Powerful voice, personal lyrics only scratch the surface of Bjork (Updated January 16, 2013)

She has been called a womanchild. Eclectic. Controversial. She also has a strong cult following.

No, we're not talking about Lady Gaga.

Björk Guomundsdottir, referred to as Björk, drew notice for her powerful voice, personal lyrics and outlandish costumes long before Gaga was even a blip on the radar of the world music scene. The Icelandic singer-songwriter also achieved recognition in electronic dance, folk, rock, jazz and classical music long before she made headlines for attacking a reporter in the Bangkok airport in 1996.

A bit of a child prodigy who recorded her first album by age 11, Bjork sang for a number of punk bands in her teens before founding the pop group the Sugarcubes in 1986. But she truly found success after striking out on her own, with the 1993 solo album, "Debut", selling nearly three million copies worldwide. It featured two Top 20 singles, "Human Behaviour" and "Big Time Sensuality." It was followed by 1995's "Post," which outsold her first album thanks to a pair of tracks co-written and produced by the trip-hop artist Tricky.

Other noted projects from Björk include 1997's "Homogenic", 2001's "Vespertine", 2004's "Medulla" and 2007's "Volta", her first Top Ten entrance into the U.S. charts. The music came as she battled personal and professional obstacles, including the noted airport incident and problems with an obsessed fan. In 2000, the pop star also appeared on the big screen in the critically acclaimed film "Dancer in the Dark" and won the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival. She was nominated the following year for a Best Song Academy Award for "I've Seen It All."

Nominated for 14 Grammys, two Golden Globes and ranked sixtieth in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Singers of All Time," she has upcoming concert dates at the Le Cirque En Chantier in Paris, France in late February and early March, 2013.