Yohanna

Jóhanna Guðrún Jónsdóttir, known as Yohanna, is an Icelandic singer born on October 16, 1990. 

Yohanna was born in Copenhagen to Icelandic parents but moved back to Iceland when she was two. Her father, Jón Sverrir Sverrison, is an electrical engineer, and her mother, Margrét Steinþórsdóttir, is a nurse. The family lived in Reykjavík before moving to Hafnarfjörður. Yohanna started singing lessons at age nine.

Yohanna began her music career in 2000 at age nine, signing with an Icelandic record label. She released two albums as a child: “Jóhanna Guðrún 9” in 2000 and “Ég sjálf” in 2001. These albums included covers of popular international songs sung in Icelandic. She released a Christmas album in 2002 before taking a break from music.

After a six-year break, Yohanna returned to the music scene in 2008 and competed in Söngvakeppnin, Iceland’s national selection for Eurovision 2009 with the song “Is It True?”. She won the competition and represented Iceland in Moscow, where she finished second. This was one of Iceland’s best results in Eurovision history. Her song became a hit across Europe, reaching number one in Iceland and charting in several other countries.

After Eurovision, Yohanna signed with Warner Music Sweden and released her album “Butterflies and Elvis” in 2009. The album included the single “I Miss You,” which was a top twenty hit in Iceland.

Yohanna tried to return to Eurovision twice more. In 2011, she competed with the song “Nótt” and reached the finals but didn’t win. However, she won the OGAE Second Chance Contest 2011. She also released the singles “I Think Of Angels” and “Really over” in the same year. Yohanna lived in Iceland until 2012 when she moved to Kongsvinger, Norway, to be closer to mainland Europe. From there, the singles “Indian Rope Trick” and “Coming Home” came out. In 2013, she competed in Söngvakeppnin again, with the song “Þú” but didn’t make it past the semi-finals. In 2013, she also had a number-one hit in Iceland with the song “Mamma þarf að djamma,” performed with Baggalútur.

After a break, she teamed up with ROK to release the song “Find A Better Man” in 2015. A year later, she came up with the single “Revolving doors”.

In 2018, she married Icelandic musician Davíð Sigurgeirsson. They have two children, a daughter born in 2015 and a son born in 2019. Davíð wrote Yohanna’s 2013 single “Þú”.

2020 was the year of Yohanna’s comeback. She released a new album, the Christmas album “Jól með Jóhönnu”, and the single “Löngu liðnir dagar”. After the singles “Ætla ekki að eyða þeim ein” (2021) and “Jólin koma alltaf” (2022), a new album came out in 2023: “Óskalögin mín”. The latter contained the song “Best í heimi”, a duet with Margrét Lilja.

Yohanna’s new single in 2024 is titled “Töfrar” and announces a new album.