Antony Hegarty admits that the success of Antony and the Johnsons' breakthrough album, 'I am a Bird Now,' did surprise and overwhelm him. But there were also some amazing perks to that success, including working with the likes of Björk and iconic Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry.

Antony, the haunting voice of his Mercury Prize-winning group, tells Spinner that Björk in particular moved him. "Björk really shocked me when I was in the studio with her," he says. "She's really fearless in her willingness to tear something apart, make something new, try something, really always exploring. So she really encouraged me to step out and take more risks."

While collaborating with the Icelandic diva was a one-time experience, Antony has a long-running friendship with Reed, who's more of a mentor to the singer. "With Lou, artistically, his commitment to intuition is really profound," Antony says. "But he's a really deep guy, and he just gets me a lot of really invaluable advice about doing things and he looks out for me, so I feel very fortunate to have him in my life."