CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · People & Ideas

Bubbi Morthens

Icelandic singer, musician, songwriter

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ997431
Source-derived summary

Bubbi Morthens (full name Ásbjörn Kristinsson Morthens; born 6 June 1956) is an Icelandic singer and songwriter. Aside from a lengthy solo career, he has been a member of such Icelandic bands as Utangarðsmenn and Egó.

Personal life

Bubbi was born in Reykjavík to a Danish mother and a half-Norwegian, half-Icelandic father. Bubbi is a common nickname for Ásbjörn.

He developed a strong addiction to cocaine and alcohol in his youth, and later in life he became an advocate for sobriety and addiction prevention. In 2018, he published the poetry book Rof about the sexual abuse he was a victim of as a child.

In 1973 (at the age of 17), Bubbi became a migrant worker.

In 2004, the documentary Blindsker about the life of Bubbi was released.

In 2020, a musical based on the life of Bubbi, named Níu líf ("Nine Lives") was shown in Reykjavík City Theatre.

Discography

With Utangarðsmenn, (1980–1981)

EPs

1980 – Ha ha ha (Rækjureggae) (Steinar)

1981 – 45 RPM (Steinar)

Albums

1980 – Geislavirkir (Steinar)

1981 – Í upphafi skyldi endinn skoða (Steinar), compilation release

1994 – Utangarðsmenn (Japís), Live

2000 – Fuglinn er floginn (Skífan), compilation release

Collaborations

1981 – Flugur (Steinar) Icelandic compilation

1981 – Gæðapopp (Steinar), Icelandic compilation

1981 – Northern Lights Playhouse (Fálkinn), Icelandic compilation

1982 – Næst á dagskrá (Steinar), Icelandic compilation

1985 – Með lögum skal land byggja (Steinar), Icelandic compilation

1998 – Nælur (Spor) compilation

Discography of Egó

Discography of Egó (1982–1984, 2001, 2009–present):

Albums

1982 – Breyttir tímar (Steinar)

1982 – Í mynd (Steinar)

1984 – Egó (Steinar)

2001 – Frá upphafi til enda (Skífan), compilation release

2009 – 6.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Bubbi Morthens” is icelandic singer, musician, songwriter. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Bubbi, Morthens and Icelandic, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1956, 2018, 1973, 2004—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1956-06-06. For this dossier, Bubbi, Morthens and Icelandic is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “icelandic singer, musician, songwriter” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q997431. VIAF identifies the subject as 57790167. The Library of Congress control number is nb2006006975. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1956, 2018, 1973 and 2004.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Bubbi Morthens”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Bubbi Morthens primary sources, Bubbi Morthens archive and Bubbi research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Bubbi Morthens”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Bubbi Morthens” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.