Karen O
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Karen Lee Orzołek, better known as Karen O, is the lead vocalist for the New York art punk band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. She was born on November 22, 1978 in South Korea.
Karen's mother is Korean and father is Polish. Karen grew up in New Jersey, and attended Oberlin College, but transferred to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
Karen O has been noted for her sense of fashion, although all of her stage costumes are designed by her friend, fashion designer Christian Joy. She is also well known for her outrageous antics during live shows. She is known to often spit water or beer, or sometimes grapes into the crowd, and has been seen humping the stage monitors, or suggestively playing with her microphone. Her on-stage antics have been compared to punk legends like Iggy Pop and Patti Smith[citation needed].
During a tour for the 2003 Livid Festival in Australia, at a sideshow at The Metro in Sydney, she accidentally danced off the stage and was reluctantly taken to hospital. A few days later at the Sydney leg of the Livid Festival, she appeared in a wheelchair pushed by Angus Andrew.[1]
She currently lives in Los Angeles, California, in the Silver Lake neighborhood.
For the movie Jackass 2, Karen O collaborated with electronic artist Peaches and Johnny Knoxville to record a track entitled "Backass".
Karen was asked by Playboy to pose on their cover. She said on the subject, "If I see footage from our shows, I'm shocked by what I'm doing. But Playboy asked me about being on the cover. That's pretty insane. I may do it in the future." [2] However during an interview with Ripple magazine in November 2006 Karen let slip that she had been the "star" of a pornographic film at age 18. She was quoted as saying that she was "tricked into it" by a former boyfriend, and that as a consequence a Playboy shoot was unlikely.
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[edit] The K.O. At Home Demo Leak
On Sunday December 10, 2006, a home-recorded album titled "KO at Home" was leaked via an invite-only bittorrent tracking site. The album, originally a personal gift to Dave Sitek of the NYC indie band TV on the Radio, was discovered inside a suitcase Sitek left behind in a New York City apartment. The disc's 14 tracks and scan of the cover--a photograph of Karen O with a poem written on the back--quickly spread. The music news site stereogum.com broke the story of the leak[3] the following morning and continued their coverage[4] when Sitek lashed out at the fan who leaked the demos.[5]. Eventually Sitek followed up his comments with an apology letter[6]. Karen O's response to the leak was "shit happens" and although she was somewhat "grossed out," she offered advice on which of the mp3s she liked the best[7]. The demos are still floating around online.
[edit] Trivia
- She has been compared to Missing Persons vocalist Dale Bozzio, whom she imitates often in vocal styling.
- Has a tattoo of a bumblebee on her left shoulder.
- In 2005, contributed to the UNICEF benefit song, "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?"
- A song from Six by Seven's album "The Way I Feel Today" is named after her.
- A line from "Heard About Your Band" (from the album "Give Blood" by Brakes) features her name - "You shared a cab with Karen O, Oh Ohh Oh Oh Ohh...".
- Sung the song for an Adidas TV promotion also featuring DJ Squeak E. Clean, known as "Hello Tomorrow."
- Has cited Todd Solondz's Welcome to the Dollhouse as an inspiration[8].
- In 2006 she was named one of rock's hottest women by Blender Magazine. The title was also shared with Joan Jett, Courtney Love, Liz Phair and many more[1].
[edit] References
- 1. Errico, Mike. "Hottest Women of. . .Rock", Blender Magazine Online, December 2006. Retrieved on February 9, 2007.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs official website
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs on MySpace
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs Project - YYY Resource - images, articles, news to videos and music
- Christian Joy - Karen O's fashion designer's website
| Yeah Yeah Yeahs |
|---|
| Karen O | Nick Zinner | Brian Chase |
| Discography |
| Studio albums: Fever to Tell, 2003 | Show Your Bones, 2006 |
| EPs: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 2001 | Machine, 2002 | Let Me Know/Gold Lion Remixes, 2006 |
| Singles: "Bang!" | "Art Star" | "Date with the Night" | "Pin" | "Maps" | "Y Control" | "Gold Lion" | "Turn Into" | "Cheated Hearts" |
| DVDs: Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow |
| Categories |
| Category:Yeah Yeah Yeahs songs |
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1978 births | American female singers | Living people | Korean Americans | Polish-Americans | Eurasians | Eurasian singers | New York University alumni | Oberlin College alumni | People from New Jersey | New Jersey musicians
