The family lived in Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood and Englewood, New Jersey before moving to Portsmouth, Virginia, where Karen grew up.

She also played alongside her father and his colleagues, and at their encouragement she made the decision at age 15 to become a professional jazz violinist.

[1] After graduating high school in 1981, she went to Norfolk State College where she majored in music education and mass media studies.

In 1988 Briggs married and moved to Los Angeles, California, where she became a frequent performer at the jazz club Marla's Memory Lane.

[3][6] In a 2004 interview with The HistoryMakers, Briggs reminisced that she might have been more commercially successful if she had parted with Yanni after Live at the Acropolis to pursue her solo career.

[1] Following her time with Yanni, Briggs joined Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, Richie Kotzen, and Rachel Z to form the jazz fusion group Vertú.

[4][10] Other artists that Briggs has played alongside include the Wu Tang Clan, En Vogue, and Chaka Khan.