Biography
Karen Ramirez earned fleeting acclaim as a one-hit wonder after registering brief chart success in both the United Kingdom and the United States during the closing years of the 1990s. She entered the world in North London in 1971, relocated to Trinidad upon turning six, and, shaped by her parents’ experience touring Europe within a dance troupe, took to the stage while still young. Her childhood soundtrack featured her mother’s classical guitar and jazz piano performances, prompting frequent family jam sessions in the living room that soon led her to sing publicly in church, both alone and alongside a choir. Upon earning a Commercial Music degree from the University of Westminster, she began appearing at jazz venues throughout the city. Several labels expressed interest, resulting in a 1997 contract with Manifesto Records; drawing from Carole King and Karen Carpenter, she then recorded her debut album, Distant Dreams, with Italian production duo Souled Out. Opening single “Troubled Girl” missed the Top 40, yet its successor, “Looking for Love”—a reinterpretation of an Everything But the Girl EP cut—emerged as one of 1998’s most-played radio tracks. The song climbed to number eight, logged eleven weeks on the British charts, and simultaneously reached the summit of the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play Chart. Its accompanying album, however, peaked only at number 45, while follow-up single “If We Try” advanced no higher than number 23. After serving as support for Lighthouse Family across Europe and for James Brown in the U.K., Ramirez stepped away from recording. She resumed live work in 2001 with a series of acoustic dates throughout the continent and began co-writing with Cathy Dennis; those sessions ultimately produced her second album, Bees in the Trees, issued in 2006.
Albums
