About Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson

Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson was born 11th april 1945. His father, Vilhjálmur Hinrik Ívarsson was a well known musician in Iceland and his sister Eldey (better known as Elly) became famous to Icelandic people long before Vilhjálmur's debut. Vilhjálmur's musical talent showed at a very young age but he never intended to be a professional musician. He studied both law and medicine while he provided for his family and education with music. In 1965 he recorded his first album as a member of 'Hljómsveit Ingimars Eydal' (Ingimar Eydal's band) and another one in 1966. Soon Vilhjálmur's passion for music got the better of him, he quit school after two years of medicine and his marriage went down the drain. Music became Vilhjálmur's only income in 1967, but being a successful musician in a country with a 250.000 population is rarely enough and in 1970 Vilhjálmur became a pilot and moved to Luxemburg. Living far away didn't stop him in recording two LPs in Iceland, 'Glugginn hennar Kötu' (1972) and 'Fundnar hljóðritanir' (1973). In 1974 Vilhjálmur got married and moved back to Iceland and in 1975 he opened Iceland's first complete recording studio. The following year he released two albums: 'Með sínu nefi' and 'Hana nú'. In 1978 Vilhjálmur was planning a new album when he passed away in a tragic car accident in Luxemburg while working as a pilot, he was 33 years old. Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson remains one of Iceland's most respected musicians.