Monday 23 November 2020

Karen O

Karen Lee Orzolek (born November 22, 1978), known professionally as Karen O, is a South Korean-born American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. She is the lead vocalist for American rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. 

 

 

 

 








The band formed in New York City in 2000 and is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O, guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They have recorded four studio albums; the first, Fever to Tell, was released in 2003. The second, Show Your Bones, was released in 2006 and was named the second best album of the year by NME. Their third studio album, It's Blitz!, was released in March 2009. All three albums earned the band Grammy nominations for Best Alternative Music Album. Their fourth album, Mosquito, was released in April 2013.















In 2007, O was placed at number three on Spinner.com's Women Who Rock Right Now. She began working on a small side project called Native Korean Rock and the Fishnets with fellow NYC musicians in 2008. She was featured in the track "Cut Me Up" by Har Mar Superstar for the soundtrack to the 2005 horror film House of Wax. For the movie Jackass 2, O collaborated with electronic artist Peaches and Johnny Knoxville to record a track entitled "Backass"; for Jackass 3D, she covered the Roger Alan Wade's "If You're Gonna Be Dumb" under the alternative title of "If You're Gonna Be Dumb, You Gotta Be Tough". In 2007, she also contributed vocals to a version of Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" for the I'm Not There film soundtrack. At the end of episode 409, "Brothers Cinco", of the Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! she performed a short song. She also has a song titled "Strange Love" on the album "Frankenweenie Unleashed!" O collaborated with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on a cover version of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" for the soundtrack to the 2011 film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, for which Reznor and Ross composed the score.







 









O's debut solo album, Crush Songs, was released on September 9, 2014. It was released on Cult Records via Kobalt Label Services. On February 17, 2015, O released a live album titled Live from Crush Palace, recorded during three shows at Hollywood Forever Cemetery's Masonic Lodge in Los Angeles in September 2014. The album features live renditions of songs from Crush Songs, as well as "Hideaway" from Where the Wild Things Are and "The Moon Song" from Her. On January 11, 2018, O released the song "Yo! My Saint", featuring guest vocals from Michael Kiwanuka, in support of Kenzo's Spring Summer 2018 collection.
 
 
 
Lux Prima is the collaborative album from Karen O and musician-producer Danger Mouse, released 15 March 2019. “An Encounter with Lux Prima” was an immersive art piece and communal listening experience soundtracked by Karen O and Danger Mouse's collaborative album Lux Prima. The installation premiered at Los Angeles' Marciano Art Foundation in April 2019 where it played to sold-out audiences. The piece, consisting of groundbreaking audio-visual technology, saw the duo collaborate with an illustrious cast of fellow artists including creative director Barnaby Clay (David Bowie—“Life On Mars” Revisited, SHOT!), sound designer Ren Klyce (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Fight Club), lighting designer Tobias Rylander (Robyn, The xx, FKA twigs), visual artist Davy Evans. Further collaborating with George Lucas’ Skywalker Sound and Meyer Sound on the audio design and build as well as MSG's Obscura Digital on projection mapping, the installation played across every sense and was the living nucleus of the duo's collaborative album.