Jón Þór "
Jónsi"
Birgisson (born 23 April 1975) is the
guitarist and
vocalist for the
Icelandic post-rock band
Sigur Rós. He is known for his use of a
cello bow on
guitar and his
falsetto or
countertenor voice. He is also blind in his right eye from birth as a result of a broken optic nerve from the brain. He is
openly gay. Apart from Sigur Rós, Jónsi also performs together with his partner
Alex Somers as an art collaboration called
Jónsi & Alex. They released their self-titled first book in November 2006, which was an embossed hardcover limited to 1000 copies, along with their first album,
Riceboy Sleeps, in July 2009. On 1 December 2009, Jónsi's official website, jonsi.com, was launched in anticipation of his debut solo album,
Go, which was released the week of 5 April 2010. After the release of the album, Jónsi promptly started a worldwide tour across North America and Europe, featuring songs from the album plus a few other selections, planning to tour from March to September.