A part of fandom is being akin to the artist. It’s not that they just like their music, but they may have gone through the same experiences you have, for example coming from a broken home, having gone through substance abuse issues or even getting bullied or even abused. These experiences bring the fans closer to the artist.
Sometimes this can go too far, especially if you’re immature. The fandom becomes obsessive and even goes to the extreme of stalking or worse. If the artist in your eyes does the wrong thing, not just releases a poor album, but doesn’t recognize you outside a venue or even starts dating someone else, it can send some of the obsessives over the edge. This is what happens in this circumstance. This week The Beat Marches On to 12th September 1996, when Ricardo Lopez posts an acid bomb to Bjork.
Ricardo Lopez had developed an obsession with Bjork in 1993 aged just 18 when the singer released her first solo album, Debut. She spoke to him through the music, he had never felt this way about anyone. He started to write letters to her and learned all the little intricacies of her life.
Lopez struggled during his childhood. Originally based in Hollywood, Florida, he felt inadequate due to being overweight, he suffered from Gynecomastia, a rare genetic disease in which the male breast grows abnormally large and felt embarrassed by it. The weight issues hindered him from finding a girlfriend which started to add to his other anxieties.
Over the next three years, Lopez kept a diary about his anxiety issues and his feelings towards Bjork. Totalling 803 pages towards the end, the entries became more disturbing when he found out the singer had started dating someone he didn’t approve of ie, not him.
Across the pond, having just relocated to London from her native Iceland, Bjork was working on the follow-up to Debut. The first solo effort sold three million copies worldwide and spawned two top 20 singles in the UK and US. The singer became a big live attraction, as she used theatrical aspects to her performances inspired by fashion designers Nick Knight and Alexander McQueen.
However, now she was in a big city the tabloids, especially in the 90s, wanted to know everything about her. Where was she going? Who was she going with? Why was she going there? It was a culture shock for her, but when it was reported that she was dating fellow musician and producer Goldie, one fan in Florida didn’t like it at all.
Lopez, now recording his diaries on a camcorder, was livid. Over 22 hours of recordings he would go on racist tirades about the couple. Getting angrier every time he saw anything about them. It also was a step-by-step account of a mental breakdown. He eventually makes a decision that will make him infamous forever. He decides to ‘save’ Bjork from the relationship; he must end her life.
Lopez didn’t want to just kill Bjork with a knife or a gun, he wanted to blow her to pieces. Originally, he wanted to make a bomb made of HIV-infected syringes, but weirdly that was unfeasible, so he settled for a sulphuric acid bomb instead to send to her London residence.
To divert suspicion of what the package was he hollowed out a book to place the bomb in, to divert suspicion of what the package was, he went to the post office and sent it without anyone knowing the motive. All while recording the whole experience.
To get Bjork to open the book bomb he attached a fake letter from a production company, quoting that a film was being adapted from the hollowed-out book he placed the device in. It stated that the producers wanted her to compose the soundtrack for the fake film, to pique her interest. Knowing how people read books it was intended that most damage would go to the head and face.
When Lopez came back to his home, he sat back down in front of the camera to make one last video entry. He shaved off his hair and painted his face red and put on his favourite Bjork song I Remember You. He put up a sign that read the best of me along with the date and shot himself on camera. His last words were ‘Fuck the world and fuck Bjork’
Four days after he shot himself a neighbour noticed the smell of his rotting corpse coming from his apartment and blood started seeping through the ceiling. They called the police who discovered the disturbing scene. There was writing on the wall that said ‘The 8mm videos are a documentation of a crime, a terrorist matter, intended for the FBI’ They saw his decomposing body and started routing through the tapes.
They noticed the bomb that was in the tapes was not in the apartment and quickly evacuated the area, not knowing yet who the intended target was. The police searched for the device for four hours before the surrounding residents could go back to their homes.
Starting with the tape inside the camera the Police went through the tapes, totalling 23 hours they thought it would take a lot of time and resources to find out where the bomb’s target was. Luckily it took just 11 minutes of footage to realise where the bomb was going. London.
The race was on for the Hollywood police as it takes around five days for packages to travel from The USA to the UK. Knowing Lopez’s body had been found four days after his suicide they only had one day to intercept the package. They had no time to waste and contacted the London Metropolitan Police at Scotland Yard to warn them of what was coming.
The Met intercepted the parcel just before it was about to be handed to the postman to be delivered to Bjork’s home. They had stopped a disaster in the nick of time. They have never unveiled the details of how they managed to track the package so quickly, so they could do it again if they needed to.
Once hearing the news and hearing how close she came to disaster, Bjork like most people in that situation, was shocked. A couple of days later the singer held a press conference where she made a statement and looked visibly shaken. The artist said to the press she was fine but her body language said differently. At Lopez’s funeral, she sent flowers and special wishes to his family and didn’t hold any grudges against them.
Bjork went on to produce another 10 albums and become a darling of the critics. The extravagance of her live performances became a must-see for the Avant-Garde. She is still going strong and released a single last November. That could have been different if it wasn’t for the quick actions of the Metropolitan or the Hollywood police departments.
The Beat Marches On is a music blog written by Jimmy Whitehead. Jimmy has been blogging for seven years specialising in Sports (especially American Football). If you want to follow Jimmy on Twitter: @Jimmy_W1987
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The websites used for research were:
How Bjork Was Nearly Murdered (grunge.com)
The Twisted Story Of Bjork’s Stalker Ricardo Lopez (thecrimemag.com)
The terrifying moment Björk’s stalker tried to kill her with an acid letterbomb – Far Out Magazine
The YouTube channel Truly Criminal also has an in-depth look at Ricardo Lopez:
A Dangerous Obsession: The Case Of Ricardo Lopez (youtube.com)
Ricardo Lopez’s video diaries are on YouTube too, but I opted not to put them on as they are too graphic to show.
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