Karen Lee Orzolek (born November 22, 1978)[1] is a South Korean-born American singer, musician, and songwriter.

Karen Lee Orzolek was born in Seoul, South Korea,[2][3] the daughter of a Korean mother and a Polish father.

[5] During a tour for the 2003 Livid Festival in Australia, at a sideshow at The Metro in Sydney, Karen O 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 onstage by Angus Andrew.

[11] The following year, she debuted a side project called Native Korean Rock with fellow New York City musicians, with two intimate performances at Union Pool in Brooklyn on July 21.

[12][13] 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.

[18] Karen 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 film Jackass Number Two, Karen O collaborated with electronic artist Peaches and Johnny Knoxville to record a track entitled "Backass"; for Jackass 3D, she covered 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".

[24] Jonze shot the video for Karen O & Danger Mouse's "Woman" live in one take as the duo performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

In 2004, Karen O, using the moniker Marshmellow, directed the music video for "We Fenced Other Gardens with the Bones of Our Own" by Liars, fronted by her then-boyfriend Angus Andrew.

[25][26] The following year, she directed the "Blessed Evening" video for Foetus with her then-boyfriend Spike Jonze working as cinematographer.

[28][29] Under the moniker Kids with Canes, Karen O and her now-husband Barnaby Clay directed the music video for the Tiny Masters of Today song "Hologram World", released in 2008.

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.

[44] The installation premiered at Los Angeles' Marciano Art Foundation in April 2019, where it played to sold-out audiences.