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Rolex SA is a Swiss watchmaking manufacturer of high-quality, luxury wristwatches. Rolex watches are popularly regarded as status symbols^[2][3][4][5] and BusinessWeek magazine ranks Rolex No.71 on its 2007 annual list of the 100 most valuable global brands.^[6] Rolex is also the largest single luxury watch brand, producing about 2,000 watches per day, with estimated revenues of around US$3 billion (£1.75) (CHF3.02 billion) (2003 figures).^[7]

History[link]

In 1905 Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis founded "Wilsdorf and Davis" in London.^[8] Their main business at the time was importing Hermann Aegler's Swiss movements to England and placing them in quality watch cases made by Dennison and others. These early wristwatches were sold to jewellers, who then put their own names on the dial. The earliest watches from Wilsdorf and Davis were usually hallmarked "W&D" inside the caseback.

In 1908 Wilsdorf registered the trademark "Rolex" and opened an office in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.^[8] The company name "Rolex" was registered on 15 November 1915. The book The Best of Time: Rolex Wristwatches: An Unauthorized History by Jeffrey P. Hess and James Dowling says that the name was just made up.^[9] One story, never confirmed by Wilsdorf, is that the name came from the French phrase horlogerie exquise, meaning "exquisite clockwork"^[10] or as a contraction of "horological excellence". Wilsdorf was said to want his watch brand's name to be easily pronounceable in any language.^[7] He also thought that the name "Rolex" was onomatopoeic, sounding like a watch being wound. It is easily pronounceable in many languages and, as all letters have the same size, allows to be written symmetrically. It was also short enough to fit on the face of a watch.^[7]

In 1914 Kew Observatory awarded a Rolex watch a Class A precision certificate, a distinction which was normally awarded exclusively to marine chronometers.^[7]

In 1919 Wilsdorf left England due to wartime taxes levied on luxury imports as well as export duties on the silver and gold used for the watch cases driving costs too high^[10] and moved the company to Geneva, Switzerland where it was established as the Rolex Watch Company. Its name was later changed to Montres Rolex, SA and finally Rolex, SA.^[8] Upon the death of his wife in 1944, Wilsdorf established the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation in which he left all of his Rolex shares, making sure that some of the company's income would go to charity. The company is still owned by a private trust and shares are not traded on any stock exchange.^[10]

In December 2008 the abrupt departure of Chief Executive Patrick Heiniger, for “personal reasons”, was followed by a denial by the company that it had lost 1 billion Swiss francs (approx £574 million, $900 million) invested with Bernard Madoff, the American asset manager who pleaded guilty to an approximately £30 billion worldwide Ponzi scheme fraud.^[11]

Innovations[link]

The Rolex Submariner Date

Among the company's innovations are:

• The first waterproof wristwatch "Oyster", 1923
• The first wristwatch with an automatically changing date on the dial (Rolex Datejust ref.4467, 1945)^[7]
• The first wristwatch with an automatically changing day and date on the dial (Rolex Day-Date)
• The first wristwatch case waterproof to 100 m (330 ft) (Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner ref.6204, 1953)
• The first wristwatch to show two time zones at once (Rolex GMT Master ref.6542, 1954)
• The first watchmaker to earn chronometer certification for a wristwatch^[10]

Automatic movements[link]

The first self-winding Rolex wristwatch was offered to the public in 1931 (so-called the "bubbleback" due to the large caseback), preceded to the market by Harwood which patented the design in 1923 and produced the first self-winding watch in 1928, powered by an internal mechanism that used the movement of the wearer's arm. This not only made watch-winding unnecessary, but kept the power from the mainspring more consistent resulting in more reliable time keeping.

Quartz movements[link]

Rolex participated in the development of the original quartz watch movements. Although Rolex has made very few quartz models for its Oyster line, the company's engineers were instrumental in design and implementation of the technology during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1968, Rolex collaborated with a consortium of 16 Swiss watch manufacturers to develop the Beta 21 quartz movement used in their Rolex Quartz Date 5100.^[12] Within about five years of research, design, and development, Rolex created the "clean-slate" 5035/5055 movement that would eventually power the Rolex Oysterquartz.^[13]

Water-resistant cases[link]

Rolex was also the first watch company to create a water resistant wristwatch that could withstand pressure to a depth of 100 m (330 ft).^[14] Wilsdorf even had a specially made Rolex watch (the watch was called the "DeepSea") attached to the side of the Trieste bathyscaphe, which went to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The watch survived and tested as having kept perfect time during its descent and ascent. This was confirmed by a telegram sent to Rolex the following day saying "Am happy to confirm that even at 11,000 metres your watch is as precise as on the surface. Best regards, Jacques Piccard".^[10]

Rolex GMT Master II gold and stainless steel (ref. 116713LN)

Collections[link]

Rolex produced specific models suitable for the extremes of deep-sea diving, mountain climbing and aviation. Early sports models included the Rolex Submariner and the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date Sea Dweller. The latter watch has a helium release valve, co-invented with Swiss watchmaker Doxa, to release helium gas build-up during decompression. The Explorer and Explorer II were developed specifically for explorers who would navigate rough terrain, such as the world famous Mount Everest expeditions. Another iconic model is the Rolex GMT Master, which was originally developed in 1954 at the request of Pan Am Airways to assist its pilots with the problem of crossing multiple time zones when on transcontinental flights (GMT standing for Greenwich Mean Time).^[10]

Certified chronometers[link]

Rolex is the largest manufacturer of Swiss made certified chronometers. In 2005 more than half the annual production of COSC certified watches were Rolexes.^[15] To date, Rolex still holds the record for the most certified chronometer movements in the category of wristwatches.^[10]

Ceramic bezels[link]

The company is now starting to introduce ceramic bezels across the range of professional sports watches. They are available on the Submariner, Sea Dweller-Deepsea, GMT Master II and Daytona models. The ceramic bezel is not influenced by UV-light and is very scratch resistant.

Watch models[link]

Rolex Daytona stainless steel (ref. 116520)

Rolex Sea Dweller Deepsea with 3,900m depth rating (ref. 116660)

Rolex Yacht-Master

Rolex Daytona chronograph stainless steel, white dial (ref. 6263)

Rolex has three watch lines: Oyster Perpetual, Professional and Cellini (the Cellini line is Rolex's line of 'dressy' watches) and the primary bracelets for the Oyster line are named Jubilee, Oyster and President.

Modern models[link]

The name of the watch lines in catalogs is often "Rolex Oyster Perpetual ______" or "Rolex ______"; Rolex Oyster and Oyster Perpetual are generic names and not specific product lines. The Air-King is the least-expensive member of the Oyster Perpetual family and is meant for understated elegance and simplicity. The Date is related to the Air-King but adds a date display.^[16] Certain models from the Date and Datejust are almost identical, however the Datejust 36 mm case and a 20 mm bracelet compared to the Date's 34 mm case and 19 mm bracelet . Internally, the Datejust's mechanism is more sophisticated as it can change date independently of the minute/hour hands by pulling the crown 1/2 way out, while the date on the Date has to be changed by advancing the minute and hour hands all the way around 24 hours. Lastly, the Datejust has optional luxury features such as gold and diamonds which are not available on the Date.^[17][18]

• Air-King
• Date
• Datejust
• Datejust II
• Datejust Turn-O-Graph
• Lady Datejust Pearlmaster
• Daytona
  • Paul Newman Daytona
• Day-Date
• Day-Date II
• Day-Date Oyster Perpetual
• Explorer
• Explorer II
• GMT Master II
• Masterpiece
• Milgauss
• Oysterquartz
• Sea Dweller
• Sea Dweller DeepSea
• Sky-Dweller
• Submariner
• Turn-O-Graph
• Yacht-Master
• Yacht-Master II

Cellini models[link]

• Quartz Ladies
• Quartz Mens
• Cellinium
• Cestello Ladies
• Cestello Mens
• Danaos Mens
• Prince

Tudor[link]

Rolex sells less expensive watches under the Tudor brand name, which was introduced by Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf in 1946. Tudor is actively marketed and sold in most countries around the world including Australia, Canada, most of Europe, India, Mexico, and in South Asia, the Middle East, South Africa and most countries in South America (Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela in particular). Sales of the Tudor line were discontinued in the United States in 2004.^[19]

Pricing[link]

Rolex watches vary in price according to the model and the materials used. In the UK, the retail price for the highly sought-after stainless steel 'Pilots' range (such as the GMT Master II) starts from GBP £5,250. Diamond inlay watches go for considerably more. The book "Vintage Wristwatches" by Antiques Roadshow's Reyne Haines listed a price estimate of Rolex watches that ranged between $650 and $75,000, while listing Tudors between $250 and $9,000.^[20] The most expensive Rolex ever produced by the Rolex factory was the GMT Ice reference 116769TBR with a retail price of $485,350.00. A Forbes Magazine article on the Swiss watch industry compared the retail value of Rolexes to that of competing brands Corum, Universal Genève and IWC.^[21]

Significant events[link]

Rolex is the official time keeper of Wimbledon and The Australian Open tennis grand slams.

Jacques Piccard had a Rolex Sea Dweller Deep-Sea Special with him strapped to the outside of his submarine in 1960 during the Mariana Trench dive at a depth of 10,916 metres (35,814 ft).

Tenzing Norgay and other members of the Hillary expedition wore Rolex Oysters in 1953 at altitude 8,848 m on Mount Everest while there are attestations and speculation that Sir Edmund Hillary either carried a Smiths Deluxe or a Rolex to the summit, or both.^[22]

Mercedes Gleitze was the first British woman to swim the English Channel on 7 October 1927. But, as John E. Brozek (author of The Rolex Report: An Unauthorized Reference Book for the Rolex Enthusiast) points out in his article "The Vindication Swim, Mercedes Gleitze and Rolex take the plunge", some doubts were cast on her achievement when a hoaxer claimed to have made a faster swim only four days later. To silence her critics, Mercedes Gleitze attempted a repeat swim on 21 October in the full glare of publicity, thus touted the "Vindication Swim". Hans Wilsdorf knew a good marketing opportunity when he saw one and offered her one of the earliest Rolex Oysters if she would wear it during the attempt. After more than 10 hours, in water that was much colder than during her first swim, she was pulled from the sea semi-conscious seven miles short of her goal. It was during this swim where she wore the Rolex watch, contrary to popular opinion. Although she did not complete the second crossing, a journalist for The Times wrote "Having regard to the general conditions, the endurance of Miss Gleitze surprised the doctors, journalists and experts who were present, for it seemed unlikely that she would be able to withstand the cold for so long. It was a good performance". This silenced the doubters and Mercedes Gleitze was hailed as a heroine. As she sat in the boat, the same journalist made a discovery and reported it as follows: "Hanging round her neck by a ribbon on this swim, Miss Gleitze carried a small gold watch, which was found this evening to have kept good time throughout". When examined closely, the watch was found to be in perfect condition, dry inside and ticking away as if nothing had happened. One month later, on 24 November 1927, Wilsdorf launched the Rolex Oyster watch in the United Kingdom as the focal point of a full front page Rolex advert in the Daily Mail and the Rolex Oyster began its rise to fame. The Vienna Herald described the 1969 Apollo moon landing as: 'an event almost as significant as the time a woman swam most of the English Channel with a waterproof watch on."'^[23]

[edit] Watches for POWs and help in the Great Escape

By the start of World War II, Rolex watches had already acquired enough prestige that Royal Air Force pilots bought them to replace their inferior standard-issue watches. However, when captured and sent to POW camps, their watches were confiscated.^[7] When Hans Wilsdorf heard of this, he offered to replace all watches that had been confiscated and not require payment until the end of the war, if the officers would write to Rolex and explain the circumstances of their loss and where they were being held. Wilsdorf, who believed that "a British officer's word was his bond", was in personal charge of the scheme.^[24][25] As a result of this, an estimated 3,000 Rolex watches were ordered by British officers in the Oflag (prison camp for officers) VII B POW camp in Bavaria alone.^[24] This had the effect of raising the morale among the allied POWs because it indicated that Wilsdorf did not believe that the Nazis would win the war.^[24][26] American servicemen heard about this when stationed in Europe during WWII and this helped open up the American market to Rolex after the war.^[7]

On 10 March 1943, while still a prisoner of war, Corporal Clive James Nutting, one of the organizers of the Great Escape, ordered a stainless steel Rolex Oyster 3525 Chronograph (valued at a current equivalent of £1,200) by mail directly from Hans Wilsdorf in Geneva, intending to pay for it with money he saved working as a shoemaker at the camp.^[24][26][27] The watch (Rolex watch no. 185983)^[27][28] was delivered to Stalag Luft III on 10 July that year along with a note from Wilsdorf apologising for any delay in processing the order and explaining that an English gentleman such as Corporal Nutting "should not even think" about paying for the watch before the end of the war.^[24][26] Wilsdorf is reported to have been impressed with Nutting because, although not an officer, he had ordered the expensive Rolex 3525 Oyster chronograph while most other prisoners ordered the much cheaper Rolex Speed King model which was popular due to its small size.^[24] The watch is believed to have been ordered specifically to be used in the Great Escape when, as a chronograph, it could have been used to time patrols of prison guards or time the 76 ill-fated escapees through tunnel 'Harry' on 24 March 1944.^[29][24][26] Eventually, after the war, Nutting was sent an invoice of only £15 for the watch, due to currency export controls in England at the time.^[26] The watch and associated correspondence between Wilsdorf and Nutting were sold at auction for £66,000 in May 2007, while at an earlier auction on September 2006 the same watch fetched AUS$54,000.^[26][28] Nutting served as a consultant for both the 1950 film The Wooden Horse and the 1963 film The Great Escape.^[24] Both films were based on actual escapes which took place at Stalag Luft III.

Murder investigation[link]

In a famous murder case, the Rolex on Ronald Platt's wrist eventually led to the arrest of his murderer, Albert Johnson Walker--a financial planner who had fled from Canada when he was charged with 18 counts of fraud, theft, and money laundering. When the body was found in the English Channel in 1996 by a fisherman named John Coprik,^[30] a Rolex wristwatch was the only identifiable object on the body.^[30] Since the Rolex movement had a serial number and was engraved with special markings every time it was serviced, British police traced the service records from Rolex and identified the owner of the watch as Ronald Platt. In addition, British police were able to determine the date of death by examining the date on the watch calendar. Since the Rolex movement was fully waterproof and had a reserve of two to three days of operation when inactive, they were able to determine the time of death within a small margin of error.^[30][31]

Counterfeits[link]

Rolex watches are frequently counterfeited, often illegally sold on the street and online.

Gallery[link]

• 

  Rolex headquarters in Geneva

• 

  Rolex manufactory in Biel/Bienne

• Rolex1959.JPG

  The Rolex sign in Vienna (2007)

• Twin towers.jpg

  The Rolex sign in Dubai (2007)

• 

  Rolex Beijing

• 

  Rolex Shanghai

• 

  Rolex Ningbo

See also[link]

Companies portal

• Rolex Awards for Enterprise
• Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative
• Rolex Tower
• List of watch manufacturers

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Oliver Gavin

Nationality	British
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years	2001 -
Teams	Saleen-Allen Speedlab, Corvette Racing
Best finish	4th overall (2006)
Class wins	4 (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006)

Oliver Benjamin Gavin (born 29 September 1972 in Huntingdon),^[1] is a GM factory racing driver from the United Kingdom. He was raised in the village of Felmersham, Bedfordshire. He attended the local Primary school, Pinchmill. At age nine he attended Lincroft Middle School and then took his GCSEs and A-levels at Sharnbrook Upper School and Community College. The school has produced other notable achievers, Matt Jackson, footballer for Luton, Norwich and Wigan; the athletics star and Women's marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe and former premiership rugby player Stuart Glover.

Gavin won the British F3 championship in 1995 whilst driving for the Edenbridge Racing team.

2011 Rolex Sports Car

Gavin was introduced to motor racing through the traditional karting route. After finishing as runner-up in the 1993 British F3 series to Kelvin Burt, Gavin graduated to Formula 3000 in 1994 with Omegaland. He failed to score any points in the five races he contested, and subsequently opted to drop back down to F3 for 1995. He managed to overcome rival Ralph Firman in the final round to snatch the title.

Currently, Oliver Gavin is driving for Corvette Racing in the American Le Mans Series with codriver Tommy Milner and endurance codriver Richard Westbrook.

His previous work included being the test driver for the ill-fated mid-90s Pacific Grand Prix team as well as driving the safety car from 1997 to 1999 for the Formula One championship. He has also won his class in Le Mans on a number of occasions. ^[2] He lives in a village east of Northampton with his wife, Helen, and their three children.^[1]

Racing record[link]

24 Hours of Le Mans results[link]

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2001	LMGTS	60	G	Saleen S7-R Ford 7.0L V8	Saleen-Allen Speedlab	Franz Konrad Terry Borcheller	246	18th	3rd
2002	LMGTS	63	G	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Ron Fellows Johnny O'Connell	335	11th	1st
2003	LMGTS	50	G	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Kelly Collins Andy Pilgrim	326	11th	3rd
2004	LMGTS	64	M	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Olivier Beretta Jan Magnussen	345	6th	1st
2005	LMGT1	64	M	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Olivier Beretta Jan Magnussen	349	5th	1st
2006	LMGT1	64	M	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Olivier Beretta Jan Magnussen	355	4th	1st
2007	LMGT1	64	M	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Olivier Beretta Max Papis	22	DNF	DNF
2008	LMGT1	64	M	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Olivier Beretta Max Papis	341	15th	3rd
2009	LMGT1	64	M	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Olivier Beretta Marcel Fässler	311	DNF	DNF
2010	LMGT2	64	M	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Chevrolet 5.5L V8	Corvette Racing	Olivier Beretta Emmanuel Collard	255	DNF	DNF
2011	LMGTE-PRO	74	M	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Chevrolet 5.5L V8	Corvette Racing	Richard Westbrook Jan Magnussen	211	DNF	DNF

Complete GT1 World Championship results[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website

This biographical article related to English motor racing is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Karen Lende O'Connor is an American equestrian. She was born February 17, 1958. Her family includes Joanne and Phillip Lende and brothers Steven and Chip. She grew up in Bolton, Massachusetts.

Biography[link]

Karen got her first horse, Midnight, for her 11th birthday, and began eventing through Pony Club. She later owned a Connemara named Erin's Shamrock, who took her to her first Three-Day Event at Radnor. The pair eventually moved up to the Advanced level. Karen began competing internationally in 1979 when she was 21 years old.

In 1993, Karen married longtime boyfriend and fellow equestrian David O'Connor in Virginia. Together they formed the famous O'Connor event team.

At the Rolex Kentucky Event 2007, Karen rode a 14.1 American Sport Horse Pony named Theodore O'Connor. It was the first time a pony had competed at the top-level international event, and the pair finished third overall. Karen and "Teddy" won individual and team gold medals at the Pan American Games in 2007. On May 28, 2008, Teddy was euthanized following a freak accident at the O'Connor's farm.

On July 29, 2008, the United States Equestrian Federation announced that O'Connor would join the 2008 Olympic eventing team with the 9-year-old gelding Mandiba.^[1] She also represented the United States at the 2010 World Equestrian Games with Mandiba.

Achievements[link]

2012

• Rolex Kentucky Three Day
  • 4th on Mr. Medicott

2008 

• Rolex Kentucky Three Day
  • 6th Theodore O'Connor
• 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Hong Kong/Beijing, China
  • Team USA- Mandiba
• Florida Fall International CCI**
  • 2nd That’s Smart

2007 

• Rolex Kentucky Three Day
  • 3rd Theodore O'Connor
  • 15th Upstage
• 2007 Pan American Games
  • Theodore O'Connor: Team and individual gold medals

2006 

• FEI World Equestrian Games
  • 42nd individually Upstage
• Rolex Kentucky Three Day
  • 12th Upstage
• Jersey Fresh CCI***
  • 9th Theodore O'Connor

2005 

• Rolex Kentucky Three Day
  • 7th Upstage
• Jersey Fresh CCI***
  • 3rd Joker's Wild

2004 

• Rolex Kentucky Three Day
  • 12th Upstage
  • 15th Bally Mar
  • 17th Grand Slam

• Fair Hill International CCI***
  • 8th - Joker's Wild

2003 

• Individual Silver, Pan American Games, Fair Hill, Maryland
  • Joker's Wild
• Fair Hill International CCI***
  • 1st Grand Slam

2001 

• Foxhall Cup CCI***
  • 1st Prince Panache

2000 

• Team Bronze Olympic Games, Sydney, Australia
  • Prince Panache
• Rolex Kentucky CCI****
  • 3rd Prince Panache

1999 

• Rolex Kentucky CCI****
  • 1st Prince Panache
  • 2nd Regal Scot

1998 

• Team Bronze World Equestrian Games, Rome, Italy
  • Prince Panache
• Badminton CCI****
  • 5th
• Rolex CCI****
  • 5th

1997 

• Rolex CCI****
  • 1st Worth the Trust
• Member USET, European Open Three Day Event Championship, Burghley, Great Britain

1996 

• Team Silver Olympic Games, Atlanta, U.S.A.
  • Biko

1995 

• Badminton CCI****
  • 3rd Biko
• Checkmate CCI***
  • 3rd
• European Open Three Day Event Championship, Italy
  • 8th

1994 

• World Equestrian Games, The Hague, Netherlands
  • 11th individual
• Burghley CCI****
  • 5th Prince Panache

1993 

• Punchestown CCI***, Ireland
  • 1st Shannon
  • 3rd Enniskerry

1991 

• Rolex Kentucky CCI***
  • 1st Mr. Maxwell
• Burghley CCI***
  • 3rd Mr. Maxwell

1989 

• Fair Hill CCI***
  • 1st Nos Ecus

1988 

• Member USET Three Day Squad, Olympic Games, Seoul, Korea

1986 

• Member USET Squad, World Championships, Gawler, Australia

1985 

• Chesterland CCI***
  • 1st Castlewellan

1984 

• Boekelo CCI***, Holland
  • 1st The Optimist

1979 

• Badminton CCI****
  • 10 March Brown

References[link]

1. ^ Karen O'Connor added to Olympic team, Associated Press

External links[link]

• Biography (Official Site)
• Official site of O'Connor Signature
• O'Connor Signature Community
• Equestrian Communities

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (August 2009)

Karen O
Karen O at All Tomorrow's Parties festival, December 2009
Background information
Birth name	Karen Lee Orzolek
Born	(1978-11-22) November 22, 1978 (age 33)[1] South Korea
Origin	New Jersey, United States
Genres	Indie rock,[2] art punk, alternative rock
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	Since 2000
Labels	Interscope
Associated acts	Yeah Yeah Yeahs Native Korean Rock

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

Early life[link]

Karen O was born in November 1978^[1] in South Korea to a Korean mother and a Polish father.^[3][4][5] She eventually moved to the United States, where she grew up in Englewood, New Jersey.^[6] She has commented on her childhood: "It's almost embarrassing how well-behaved I was, which is probably why I do things like spit water on myself onstage as an adult."^[7] She attended Oberlin College, but transferred to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She is now based in Los Angeles.

Career[link]

Karen O is best known as the frontwoman for the band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. She has also been noted for her sense of fashion, wearing ostentatious 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.^[4]

Playboy made an offer for her to pose on their cover. Karen O said on the subject, "I was approached but I said no. Who knows though? Maybe I'll do it in the future, but now doesn't seem to be the right time."^[8] Since then, however, Karen stated in an interview with Associated Press magazine that she has changed her mind and would never do Playboy because of the audience that Playboy magazine attracts.^[9]

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.^[10]

Karen O 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.^[11] In 2007, Karen O placed #3 on Spinner.com's Women Who Rock Right Now.^[12] In February 2010, she won a Shockwaves NME Award for the Hottest Woman.^[13]

She began working on a small side project called Native Korean Rock and the Fishnets with fellow NYC musicians in 2008.^[14]

In 2009, she contributed backing vocals, screaming animal sounds and noises to the songs "Gemini Syringes", "I Can Be A Frog", and "Watching the Planets" on The Flaming Lips album Embryonic.

In 2011, she contributed vocals on the song "Pinky's Dream" on the David Lynch debut album Crazy Clown Time.

On the collaboration project with N.A.S.A. on The Spirit of Apollo, she appears on the track "Strange Enough", together with Ol' Dirty Bastard and Fatlip.

O's vocal approach has been described as "ethereal",^[15] sometimes compared to indie folk artist Quinn Marston,^[16] and has been described as "yelping" at times.^[17] She described her approach:

We still have to grab people by the collar … We put out a record every three years now; we could easily be forgotten. If you look at a lot of our peers that we came up with, a lot of them have disappeared.

—Karen O in the Los Angeles Times, 2009^[17]

Soundtrack work[link]

O 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, Karen 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 movie soundtrack.^[18] At the end of episode 409, "Brothers Cinco", of the Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! she performed a short song.

In May 2011, it was reported that Karen O had collaborated with Trent Reznor on a cover version of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" for the soundtrack to the English-language version of the film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, for which Reznor composed the score.^[19] In December 2011 it was announced that the song would open the soundtrack album, be released as the opening single, and be available free to all who pre-ordered before the official release date (December 9).^[20]

[edit] Where the Wild Things Are

Karen O composed all of the songs on the soundtrack of Where the Wild Things Are (with the exception of a cover of the Daniel Johnston song,"Worried Shoes") in collaboration with Carter Burwell. The film was directed by her former boyfriend Spike Jonze. She is listed on the soundtrack as "Karen O and the Kids".^[21] Karen O and her Yeah Yeah Yeahs bandmate Nick Zinner co-wrote "All is Love", which was nominated for the "Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media", a songwriter's award, at the 2010 Grammy Awards.^[22]

Karen O at Bumbershoot 2009.

Video work[link]

In 2004 Karen O, using 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.^[23][24] The following year she directed the "Blessed Evening" video for Foetus with her then boyfriend Spike Jonze working as cinematographer.^[25] In 2006 she directed the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' video "Cheated Hearts".^[26][27]

Under the moniker Kids With Canes, Karen O and her boyfriend Barney 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.^[28]

[edit] The KO 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 side of the photo – quickly spread. The music news site stereogum.com broke the story of the leak^[29] the following morning and continued their coverage^[30] when Sitek lashed out at the fan who leaked the demos.^[31] Eventually Sitek followed up his comments with an apology letter.^[32] Karen O's response to the leak was "shit happens" and although she was somewhat "grossed out," she offered advice on which of the songs she liked the most,^[33] namely the tracks "Pumpkin" and "Snakes and Worms".

Personal life[link]

In 2011, Karen O married longtime boyfriend Barnaby Clay.^[34]

References[link]