Visionary, innovator, actor: 10 reasons to celebrate Björk’s incredible artistic footprint

The Icelandic native has always followed her vision, even when that has meant shedding many of those who were seduced by her first couple of solo albums. Her more recent work may be far lesser known, but it remains utterly absorbing for those of us who have stayed for the journey.

With Björk set to play Dublin next week - in what's arguably the most anticipated show of the year - here are 10 reasons why she should be cherished:

1 The young protégé

Björk's story begins not with her extraordinary debut solo album but with a bunch of pop misfits in her hometown of Reykjavík. She first started singing with The Sugarcubes when she was just 14 and scored a big hit back home with 'Birthday'.

The band attracted great critical acclaim for debut album Life's Too Good in 1988 - the first album from Iceland to make any impact overseas - but the standout album was their third and final one, 1992's Stick Around for Joy. Its lead single 'Hit' was inescapable in indie clubs throughout this country.

2 The singular talent

Björk didn't expend much time thinking about a title for her first solo album. Debut arrived in 1993 - less than 12 months after The Sugarcubes called it quits - and few were prepared for what an extraordinary album it was. Quite simply, it's one of the most singular and arresting albums of its era.

Virtually every song is a classic, not least 'Crying;' and the sensuous 'Venus as a Boy'. Björk's vocals were unlike anyone else's - her heavily accented English was a refreshing antidote to the male-dominated indie of the time.

3 The fully-formed star

When any artist comes out of the blocks with a beloved, era-defining album, there is always a danger that its follow-up will disappoint. It happens to most, but not to Björk. Post was every bit the equal of Debut, and like its predecessor was masterfully produced by Nellee Hooper. Again, there's barely any filler - 'Hyperballad', 'Isobel' and, especially, 'It's Oh So Quiet' demonstrated Björk's uncanny ability to fashion ­modern pop songs that hark back to a different time and yet still sound remarkably fresh today.

4 The video icon

Björk has always placed great importance on image, whether that's the distinct, otherworldly looks she has cultivated for herself or the singular album artwork that's been apparent since Debut, and she has also mastered the art of the promo video.  And two of the best videos of the 1990s came in the form of a pair of songs from the Post album. The video for 'Army of Me' is surreal and unsettling, while 'It's Oh So Quiet' was inspired by the classic Hollywood dance moves once choreographed by Busby Berkeley.

5 The innovator

If Björk's solo career has been characterised by a lack of homogeneity, she has been determined to plough an avant-garde furrow. In fact, her first three albums - Debut, Post and Homogenic - now seem comparatively commercial considering what followed. It's true that some of those who loved early Björk didn't stay with her for the ride as her career progressed - but they're missing out. There's some wonderfully innovative music in Björk's middle period, not least on her 2004 album, Medúlla, which is almost entirely made up of vocals. The ultimate distillation of the idea of the voice as instrument.

6 The actor

It wasn't a huge surprise when Björk made the transition to acting, especially when she made her debut movie appearance in an arthouse project from confrontational Danish director Lars von Trier, one of the most polarising film-makers around. The film was Dancer in the Dark and Björk played the part of a US-based Czech factory worker who, due to horrendous bad luck, found herself sentenced to death. It's one of the strangest, yet most compelling musicals you're ever likely to see, and her performance is gripping. The end-sequence in which Selma is executed lives long in the memory for those who've seen it.

7 The avant-garde artiste

Although Björk has long protected her private life - and, in her early days, she had little time for the paparazzi - she was open about her romantic and professional relationship with the artist Matthew Barney. The pair worked together on a number of projects, including the defiantly avant-garde Drawing Restraint 9. The couple have a daughter, Ísadóra, but their relationship ended after 10 years. Björk poured her heartbreak into the arrestingly raw Vulnicura album in 2015 - arguably the most painful record she has yet made.

8 The visionary

Björk has always had a yen for experimentation - in 2011 she released Biophilia, which was billed as the world's first app album. Essentially a multimedia release, it explored - in an oblique way - the global financial crisis and its impact on her homeland as well as climate change and its disastrous impact on the world's biodiversity. The app's intro was narrated by David Attenborough. In 2014, it became the first app included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

9 The talent-spotter

Throughout her career, Björk has collaborated with many left-field artists, giving them a leg-up in the process. First up was electronic producer Leila Arab, whom she selected to play with her on her first two solo tours. Then, in the early 2000s, she championed the Canadian Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq, who joined her on tour and sung with her on the vocal-heavy Medúlla. Bjork has been a friend to artists in her native land too, not least Ólöf Arnalds, a vocalist with the Icelandic band Múm - and she had her long-term record label One Little Indian reissue one of Arnalds' solo records.

10 The great live performer

It's a cliché to suggest that some artists never repeat themselves but that's certainly the case with Björk. She doesn't tour as regularly as many of her peers but when she goes out on the road it's a completely different experience to what she's done before. Her latest tour, Cornucopia, which calls to Dublin on Thursday, has been ecstatically received. The NME described her recent London show as "an audacious, expectation-disrupting spectacular from an artist unbothered with people-pleasing". The theatrical show, directed by Argentinian artist Lucrecia Martel, draws heavily on Björk's most recent album, Utopia. The show features a 50-piece choir and no fewer than seven flautists. It's set to be quite unlike any other show in Ireland this year.

Björk plays the 3Arena, Dublin on November 28