Jonas Åkerlund


Hans Uno Jonas Åkerlund is a Swedish filmmaker and musician who is best known for his work in music videos. Åkerlund was a member of the Swedish black metal band Bathory. According to Jillian Drachman Metal Injection, "many people do not know that Jonas Åkerlund is a musician."
He has directed well-known videos for artists such as Queens of the Stone Age, Christina Aguilera, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Blink-182, Blondie, Duran Duran, Lady Gaga, David Guetta, Jamiroquai, Lenny Kravitz, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Metallica, Moby, Ozzy Osbourne, P!nk, the Prodigy, the Smashing Pumpkins, Rammstein, Britney Spears, the Rolling Stones, U2, Robbie Williams and Ghost.
Åkerlund's video for Madonna's song "Ray of Light" won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video and a record five MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year. In 2008, he won the Grammy Award for Best Music Film for directing Madonna's The Confessions Tour DVD, and won the award again in 2014 for his work on Paul McCartney's Live Kisses DVD. He also directed the films Spun, Horsemen, Small Apartments, Lords of Chaos, and Polar.
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Career

Åkerlund was a member of the Swedish black metal band Bathory from 1983 to 1984. He directed Candlemass' first music video "Bewitched", which was also his debut as a music video director. He then became the main video director for Roxette. In 1997, he directed the video for the Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up", which sparked controversy due to its depiction of drug use, violence, and nudity. In 1998, he worked with Madonna on the song "Ray of Light". He directed the music video for the Smashing Pumpkins' song "Try, Try, Try", from which a short film entitled Try was spawned. He was also the designer and photographer for the Roxette album Room Service in 2001. His first full-length film, Spun, depicting three days in the lives of Methamphetamine addicts, debuted in 2002.
Åkerlund directed commercials for Swedish clothing retailer MQ and the re-imagining of the Devo song "Watch Us Work It" used in Dell Computers commercials. He is a long-time collaborator of Madonna, having worked on such music videos as "Music", "American Life", and "Jump". He also directed the documentary film I'm Going to Tell You a Secret about Madonna and her concert special The Confessions Tour: Live from London.
Åkerlund's other work includes the controversial music video for Rammstein's "Pussy", the video for the song "Telephone" by Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, "Moves like Jagger" by Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera, and Duran Duran's single "Girl Panic!" In 2009, Åkerlund's second film, the psychological thriller Horseman, had a limited release before going to home video.
Åkerlund's third movie, Small Apartments, went direct to DVD. Per Gessle, of Roxette, was credited for the music and soundtrack. In 2018, Åkerlund's fourth film, Lords of Chaos, premiered at Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, receiving its wide release the next year. The film is adapted from the 1998 book of the same name, and is a historical fiction account of the 1990s Norwegian black metal scene, told from the perspective of Mayhem co-founder Euronymous.
In 2019, Åkerlund released his fifth film on the streaming service Netflix, Polar, an action-noir film starring Mads Mikkelsen based on the graphic novel.

Videography

1988
1989
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
'''2019'''

Filmography

Feature films
Concert and documentary films
'''Television'''

Awards