Blonde Electra
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Blonde Electra (formerly Blonde Electric) are a British
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...
duo consisting of British-German sisters Jasmina "Jazzy" King (born 19 February 1990) and Natalia "Ruby" King (born 7 May 1992). They formed the group in 2013 in
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
, Germany, after leaving their previous band
KING King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
. The two sisters have been making music from an early age and have worked as
songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...
s in Europe and the United States. They are best known for their performances in the eleventh UK series of ''The X Factor'' in the 'Group' category, mentored by
Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan (singer), Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s an ...
. The duo reached the finals and took part in the first live show. They have lived in London since 2014. On 6 February 2017 they registered the private limited UK company 'Toy Machine Limited' at
Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the British Government that maintains the Company register, register of companies, employs the company registrars and is responsible for Incorporation (business), incorporating all forms of Company, co ...
, with both sisters listed as the
directors Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...
.


Early life

The parents of the two sisters, British-born Michael Jaffray King and his German wife Irmgard (also known as Joanna), left India in 1991 and travelled with their children as Christian
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...
in a
caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Caravan (trail ...
through Europe and the United States. They moved about 80 times and lived mostly under poor circumstances, especially during their nine-year stay in
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
, which they described as living in a
ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...
without running water or a shower. All children were
home-schooled Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...
and grew up under their father's strict rules without being allowed toys or to watch TV or listen to popular music.Ladies What Brunch with Blonde Electra by Hoxton Radio 10 November 2014 (archived at mixcloud.com under /HoxtonRadio/ladies-what-brunch-with-blonde-electra/ - accessed 5 May 2017)


Musical career


King Family

Jazzy and Ruby King started to sing on the streets at an age of one or two at their father's instigation. He later formed with his five oldest children the Christian band The King Family and they toured through the world performing religious music as street musicians, in clubs, churches, schools and prisons and on TV shows. In 1998 they were offered a $4 million record deal by
Word Records Word Records is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Curb Records, and is a part of Word Entertainment. It is distributed by Warner Records (the former Warner Bros. Records). History In ...
/
Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...
(US) which was refused by their father because of the young age of the children. When Jazzy and Ruby King turned 15 and 13, now living in Slovakia, they left their family to stay on their own and to sing in a night club, after their oldest brother Michael had already quit the band in 2003. The five siblings reunited in 2006 and started outside their father's control the band King Family, supported by the German producer
Dieter Falk Dieter Falk (born 5 December 1959 in Klafeld-Geisweid, now Siegen) is a German music producer, keyboardist, Christian composer, and arranger. Discography * 1985: ''One Time'' * 1985: ''Instrumental Journey'' * 1987: ''Today'' * 1989: ''Dieter ...
. They were soon given a record deal by
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
and published two singles and one album. In 2009 the band was invited to
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, Tennessee by
Doc McGhee Doc McGhee (born September 5, 1950 in Chicago, IL, as Harold Millard McGhee) is an American music manager, best known for working with hard rock bands Kiss, Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe. The latter two groups experienced their rise to stardom under ...
(the manager of
KISS A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
and
Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...
) and the siblings decided to emigrate to the United States. They parted ways with EMI and renamed their band to
KING King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
. They moved from a camping ground in Cologne to Los Angeles in June 2009. At the end of 2013, KING released the music video "B.O.M.B.", directed by
Nicholaus Goossen Nicholaus Edward Goossen (born August 18, 1978) is a director, and a photographer. Life and career Goossen's first feature film was '' Grandma's Boy'' for Happy Madison Productions and 20th Century Fox. He collaborated with Adam Sandler (executi ...
, in which Jazzy and Ruby King featured.


''The X Factor''

After differences with their siblings Jazzy and Ruby King left the band KING and started their own group called Blonde Electric. They were based in
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
, Germany, at that time and decided to move to England and audition for ''The X Factor'' after they heard that
Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...
had been back on the judging panel. They were earning their living with nannying and waitressing jobs and increased their initial combined assets of about only £150 to over £10,000 in only a few months. Blonde Electra were the first auditionees to be shown in the 2014 series. They performed the song "
Do It like a Dude "Do It like a Dude" is the debut single by British singer-songwriter Jessie J. The song was released as the lead single from her debut studio album, '' Who You Are''. It was released as a download in November 2010 in the United Kingdom with a p ...
"by
Jessie J Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind ...
and were accepted to go on with three 'yes' votes from Cowell,
Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan (singer), Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s an ...
and
Mel B Melanie Janine Brown, Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Mel B or Melanie B, is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress. She rose to fame in the mid 1990s as a member of the Pop mus ...
and one 'no' vote from
Cheryl Cheryl is a feminine given name with multiple origins. The name might have originated as a combination of the name Beryl with the prefix ''Cher-'' from the French ''chérie'', meaning ''darling'' (from the past participle of the verb ''chérir'' ...
. At the bootcamp the group sang " I Love Rock and Roll" by
Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin; September 22, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music#J, Godmother of Punk", she is regarded as a Pop icon, rock icon and ...
and at the judges' houses, which took place in
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
, they performed "
Gold Digger A gold digger is a person, typically a woman, who engages in a type of transactional sexual relationship for money rather than love. If it turns into marriage, it is a type of marriage of convenience. Etymology and usage The term "gold di ...
" by
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...
. Walsh, their mentor, selected them as the first act to perform in the live shows, after which Jazzy King told the show host that they needed to succeed because they did not have "a plan B" and they "don't function in the outside world, this is all we can do.". During their time on ''The X Factor'', the group decided to change their name from Blonde Electric to Blonde Electra shortly before the live shows because the old name was too descriptive. According to Jazzy King the new name should "represent who we are and what we stand for. When we think of Blonde Electra, we imagine a strong, independent woman that doesn't take no for an answer". Although the duo did not advance to the second week, the choreography (with ''X Factor'' creative director
Brian Friedman Brian L. Friedman (born May 28, 1977) is an American dancer and choreographer. Friedman has created the choreography for many popular music artists – such as Britney Spears, Cher, Beyoncé Knowles, and Mariah Carey – as well as for music ...
) and fashion style of their live performance stood out. Head stylist Gemma Sheppard, responsible for the outfits, called them the most fearless with fashion, willing to push boundaries and having a vision. At ''The X Factor'' finals, the two sisters aroused controversial attention when they kissed each other on stage during their performance of the opening number with the other contestants.


Performances during the show


Family connections

While participating in ''The X Factor'', the sisters revealed in interviews that they are related to then
Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born 23 May 1971) is a British retired politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the Cameron government. A ...
, whose father is a cousin of their father. Their paternal grandmother Helen Queenie Horn married Rodney Stewart King, the son of Lt. Col. Stewart William King, an officer in the
British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...
. Her sister Mary Horn married as her second husband Sir George Francis Osborne, the grandfather of George Osborne. Their sister Marieangela King married on 1 December 2013 the musician and artist
Elijah Blue Allman Elijah Sky Blue Allman (born July 10, 1976), known professionally as P. Exeter Blue I (Phillips Exeter Blue), is an American musician, and the son of singer Cher and singer-songwriter Gregg Allman; he is the half-brother of Chaz Bono, Delilah A ...
, the son of singer and actress
Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...
.


Filmography


Discography


Singles


References


External links

* * * {{Authority control English electronic music duos English synth-pop groups Musical groups established in 2012 Pop music groups from London Sibling musical duos British women company founders English women in electronic music 2012 establishments in the United Kingdom Female musical duos Electronic music groups from London