Karen Elson

Karen Elson had already established herself as a prominent supermodel collaborating with leading fashion photographers and designers before emerging as a singer-songwriter. Music nevertheless remained her earliest passion during her upbringing in Oldham, England. Growing up in a musical household, she absorbed the sounds of Mazzy Star, Nick Cave, and PJ Harvey while secretly teaching herself guitar and composing original material. Her height, pale skin, and red hair drew teasing at school, yet those same features made her a natural fit for modeling. At age 16 a talent scout discovered her while she was shopping, launching her professional trajectory. She soon posed for Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Alexander McQueen, Dior, and Gucci, appeared on the covers of Vogue, Elle, and W, earned Model of the Year at the 1998 VH1 Fashion Awards, and received the British Fashion Award for Best Model in 2005.

By her mid-twenties she felt ready to reveal her music. In 2003 she supplied backing vocals on a remix of Robert Plant’s “Last Time I Saw Her,” and the following year she co-founded the politically minded New York cabaret ensemble the Citizens Band. Her song “Coming Down” appeared on a CD packaged with the August 2005 issue of Uncut Magazine. That same year she starred in Floria Sigismondi’s video for the White Stripes’ “Blue Orchid,” where she met Jack White; the pair married in June 2005, settled in Nashville, Tennessee, and raised two children before divorcing in 2011. In 2006 she joined Chan Marshall of Cat Power for a cover of Serge Gainsbourg’s “I Love You (Me Either)” on the tribute album Monsieur Gainsbourg: Revisited. She continued writing privately until sharing the songs with White, who produced her debut. The Ghost Who Walks, released in 2010, comprised swampy murder ballads and featured White on drums and Jackson Smith on guitar.

In subsequent years she managed motherhood, modeling, music, and her role as an ambassador for Save the Children. She contributed to the Buddy Holly tribute Rave On Buddy Holly and the Fleetwood Mac tribute Just Tell Me That You Want Me, and she supplied covers of Lou Reed’s “Vicious” and Jackson C. Frank’s “Milk and Honey” to the 2011 and 2012 Record Store Day releases. She also appeared on Ren Harvieu’s 2012 single “The Train Song” and offered a version of Lyle Lovett’s “If I Had a Boat” for the 2014 Still Alice soundtrack. Live work included a 2013 series of dates with Neko Case and a 2016 performance of “Ashes to Ashes” with Michael Stipe at Carnegie Hall’s David Bowie tribute concert. Elson returned in 2017 with her second album, the more personal Double Roses. Recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Jonathan Wilson, it included contributions from the Black Keys’ Pat Carney, Father John Misty, Wilco’s Pat Sansone, Benmont Tench, Laura Marling, and Dhani Harrison.