Karen O

Karen O fronts Yeah Yeah Yeahs with a voice that can purr, yelp and snarl within a single chorus, and she became one of the defining figures of New York's garage rock and post-punk revivals in the 2000s. Born in Seoul to a Korean mother and a Polish-American father, she grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, before studying at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Yeah Yeah Yeahs formed in 2000 with guitarist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase completed the trio that September. Her stage presence has been as much a part of their reputation as the records.

Fever to Tell, their debut, reached Interscope in 2003 and sold over a million copies worldwide by the decade's end. It produced "Maps", and "Heads Will Roll" followed later. Every one of their five albums has entered the US Billboard 200, with Mosquito (2013) reaching the top five, and all but the debut have made the UK top ten. Away from the band, she co-wrote the Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack, wrote "The Moon Song" for Her, released the solo album Crush Songs in 2014 and made Lux Prima with Danger Mouse in 2019. Rolling Stone placed her among its 200 greatest singers in 2023.