Karen O

Infobox musical artist
Name = Karen O

---

Img_capt = Karen O playing at Glasslands Gallery
Landscape = Yes
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Karen Lee Orzolek
Born = birth date and age|1978|11|22
Died =
Origin = New Jersey, United States
Instrument = Vocals
Genre = Indie rock ^{[http://myspace.com/yeahyeahyeahs]} , Art punk
Occupation =
Years_active = 2000–present
Label = Interscope
Associated_acts = Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Karen Lee Orzolek (born November 22, 1978), better known by her stage name Karen O, is the vocalist for the New York art punk band Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Early life

Karen's mother is Korean and father is Polish.cite web|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/yeahyeahyeahs/articles/story/9596960/yeah_yeah_yeahs_goth_nerd_slut|title=Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Goth, Nerd, Slut|author=Sheffield, Rob|authorlink=Rob Sheffield|publisher="Rolling Stone"|date=2006-04-07|accessdate=2007-11-24] [cite web|url=http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/030718/20030718_kareno.html|title=Half Korean, 100% Rock Star|author=Chi, Minnie|publisher="Asia Pacific Arts"|date=2003-07-18|accessdate=2008-04-26] Karen grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, [La Gorce, tammy. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06EEDA1038F935A25752C1A9659C8B63 "Success Stories In New Jersey Rock: The Un-Springsteen"] , "The New York Times", November 16, 2003. Accessed January 2, 2008. "All of which is fine by Ms. O, 24, an Englewood native who still lives in Bergen County but declined to say where. Any rock star who struts around in outfits made specifically for her by the designer Christian Joy can expect some of that, she said."] and attended Oberlin College, but transferred to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Karen lives in Los Angeles.

Reputation

Karen O has been noted for her sense of fashion, wearing over-the-top outfits made by her friend, fashion designer Christian Joy. In the early days of the band she became well known for her outrageous antics during live shows, which included spitting water, beer, or sometimes grapes into the crowd, and often simulating sexual acts with the stage monitors or her microphone.

She 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." [http://www.christianjoy.us/k43.html] Since then, however, Karen stated in an interview with NME magazine that she has changed her mind on the issue due to the audience that Playboy magazine attracts. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19978653/] Yeah Yeah Yeahs Deal with Fame and Change -Music Interviews-]

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 a hospital. A few days later at the Sydney leg of the Livid Festival, she appeared in a wheelchair pushed by Angus Andrew. [ [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/12/1065917279681.html Boys with the hoods clean up - www.smh.com.au ] ]

She had her breasts plaster-casted by Cynthia Plaster Caster in 2003. [ [http://www.cynthiaplastercaster.com/flash/home.html home ] ] She won Spin Magazine's Sex Goddess Award in both 2004 and 2005. In 2006 she was named one of rock's hottest women by Blender. [cite news|last=Errico|first=Mike|url=http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=2295&src=wiki|title=Hottest Women of. . .Rock|publisher=Blender Magazine Online|date=December 2006|accessdate=2007-02-09] . In 2007 Karen placed #3 on Spinner.com's "Women Who Rock Right Now". [ [http://www.spinner.com/2007/07/15/women-who-rock-right-now-no-3/ Women Who Rock Right Now: No. 3 - Spinner.com ] ]

She had begun working on a small side project called Native Korean Rock and the Fishnets with fellow NYC musicians in 2008.

oundtrack work

In 2005, Karen collaborated with MC Kool Keith on the track "Teaser", which was said to be on the porn film "Deep Throat vs. Lialeh" soundtrack. [ [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1501795/20050513/yeah_yeah_yeahs.jhtml Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O Tackles Folk Music, Porn - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News ] ] However the soundtrack was never released but recently started circulating on the web. [ [http://idolator.com/tunes/mp3/leak-of-the-day-part-two-karen-o-kool-keith-lick-it-up-247377.php Leak Of The Day, Part Two: Karen O, Kool Keith Lick It Up ] ] For the movie "Jackass 2", Karen O collaborated with electronic artist Peaches and Johnny Knoxville to record a track entitled "Backass". In 2007 Karen contributed vocals to a version of Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited for the I'm Not There movie soundtrack. [ [http://www.stereogum.com/archives/new-karen-o-highway-61-revisited-stereogum-premier.html stereogum: New Karen O - "Highway 61 Revisited" (Stereogum Premiere) ] ] She also appears on the soundtrack of the forthcoming Where The Wild Things Are movie, directed by former boyfriend Spike Jonze. [cite web | url=http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/5880/news/music/karen_o_is_where_the_wild_things_are | title =Karen O is Where the Wild Things Are | accessdate=2007-11-20 | author = Kasia Galazka| date =2007-11-20 | publisher =Paste Magazine ]

The "K.O. At Home" Demo Leak

On 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 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 by Oscar Wilde on the back — quickly spread. The music news site stereogum.com broke the story of the leak [ [http://www.stereogum.com/archives/004140.html stereogum: Karen (Dem)O ] ] the following morning and continued their coverage [ [http://www.stereogum.com/archives/004144.html stereogum: The Story Behind The Karen O Demo ] ] when Sitek lashed out at the fan who leaked the demos. [ [http://youngliars.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html#39643304333086041 completely surrounded by no trees: 12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007 ] ] Eventually Sitek followed up his comments with an apology letter. [ [http://www2.blogger.com/email-post.g?blogID=6198312&postID=7815441358413327623 Blogger: completely surrounded by no trees - Envoyer un message à un ami ] ] 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, [ [http://www.dose.ca/photos/music/story.html?id=ffc20ba9-da25-4e03-b2cf-d7db526bee08&k=18318 Karen O on Demo Leak: "Shit Happens" ] ] namely the tracks "Pumpkin" and "Snakes and Worms".

Video work

In 2004 Karen, hiding behind the moniker "Marshmellow", directed the music video for "We Fenced Other Gardens with the Bones of Our Own" by the Liars, fronted by her then boyfriend Angus Andrew. [cite web | url=http://www.discogs.com/release/316656 | title =Liars - We Fenced Other Gardens With The Bones Of Your Own | accessdate=2008-08-28 | publisher =Discogs] [cite web | url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/21208/liars-wefenced | title =Liars: We Fenced Other Gardens With The Bones Of Your Own | accessdate=2008-08-28 | author = Katie Zerwas | date =2004-07-15 | publisher = PopMatters] The following year she directed the "Blessed Evening" video for Foetus with her then boyfriend Spike Jonze working as cinematographer. [cite web | url=http://www.foetus.org/video/Foetus%20-%20Blessed%20Evening.html | title =Foetus: "Blessed Evening" |accessdate=2008-08-28 | publisher = foetus.org] In 2006 she directed the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' video "Cheated Hearts". [cite web | url=http://www.internetvideomag.com/News/News2006/072906_YeahYeahYeahs.htm | title =Fans star in Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Cheated Hearts" video with help from Final Cut editor Stephen Berger | accessdate=2008-08-28 | author = Michele Lu | date =2006-07-28 | publisher =Internet Video Magazine ] [cite web | url=http://www.videostatic.com/vs/2006/week31/index.html#entry-12010342 | title = New Release: Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Cheated Hearts" | accessdate=2008-08-28 | date =2006-08-04 | publisher =Video Static] Under the moniker "Kids With Canes", Karen and her boyfriend Barnaby Clay directed the music video for the Tiny Masters of Today song "Hologram World", released on February 8, 2008. Karen also contributed vocals to the song, served as choreographer of the video, in which she appears along with Yeah Yeah Yeahs bandmates Nick Zinner and Brian Chase as well as Mike D from the Beastie Boys, Gibby Haynes from the Butthole Surfers, Russell Simins from the Blues Explosion and Sam James from The Mooney Suzuki. [cite web | url=http://www.promonews.tv/2008/03/06/tiny-masters-of-todays-hologram-world-by-kids-with-canes-inc/ | title =Tiny Masters of Today’s Hologram World by Kids With Canes Inc. | accessdate=2008-08-26 | author = David Knight | date =2008-03-06 | publisher =PromoNews]

References

ee also

*Brian Chase
*Nick Zinner

External links

* [http://www.yeahyeahyeahs.com Yeah Yeah Yeahs official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/yeahyeahyeahs Yeah Yeah Yeahs on MySpace]
* [http://www.yeahyeahyeahsproject.com Yeah Yeah Yeahs Project] - YYY Resource - images, articles, news to videos and music
* [http://www.christianjoy.us/ Christian Joy - Karen O's fashion designer's website]