Aurora Aksnes (2)

Aurora Aksnes (; born 15 June 1996), known simply as Aurora (stylized in all capital letters), is a Norwegian singer, songwriter and record producer. Referred to as the "Fairy of Pop", she is a defining figure in contemporary Nordic pop, known for her introspective songwriting, ethereal soundscapes, and emotional depth.

Aurora first gained recognition as a teenager in Norway, quickly emerging as one of the country's most notable pop acts of the 2010s. Her debut studio album, ''All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend'' (2016), incorporated electropop and folk as musical styles. The album topped the Norwegian Albums Chart for two consecutive weeks and was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Her follow-up project was a two-part concept album: ''Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1)'' was released in 2018, with ''A Different Kind of Human (Step 2)'' arriving in 2019. Her fourth studio album, ''The Gods We Can Touch'' (2022), became her first top 10 entry in the UK and her second number one in Norway. This was followed by her fifth studio album, ''What Happened to the Heart?'' (2024), which became her second top 10 album in the UK and also charted within the top 10 in Germany, Norway, Scotland, and the Netherlands.

Known for blending electropop, folk, and art pop, she has been described as a pioneer of the Norwegian art pop scene. Initially trained on piano, Aurora gradually expanded her musical involvement to include percussion and production. Beyond her solo work, Aurora has collaborated with a range of artists including Jacob Collier, Wu Qing-feng, Ane Brun, Sondre Lerche, Tom Odell, Askjell and the Chemical Brothers. In 2022, she worked with renowned composer Hans Zimmer, contributing vocals to the ''Frozen Planet II'' soundtrack.

Aurora's accolades include four Spellemannprisen, three Norwegian ''GAFFA'' Awards, and one Silver Clef Award. She appeared in the 2025 edition of ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30. As of July 2021, Aurora had sold over one million albums worldwide.

Early life

Aurora was born on 15 June 1996 at Stavanger University Hospital in Stavanger, the youngest of three daughters to midwife May Britt (née Froastad) and garage door salesman Jan Øystein Aksnes. Her oldest sister, Miranda, is a makeup artist and former teacher. Her other sister Viktoria is a fashion designer, stylist, and blogger. She spent her first three years in Høle, a small town where her parents had lived for 15 years. In Høle, Aurora developed her taste for nature, singing, and traditional clothing, such as hats and long skirts. Later the family moved further north in western Norway, to a house in the small village of Drange, located in the woodlands of the Os mountains, a remote municipality in Hordaland, near Bergen and Lysefjord (a fjord which translates to "fjord of light"). Aurora said of this place that: "There are almost no cars, and the roads are small and bumpy, and there are lots of trees everywhere; it's very quiet, and the internet is bad." She has also compared it to the fictional land of Narnia.

She calls herself a "forest person" due to being surrounded by nature, her love of "climb ngtrees", and being "isolated, safe and hidden". She has also shown interest in the ocean, since she lived close to the sea, and her parents have a sailboat. When she attended school, her sisters—Miranda (currently her makeup artist) and Viktoria Aksnes (currently her costume designer)—worried that she might be bullied due to her eccentric personality and style of dress. Instead, Aurora's classmates asked for more time than she was willing to give, and she instead preferred to spend time in the forest. She also claimed that withdrawing into natural spaces gave her time to philosophize and discover the "power" of her own mind. As a child, she states that "I used to be terrified of people who wanted to hug me"; "I did not like to be hugged as a child. And I used to be terrified of one of my teachers at school, but then I met him a few months ago, and it was really nice. It's weird how things change."

One of her earliest musical memories is finding an electric piano in her parents' attic that once belonged to her sister Miranda. She remembers being fascinated by the melodies that could be produced on that instrument and singing along to the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" around the family table. Her parents sang that song in a choir as a hobby. Aurora is the only member of her family to pursue a musical career. She started learning to play piano when she was six by playing the songs she listened to: "I really love classic music, and when I found this piano in the attic, I just started pressing the keys and trying to figure out my favorite classical songs. I started to make melodies that I recognized. There was something special about being able to play just by yourself – something about the emotion in it made me want to continue playing." At age nine, she began writing songs. She has mentioned being influenced at that time by artists like Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Enya, and the Chemical Brothers.

Her parents did not encourage her to pursue this activity as a career or hobby, but she went from imitating classical music to composing her own material, preferring to keep her music private. She also aspired to become a doctor, a physicist or a dancer, and she took dance classes from 6 to 16 years old and performed in a contemporary dance group. The group participated at the Norwegian Youth Festival of Art twice, dancing with the songs "Decode" by Paramore and "Feeling Good" in the background. They also danced to Michael Jackson's "Ghosts" at an event in 2011. She also expressed that her dislike of her own voice was a reason not to think of being a singer.

According to Aurora, the first song she ever finished writing was titled "The Lonely Man". The first job she had before embarking on her music career was washing a pizza restaurant on the outside using a hose. Several songs were written at this stage of her life. Another of her early compositions was "I Had a Dream", which referred to how hard the world can be. Although she considered it a "really long and boring song about world peace", she performed it once at her high school's leaving ceremony. The recording of her song "Puppet" (which was originally made as a Christmas gift for her parents) and a video filmed by a classmate of her school performance were uploaded online without her permission, which made her angry. She was soon discovered by a representative of the agency of Artists Made Management, a Norwegian management company, who invited Aurora to visit their office for a meeting in early 2013. Aurora initially denied the proposal: "At first I thought no", she recalls, "but then my mum said I should think about the idea of sharing my music with the world because maybe there's someone out there who desperately needs it. And that could actually be a good thing". In a few hours, both songs received thousands of visits in Norway, which earned Aurora a fan base on Facebook.

Career

2012–2016: ''Running with the Wolves'' and ''All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend''

When Aurora self-released her debut single "Puppet" in December 2012 under her birth name, it gained traction in Norway, hinting at her early potential. In 2014, following the local success of "Puppet," she signed recording contracts with Petroleum Records, Decca, and Glassnote Records. That same year, her single "Awakening" earned her the title of Untouched of the Week on NRK Urørt, a radio program from NRK P3. Her third single, "Under Stars", released in December 2014, received critical praise in Europe and the United States for her distinctive vocal style, establishing her as a rising talent for 2015. Her next single, "Runaway," released in February 2015, further broadened her audience, catching the attention of artists like Katy Perry and Troye Sivan.

Aurora's debut EP, '' Running with the Wolves'', was released in May 2015, following the single of the same name in April, which was accompanied by a music video two months later. The EP garnered positive reviews from online music publications and national media, boosted by airplay on BBC Radio. To promote the EP, Aurora performed at major summer festivals, including Way Out West, Wilderness, and Green Man. Her subsequent single, "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)", released in September, received widespread acclaim from radio stations, music blogs, and the national press. In November, she recorded a cover of Oasis" for the annual John Lewis Christmas advert. The following month, Aurora performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, an event she described as deeply meaningful, having watched it with her family for years. Her performance earned praise from host Jay Leno. That year, she sold out a headline show in London and supported Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men at Brixton Academy.

In early 2016, Aurora contributed a cover of David Bowie's "Life on Mars" for the HBO series ''Girls'' and was featured on the British electronic duo Icarus' track "Home". Her single " Conqueror", released in January with a music video the following month, had previously appeared on the ''FIFA 16'' soundtrack. Aurora's debut studio album, ''All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend'', was released in March 2016 to widespread critical acclaim. The album earned a Spellemannprisen nomination for Album of the Year and had sold 500,000 copies worldwide by September 2018. To support the album, she embarked on an international concert tour beginning in the Netherlands, which spanned over a year. Aurora made her American television debut performing "Conqueror" on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'', followed by appearances on ''The Howard Stern Show'' and ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'', where she performed "Life on Mars" and "I Went Too Far". That year, she won the Spellemannprisen for Newcomer of the Year, along with a 250,000- kroner scholarship from Gramo. Aurora also partnered with YouTube for a creative content initiative, starring in a documentary titled ''Nothing is Eternal'', directed by Isaac Ravishankara and produced by ''The Fader''.

At the 2017 Spellemannprisen, Aurora won two awards: Music Video of the Year for "I Went Too Far", directed by Arni & Kinski, and Pop Soloist for ''All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend''.

2017–2019: ''Infections of a Different Kind'' and ''A Different Kind of Human''

Following the release of ''All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend'', Aurora announced in May 2016 that she had begun writing and producing her second studio album, describing her debut as the "first album of many." In 2017, she contributed a cover of " Scarborough Fair" for the Brazilian telenovela ''Deus Salve o Rei'', also appearing in its opening sequence.

On 16 April 2018, Aurora released " Queendom" as the lead single from her upcoming two-part album, followed by " Forgotten Love" on 17 August. The album, recorded in France in January 2018 with producers Askjell, Roy Kerr, and Tim Bran, saw Aurora deeply involved in the production process. The new material explored themes of politics, sexuality, and empowerment, inspired by interactions with fans during her debut tour, while maintaining some lyrical continuity with her first album. The music video for "Queendom," released in May 2018, emphasized inclusivity, particularly for her LGBTQ+ fanbase, featuring a scene where Aurora kissed a female dancer to symbolize acceptance of all forms of love. She previewed several new songs at festivals such as Lollapalooza and Coachella. The first part, ''Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1)'', an eight-track release, was released on 28 September 2018, with Aurora describing its closing track as "the most important song I've ever written." The second part, ''A Different Kind of Human (Step 2)'', followed on 7 June 2019, with "Animal" and "The River" as singles. Aurora supported both releases with a headlining tour starting in Manchester in late 2018 and performances at festivals including Glastonbury, Groovin' the Moo, and Outside Lands.

In April 2019, Aurora co-wrote and provided vocals for three tracks—"Eve of Destruction," "Bango," and "The Universe Sent Me"—on '' No Geography'', the ninth studio album by The Chemical Brothers. Later that year, she contributed backing vocals to " Into the Unknown" from Disney's ''Frozen II'', released in November 2019, and performed it live at the 92nd Academy Awards in February 2020 with Idina Menzel and a chorus of international singers representing the song's translations. Her solo version of the song was released as a single in March 2020.

2020–2023: ''The Gods We Can Touch''

In May 2020, Aurora released "Exist for Love", which was presented as her first love song, accompanied by a self-directed music video. Created during the COVID-19 lockdown with string arrangements by Isobel Waller-Bridge, the track marked the beginning of what Aurora described as "a new era" in her career. That year, she recorded the title track for the Norwegian Christmas miniseries ''Stjernestøv'' for NRK, under the musical direction of Gaute Tønder. She also contributed vocals to "Vinterens Gåte" and "Det Ev Ei Rosa Sprunge" for Herborg Kråkevik's album ''Juleroser'', featuring the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, and re-recorded her 2015 single "Running with the Wolves" for the animated film ''Wolfwalkers''.

In early 2021, Aurora's "Runaway" saw a resurgence after going viral on TikTok through the "Runaway challenge", where users posed against starry sky backdrops. The song charted internationally, reaching number 22 on the Billboard Global 200 and number 25 in the UK, contributing to over 3 billion global streams by 2025. In July 2021, she released "Cure for Me", the second single from her third studio album, ''The Gods We Can Touch'', followed by "Giving In to the Love" in October, with the album announced for release in January 2022. To promote the album, Aurora embarked on The Gods We Can Touch Tour in 2022, with Sub Urban, Sei Selina, and Metteson as supporting acts. The album's fourth single, " Heathens", was released in December 2021, followed by a virtual concert film premiered on Moment House in January 2022.

In 2022, Aurora featured on Wu Qing-feng's single "Storm" from his EP '' L'Après-midi d'un faune'' and released "Hunting Shadows" for the 15th anniversary of the ''Assassin's Creed'' franchise. She also collaborated with Hans Zimmer, providing vocals for the BBC's ''Frozen Planet II'' soundtrack, and performed "Take Me Back Home" with Zimmer at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC's Earth Proms. That year, she won the Spellemannprisen for International Success of the Year for her contributions to Norwegian music exports. In August, Aurora headlined Øyafestivalen in Oslo, delivering a critically acclaimed performance that solidified her status as a leading Norwegian artist. In November, she received the P3 Prize at the P3 Gull Awards, presented by Billie Eilish.

Aurora collaborated with the video game '' Sky: Children of the Light'', contributing vocals to its opening and closing themes. In October 2022, a virtual concert within the game premiered after The Game Awards in December, returning in August 2023 for an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for "Most Users in a Concert-themed Virtual World".

2023–present: ''What Happened to the Heart?''

In January 2023, Aurora began teasing her fifth studio album, sharing on an Instagram story that she was "working on so many babies." That month, she collaborated with Tom Odell on the piano ballad "Butterflies". Between July and August 2023, Aurora contributed a cover of Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" for Chrysalis Records' '' The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake'', and released " My Sails Are Set" for the soundtrack of the live-action series ''One Piece''.

In October 2023, Aurora hinted new music by posting an audio clip and a pre-save link on her official Twitter account with the caption "08.11". On 1 November, she announced the single "Your Blood", revealing its cover artwork. The track, her first solo release in nearly two years, was released on 8 November. On the same day, she announced a Norwegian headlining tour set for March 2024. The album's second and third singles, "The Conflict of the Mind" and "Some Type of Skin", were released on 18 January and 20 March 2024, respectively. On 27 March, Aurora announced her fifth studio album, ''What Happened to the Heart?'', which was released on 7 June 2024 to critical acclaim, noted as her most personal and cathartic work yet. She also announced the What Happened to the Earth? tour, commencing in September 2024. In May 2025, ahead of her Wembley Arena performance, Aurora hosted a free retrospective exhibition, ''Some Type of Skin – An Exhibition'', displaying her stage outfits and visual art, tracing her aesthetic and career evolution.

In January 2025, "Runaway" surpassed one billion streams on Spotify. The following month, she released an orchestral version of the track alongside a 30-minute documentary celebrating its tenth anniversary. Alongside her solo work, Aurora featured on Bring Me the Horizon's song "Limousine" from their album '' Post Human: Nex Gen'', released on 24 May 2024. In October 2024, she collaborated with Jacob Collier on a mashup of Collier's "A Rock Somewhere" and her own " The Seed", performed in the Arctic to raise awareness for ocean and climate protection. In 2025, Aurora was included in the ''Forbes ''30 Under 30 Europe Entertainment list. In June, Nordoff and Robbins announced that Aurora would receive the Contemporary Music Award at the 2025 Silver Clef Awards, recognizing her outstanding contributions to music.

Artistry

Influences

At home, she did not have access to radio or music channels on television; she admitted that she had listened to very few artists at the beginning of her singing career. She has mentioned Enya, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Underworld, Oasis, Kate Bush, and Ane Brun as her major influences. She said that the first album she bought was Dylan's ''Blonde on Blonde''. She also talked about heavy metal as a major inspiration for her from a young age, citing French band Gojira as her "favorite band", and she has attended two of their concerts. She first listened to one of their songs when she was around 11 years old and described it as "so hard and so intense and dark, and it felt like an explosion." Aurora has also listened to the bands Mastodon, System of a Down, Tool, Metallica, Refused, and Slayer. She also stated in a BBC Radio 2 interview that she had a great love for many Scandinavian heavy metal bands as well as David Bowie. Her love for heavy metal inspired her compilation EP ''For the Metal People'', which included some of her songs influenced by the genre. Aurora also expressed her admiration for rock musician Iggy Pop, adding that when she met him during a festival in Belgium, she was "so happy I almost peed my pants." She and the frontman of Nordic folk band Wardruna have shown admiration for each other's work, and performed the song "Helvegen" together several times.

She has covered some of her influences' songs, some of them are " Mr. Tambourine Man", "Famous Blue Raincoat", "Life on Mars", "Across the Universe", and "Make You Feel My Love". About recent influences, Aurora stated that she dislikes listening to music, which she described as "noise" or "interference" for her, adding that she has "music in my mind all the time". She also said that she does not have streaming platforms like iTunes and Spotify but she has "some LPs at home and a few CDs." She added she only likes to listen to some of her influences' music during travelling.

Musical style and themes

On Aurora's profile at Glassnote Records' website, she is quoted as stating:

Aurora has an eclectic musical style, consisting of art pop, Nordic-folk, synth-pop, electropop, electro-folk, dark pop, avant-garde pop, alt-pop, folk-pop, and new-age. Often described as a pioneer of the Norwegian art pop scene, she is considered one of the most successful Norwegian artists. Haley Weiss of ''Interview'' introduces her as a "poetic author of art-pop" and an "unaffectedly curious artist". John Murphy of ''MusicOMH'' describes her songs as a "beguiling mix of sizzling synth-pop, and for want of a better phrase, Nordic-folk". Michael Craag of ''The Guardian'' describes her to be "dark electro-pop". Cyclone Wehner from ''Music Feeds'' said her music has attracted her a cult fanbase with her "darkly romantic electro-folk" along with her eccentricity. Writing for ''Paper'', Mathias Rosenzweig sees her as "Scandinavia's newest dark pop prodigy" with her love for Nordic folklore, similar to Björk's interest of Icelandic mountains and countrysides. Rosenzweig also mentioned her "unexpected melodic twists" akin to Sia with the "prodigy vibes" of Lorde. Ed Potton of ''The Times'' referred to her as "the Norwegian Florence and the Machine". Lisa Higgins from '' Clash'', describes her as an artist with an avant-garde pop sound, while Jessica Fynn from the same magazine sees her as an "alt-pop aesthete". Chris Tinkham of ''Paste'' says that she has a "dark folk-pop" sound.

Aurora has a soprano vocal range. The word "ethereal" has often been used to qualify her tone of voice, while the repeated use of vocals (like "ah", "oh" and "la") has also been pointed out as something characteristic in her music. Aurora composes her songs in English. She has sung songs like "Stjernestøv", "Vinterens Gåte" and "Det Hev Ei Rosa Sprunge" in her native language. Since ''Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1)'' she began to include lyrics in an "emotional language" that she invented in favor of changing the energy and meaning of her performance. She mostly plays the piano, but also knows how to play other instruments like ukulele, guitar and the harp. She is sometimes involved in percussion and other aspects of the production of her songs.

Personal life

Aurora currently lives in Bergen, but regularly travels to her hometown in Os to visit her parents. She is fluent in English and in Norwegian, the latter being her mother tongue.

At an early age, she experienced the loss of several loved ones. When a close friend of her family died on Christmas Eve, 11-year-old Aurora witnessed people dejected at the funeral service. This experience led her to develop dysphemia, a disorder that led her to learn sign language. When a friend from her sign language class died in a car accident in 2014, Aurora performed a currently unreleased song titled "Why Did You Go a Place?" during a private concert for her funeral. A friend from Os also died by suicide, and another friend with whom Aurora had a relationship died in 2011 at the Utøya massacre at the age of 17. Aurora wrote the song "Little Boy in the Grass" as a tribute to the latter and the other victims of the massacre.

She considers herself an introvert.

Aurora is bisexual, having previously resisted labelling her sexuality. In an interview with ''The Independent'' in 2018, she stated, "I just like to enjoy what is there, and I like to explore. Just love everything around you and you're loving yourself."

She had cats as pets during her childhood, and in her adulthood she had an algae ball she named "Igor Septimus", which was a gift from her fans in Switzerland. According to her, it was one of her "best friends", and she liked to put it on the refrigerator. Years later, she revealed that it had died. She has also talked about collecting dead insects, including moths like the one she named "Nightcrawler".

In November 2021, Aurora announced that she had become an aunt when her sister's first child was born.

Public image and philanthropy

Aurora initially drew attention for her distinctive appearance, including a "childlike" look, pale skin without makeup, and short platinum blonde hair that matched the color of her eyebrows. This visual presentation contrasted with the emotional depth and vocal maturity of her music. She later adopted a partially shaved hairstyle described as "Norwegian Viking", and from 2018 to 2024, she became known for a layered haircut—long in the front and short in the back—often compared to styles seen in anime. During the promotional period between her releases ''Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1)'' and ''A Different Kind of Human (Step 2)'', Aurora frequently performed with facial markings that symbolized "tears and smile wrinkles." Her onstage persona is often noted for its candid humor, shaped by her openness about intrusive thoughts, which she frequently shares with audiences during live performances.

Her wardrobe primarily consists of reused garments, many of which are designed by Aurora herself in collaboration with her sister Viktoria. A pescatarian, Aurora has emphasized the importance of conscious food choices as part of a broader environmentally aware lifestyle.

Aurora identifies as a feminist and advocates for a range of human rights causes, including racial equality and LGBT rights. She has publicly stated a personal preference for avoiding makeup. She has also showed support for various environmental awareness movements, topics that she explored in songs like "Apple Tree", " The Seed", and "Soulless Creatures" from her second and third albums. She has expressed admiration for environmental initiatives by figures such as Greta Thunberg and the band Coldplay.

Aurora has been active in philanthropic and advocacy work. In October 2020, she performed her song "Warrior" for volunteers of the Clean Sounds Movement and called on fellow artists Billie Eilish and Sigrid to join the cause. She participated in a number of online music festivals, including Vi er Live (a demonstration against racism and in response to the murder of George Floyd), SOS Rainforest (in support of indigenous communities and rainforests in Africa, Asia, and South America), and the Exist For Love Sessions (to promote emerging artists). In November 2021, she headlined a non-profit charity event during COP26 to raise funds for Brian Eno's EarthPercent organization. She has also been politically vocal, particularly during the 2023–2024 Gaza War, during which she called for a permanent ceasefire.

Discography

Studio albums
* ''All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend'' (2016)
* ''Infections of a Different Kind (Step 1)'' (2018)
* ''A Different Kind of Human (Step 2)'' (2019)
* ''The Gods We Can Touch'' (2022)
* ''What Happened to the Heart?'' (2024)

Bibliography

* ''The Gods We Can Touch'' (2023)
* ''What Happened to the Heart?'' (2024)

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Television

Video games

Accolades and achievements

After her breakthrough, Aurora won the Spellemannprisen for Newcomer of the Year at the 2016 ceremony. That same year, she received a MTV Europe Music Award nomination for Best Norwegian Act. In 2017, the album ''All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend'' earned the ''GAFFA'' Award for Norwegian Album of the Year, and the Spellemannprisen for Pop Soloist. Her fifth studio album ''What Happened to the Heart?'' received a nomination for Release of the Year at the 2025 Spellemannprisen. Aurora also received the honorary P3 Prize, awarded at the P3 Gull Awards, which recognizes artists who have made a significant impact on Norwegian music. She had sold over one million albums worldwide as of July 2021.

Tours

Headlining

* All My Demons Tour (2016–2017)
* 2018–2019 tour
* The Gods We Can Touch Tour (2022–2023)
* What Happened to the Earth? (2024–2025)

See also

* Music of Norway
* List of Norwegian musicians
* List of number-one albums in Norway

Footnotes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aurora

1996 births
Living people
Art pop singers
Bisexual singer-songwriters
Bisexual women musicians
English-language singers from Norway
Norwegian bisexual women
Norwegian LGBTQ singers
Norwegian LGBTQ songwriters
Norwegian pop singers
Musicians from Stavanger
Musicians from Bergen
Norwegian women songwriters
Spellemannprisen winners
Synth-pop singers
Norwegian women in electronic music
Glassnote Records artists
21st-century Norwegian LGBTQ people
21st-century Norwegian women singers
21st-century Norwegian singers
21st-century Norwegian songwriters
Anti-racism activists
LGBTQ women singers
Norwegian activists
Norwegian women activists
Norwegian feminists
Norwegian women's rights activists