Jonas Åkerlund
Hans Uno Jonas Åkerlund (Swedish: [hɑːns ˈʉ̌ːnʊ ˈjûːnas ˈôːkɛˌɭɵnd]; born 10 November 1965) is a Swedish film and music video director. His video for Madonna's song "Ray of Light" won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form, and a record of five awards at 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, including the Video of the Year.
This article is about the director. For the politician, see Jonas Åkerlund (politician).In 2008 he won a Grammy Award for "Best Long Form Music Video" for directing Madonna's "The Confessions Tour" DVD. In 2014 he won a Grammy Award for "Best Music Film" for his work on Paul McCartney's "Live Kisses" concert film.
Career[edit]
Åkerlund was briefly a member of the Swedish black metal band Bathory from 1983 to 1984. He also directed Candlemass' first video "Bewitched". 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", and has since worked with acts such as Beyoncé, Metallica, Christina Aguilera, U2, Blink-182, P!nk, Rammstein, Britney Spears, and Lady Gaga. He has directed the music video for the Smashing Pumpkins' "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. In 2002, his first full-length film, Spun, debuted.
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" (which was pulled due to its graphic content and the Iraq War), and "Jump". He also directed a documentary film I'm Going to Tell You a Secret about Madonna and her concert special The Confessions Tour: Live from London.
Some of his other work includes the controversial pornographic 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!".[1]
Åkerlund's second movie, Small Apartments (2012), went direct to DVD.[2] Per Gessle, of Roxette, was credited for the music and soundtrack.[2]