Jonas Åkerlund facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jonas Åkerlund
Åkerlund in 2012
Born	Hans Uno Jonas Åkerlund (1965-11-10) 10 November 1965 (age 58) Bromma, Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation	Film director screenwriter music video director drummer
Years active	1983–present
Spouse(s)	Bea Åkerlund

Hans Uno Jonas Åkerlund (Swedish: [hɑːns ˈʉ̌ːnʊ ˈjûːnas ˈôːkɛˌɭɵnd]; born 10 November 1965) is a Swedish film director, screenwriter, music video director, and drummer. 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.

In 2008 he won another Grammy Award, this time around for "Best Long Form Music Video" for another work with Madonna – directing "The Confessions Tour" DVD. In 2014 he won this Grammy Award again (that meanwhile changed the name to "Best Music Film"), this time for "Live Kisses", a Paul McCartney concert film. Jonas Åkerlund, David Mallet and Bob Smeaton are the only directors to have won this award twice sharing the record for most wins in this category (check here all winners and nominees of Grammy Award for Best Music Film).

Career

Åkerlund was briefly a member of the Swedish black metal band Bathory from 1983 to 1984, before their career took off. He also directed Candlemass' first video "Bewitched". He first found fame as the main video director for Roxette. In 1997, he directed the acclaimed video for The Prodigy's "Smack My ... Up". In 1998, he worked with Madonna for 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", 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 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!".

Åkerlund's second movie, Small Apartments (2012), went direct to DVD. Per Gessle, of Roxette, was credited for the music and soundtrack.

Partial Videography

Filmography

Feature films

Spun (2002)

Horsemen (2009)

Small Apartments (2012)

Lords of Chaos (2018)

Polar (2019)

Midas Man (TBA); replaced by Sara Sugarman

Concert and documentary films

Madonna: I'm Going to Tell You a Secret (2005)

Madonna: The Confessions Tour (2007) (won the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video)

Paul McCartney: Live Kisses (2012) (won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Music Film)

On the Run Tour: Beyoncé and Jay Z (2014)

Taylor Swift: The 1989 World Tour Live (2015)

Roxette: Roxette Diaries (2016)

Rammstein: Paris (2016)

Television

Clark (2022; TV series) (directed all 6 episodes with Kirke Ailio Rodwell as 1st Assistant Director)

Awards

• 2014 – Grammy – Best Music Film: Paul McCartney's "Live Kisses"
• 2011 – Echo Awards – Best National Video: Rammstein "Ich tu dir weh"
• 2010 – MVPA Awards – Best Collaboration: Lady Gaga feat Beyoncé "Telephone"
• 2009 – MVPA Awards – Lady Gaga "Paparazzi"
• 2008 – MVPA Awards – James Blunt "Same Mistake"
• 2008 – Grammy – Best Long Form Music Video: Madonna NBC Special "The Confessions Tour"
• 2008 – Silver Addy – Dell "Work it Out"
• 2007 – MVPA Hall of Fame – Prodigy "Smack My ... Up"
• 2004 – MVPA Awards – Robbie Williams "Come Undone"
• 1999 – Grammy – Best Short Form Music Video: Madonna "Ray of Light"
• 1998 – MTV Video Music Award – Madonna "Ray of Light" (five awards: Video of the Year, Best Female Video, Best Director, Best Editing and Best Choreography - Jonas Åkerlund was also the editor and he and Madonna were the choreographers for this video)
• 1998 – MTV Video Music Award – Best Dance Video: The Prodigy "Smack My ... Up"

See also

In Spanish: Jonas Åkerlund para niños