20 September 2008". ChartsPlus (Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd) (369): 5–8. 
  7. ^ a b c Chart Stats - Emiliana Torrini

[edit] External links

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