Karen Jill Elson (born 15 January 1979) is an English model and singer-songwriter.

Early life and education

Elson was born in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, w ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tamesid ...

, and attended

North Chadderton School North Chadderton School is a mixed gender secondary school and sixth form, located in Chadderton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Admissions The range of academic years correspond to ages from 11 to 18. The ...

as a child. She has a fraternal twin sister, filmmaker

Kate Elson Kate Elson (born 14 January 1979) is a British model and filmmaker. She is the fraternal twin sister of fashion model Karen Elson. Early life Elson was born in Oldham, Greater Manchester. As a child, she went to North Chadderton School in Ch ...

Modelling career

Elson was discovered at age 16 by Debra Burns, the owner of Boss Model Management in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. She began modelling locally and left Oldham a year later.

Steven Meisel Steven Meisel (born June 5, 1954) is an American fashion photographer, who obtained popularity and critical acclaim with his work in '' Vogue'' and ''Vogue Italia'' as well as his photographs of friend Madonna in her 1992 book, '' Sex''. He i ...

photographed Elson for the cover of Italian ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' on her 18th birthday, thus launching her career worldwide. She has worked with most of the world's major fashion photographers and fashion designers, including

Arthur Elgort Arthur Elgort (born June 8, 1940) is an American fashion photographer best known for his work with '' Vogue'' magazine. Life and career Elgort was born in Brooklyn, to Sophie (née Didimamoff) and Harry Elgort (April 10, 1908 – October 23, 1998 ...

, Bruce Weber,

Mario Testino Mario Eduardo Testino Silva OBE HonFRPS (born 30 October 1954) is a Peruvian fashion and portrait photographer. His work has featured internationally in magazines such as '' Vogue, V Magazine,'' '' Vanity Fair'' and '' GQ.'' He has also cre ...

Peter Lindbergh Peter Lindbergh (born Peter Brodbeck; 23 November 1944 – 3 September 2019) was a German fashion photographer and film director. He had studied arts in Berlin and Krefeld, and exhibited his works before graduation. In 1971, he turned to phot ...

Mert and Marcus Mert and Marcus is the working name of two fashion photographers, Mert Alaş (born 1971) and Marcus Piggott (born 1971), who work together on a collaborative basis. Their work and style is influenced by photographer Guy Bourdin and, together, t ...

, Steven Klein,

Patrick Demarchelier Patrick Demarchelier (; 21 August 1943 – 31 March 2022) was a French fashion photographer. Early life and education Born near Paris in 1943 to a modest family, Demarchelier spent his childhood in Le Havre, Normandy, with his mother and four ...

Helmut Newton Helmut Newton (born Helmut Neustädter; 31 October 192023 January 2004) was a German-Australian photographer. The ''The New York Times, New York Times'' described him as a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotic ...

and Ellen Von Unwerth. Elson's runway modelling credits include:

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was ...

Jean-Paul Gaultier Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 April 1952) is a French haute couture and prêt-à-porter fashion designer. He is described as an "enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs including corsets, ...

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel i ...

Dolce & Gabbana Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cos ...

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as ...

Tom Ford Thomas Carlyle Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and filmmaker. He launched his eponymous luxury brand in 2005, having previously served as the creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Ford wrote and dire ...

, YSL,

Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen CBE (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen label in 1992, and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His achievements in fashi ...

Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds 42.36% shar ...

Anna Sui Anna Sui (; born August 4, 1964) is an American fashion designer. She was named one of the "Top 5 Fashion Icons of the Decade", and in 2009 earned the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (C ...

, and

Gucci Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty Inc., ...

. Elson has over 30 magazine covers to her credit—international editions of ''

,'' '' W'', '' Dazed & Confused'', ''

Numéro ''Numéro'' is an international fashion magazine published by Paul-Emmanuel Reiffers. It has a circulation of 80,000, and the French edition reached its 100th issue in February 2009. The magazine covers international fashion, beauty, design, h ...

'', '' Harper's Bazaar'' (British), ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on w ...

'', ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the ...

'', ''Lula'', ''Foam,'' and ''

Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pet ...

''. In September 2008, Elson was on the cover of British ''Vogue'' as "Fashion's Red Queen". In 1997, Elson won the title of Model of the Year at the

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communic ...

Fashion Awards. The September 2004 cover of American ''

'' featured her as one of the "Models of the Moment". In 2005, she won the British Fashion Award for Best Model. It was then announced that Elson was the new face of British department store

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashvill ...

for autumn/winter 2008–09. In the autumn of 2009 she appeared on billboards internationally for H&M. Karen Elson at Anna Sui 2011

She has been in ad campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent,

Jean Paul Gaultier Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 April 1952) is a French haute couture and prêt-à-porter fashion designer. He is described as an " enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs including cors ...

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and lea ...

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...

Burberry Burberry is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry headquartered in London, England. It currently designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats (for which it is most famous), leather accessor ...

Trussardi Trussardi is an Italian luxury fashion house based in Milan, Italy, and specialized in leather goods, ready-to-wear, perfumes, and accessories. Trussardi was founded in 1911 as a leather glove manufacturer, and expanded its line to additional ...

Roberto Cavalli Roberto Cavalli (; born 15 November 1940) is an Italian fashion designer and inventor. He is known for exotic prints and for creating the sand-blasted look for jeans. The high-end Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli sells luxury clothing, per ...

Lanvin Lanvin () is a French luxury fashion house based in Paris. Founded in 1889 by Jeanne Lanvin, it is the oldest French fashion house still in operation. Since 2018, it has been a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Lanvin Group. Bruno Sialelli, a 31-ye ...

, and

. For the

2009 spring eyewear advertising campaign, she was photographed, for the first time, by Ford himself. She was the 2010 face for American fashion brand St. John and Karen appeared with sister

Kate Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American aut ...

in the 2011 H&M Holiday campaign. That same year, she was part of

Banana Republic In political science, the term banana republic describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resources. In 1904, the American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and neighboring ...

's 2011 Holiday Collection. Her cosmetic advertising credits are YSL's Opium perfume and Kose Cosmetics. Elson is currently the face of

Jo Malone London Jo Malone London is a British multinational cosmetics company, perfume and scented candle brand, founded by Jo Malone in 1990. It has been owned since 1999 by Estée Lauder. The brand is known for its perfumes, candles, bath products, and room ...

and represents them worldwide. Elson has appeared in many short films and videos, including the music video for

the White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums wi ...

song, "

Blue Orchid "Blue Orchid" is the first track by the American alternative rock band the White Stripes from their album ''Get Behind Me Satan'', and the first single to be released from the album. Although it was suspected that Jack White wrote the song about ...

". She has also appeared in fashion films: ''War Opera'', Nick Knight's

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

-inspired series ''More Beautiful Women'',

Craig McDean Craig McDean (born 1964 in England) is a British fashion photographer, originally from Middlewich, now based in New York City. Life McDean originally trained and worked as a car mechanic before studying photography at Mid Cheshire College (OND ...

's ''48 Girls'', and Bruce Weber's ''Petit Fleur,'' ''Harlequin,'' ''Voodoo Daddy,'' ''Closer Walk With Thee'' and ''Karen's Boogie'' (all films were made in conjunction with '' W'' as a tribute to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Nick Knight's fashion site

SHOWstudio.com Nicholas David Gordon Knight OBE (born 24 November 1958) is a British fashion photographer and founder and director of SHOWstudio.com. He is an honorary professor at University of the Arts London and was awarded an honorary Ph.D. by the same u ...

since 2002. She also contributed to

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

's project "Moving Fashion" with a black and white video of herself in a sequined gown, perched upon a swing. The images were accompanied by Elson playing the

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark o ...

and singing a verse of

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

's " Falling in Love Again." In 2010, she modelled a

Patricia Field Patricia Field (born February 12, 1942) is an American costume designer, stylist and fashion designer. Early life Field was born in 1942 in New York City to an Armenian father and a Greek mother, who emigrated from Plomari, Lesbos, Greece. F ...

dress for the Sex and the City Archive in the

Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is an English model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. She began her career at the age of 15, and established herself amongst the most recognisable and in-demand models of the past four decades. Cam ...

's Fashion for Relief runway show for the White Ribbon Alliance, an organization aiding mothers in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. Elson has designed her own line of shoes, bags and jewellery for fashion brand

Nine West Nine West, also known as 9 West, is an American online fashion retailer which is based in White Plains, New York. It was founded in 1983 and closed its brick and mortar stores business in 2018. Its products continue to be sold at other retai ...

Elson was one of eight British models chosen to walk during a segment at the

2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony The closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, also known as A Symphony of British Music, was held on 12 August 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London. The chief guest was Prince Harry of Wales representing Queen Elizabeth II. The c ...

. She wore a gold gown by

and walked the stadium with her fellow models to

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's song "

Fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fash ...

Music

Elson is a founding member and performer with the New York-based political

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

troupe

the Citizens Band The Citizens Band is a New York City based political cabaret troupe. The band is made up of different rotating cast members that perform and often includes celebrities in their shows. Past participants have been Zoe Kravitz, Zooey Deschanel, Mark ...

, appearing with them at various theatres as well as the downtown art gallery

Deitch Projects Jeffrey Deitch (pronounced ''DIE-tch'';Mike Boehm (January 12, 2010)L.A.'s MOCA picks art dealer Jeffrey Deitch as director''Los Angeles Times''. born 1952) is an American art dealer and curator. He is best known for his gallery Deitch Projects ...

since 2004. Critical response to Elson's performances have been unequivocally positive, with the press frequently commenting on her striking vocal skills. As one of the leaders of the Citizens Band she has performed a variety of songs including covers of

the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacL ...

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Mimi Mimi or MIMI may refer to: People * Mimi (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Constantin Mimi (1868–1935), Bessarabian politician and winemaker * Mimi (footballer, born 1996), Bissau Guinean footballer * Mohanad Ali (born 2 ...

and

Richard Fariña Richard George Fariña (Spanish IPA: ) (March 8, 1937 – April 30, 1966) was an American folksinger, songwriter, poet and novelist. Early years and education Fariña was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States, the son of an Irish mother, T ...

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notabl ...

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fu ...

and

. She has also written and co-written songs for the troupe's performances. Her cover of the Velvet Underground's "Candy Says" is available on the Citizen Band's MySpace page. Short samples of her performances are available on the troupe's website as well. Karen Elson at Rough Trade East (33226909593)

Karen Elson at Rough Trade East (33226909593)

Elson contributed backing vocals to a remix of

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following th ...

's "Last Time I Saw Her" from Plant's album ''Dreamland'' in 2002. In 2005 a personal recording of Elson singing "Coming Down" was made available on a CD accompanying the August 2005 issue of ''Uncut'' magazine. The song was chosen by REM singer Michael Stipe. She sang a duet with Cat Power of " I Love You (Me Either)" for ''

Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited ''Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited'' is a tribute album to the works of late French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. First released on Virgin Records in 2006, it consists of English language cover versions of Gainsbourg songs, performed by a diver ...

'', a tribute album to French singer/songwriter

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoc ...

. Her first full-length album was written, for the most part, in secret without letting her then-husband

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

hear what she was doing. "At home I would hide—I would play my songs really in isolation. I would lock the bathroom door and hide. Eventually he was like, 'Why are you hiding this from me?'". Elson released her debut solo album ''

The Ghost Who Walks ''The Ghost Who Walks'' is the debut album from British supermodel and singer-songwriter Karen Elson. Elson told DJ Steve Lamacq: "The title was a nickname that I had at school. It was one of the nicer nicknames I had for being tall, pale and ...

'' in May 2010, via White's label,

Third Man Records Third Man Records is an eclectic, vinyl-focused independent record label founded and owned by Jack White, Ben Blackwell and Ben Swank. The company operates out of three locations—Nashville, Tennessee, Detroit, Michigan, and Soho, London—wit ...

. It received generally favourable reviews. ''Spin'' magazine gave it 7/10 and compared her voice to both

Jenny Lewis Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She was the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child a ...

and

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Ma ...

. Elson and her band performed on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production c ...

'' in September 2010. Elson has recorded numerous cover songs throughout her career including " Season of the Witch" by

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world musi ...

(included in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

TV series ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy Horror fiction, horror Drama (film and television), drama television show, television series produced and created by Alan Ball (screenwriter), Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a ...

'' episode "If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin'?"), "Vicious" by

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

(released for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

2011), "Milk and Honey" by

Jackson C. Frank Jackson Carey Frank (March 2, 1943 – March 3, 1999) was an American folk musician. He released his first and only album in 1965, produced by Paul Simon. After the release of the record, Frank was plagued by a series of personal issues, ...

(released for Record Store Day 2012), "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" by

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

(for the tribute album '' Rave on Buddy Holly)'', "

Gold Dust Woman "Gold Dust Woman" is a song from British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac's 11th studio album, '' Rumours'' (1977). The song was written and sung by Stevie Nicks and released as a B-side to the " Don't Stop" single (in the UK) and the " You Mak ...

" by

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the li ...

(for the album ''Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac)'', "If I Had a Boat" by

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957)Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and releas ...

(in closing credits of the 2014 movie ''

Still Alice A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been used ...

'') In September 2012, she was featured in a campaign called "30 Songs / 30 Days" to support '' Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide'', a multi-platform media project inspired by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's book. ''

Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts * Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe" * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * The Fringe, the ...

'' included Elson's song "The Ghost Who Walks" on their season 4 episode "A Better Human Being". Elson opened for

Neko Case Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cri ...

in October 2013, for eight shows in Case's North American tour. Her second solo album, Double Roses, was released in 2017. Her third, ''Green'', was released in 2022.

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' –

/XL Recordings – 2010 * ''Double Roses'' – H.O.T. Records/1965 Records – 2017 * ''Green'' – Big Yellow Dog Music – 2022

EP

* ''Radio Redhead, Vol. 1'' – 2020

Personal life

Elson has two children with her former husband, American musician

. Elson and White were married in 2005 and divorced in 2013. She is an ambassador for

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

and has travelled to

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. She has written numerous articles and appeared on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the ...

in regards to her advocacy for

child rights Children's rights are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors.

. In 2020 she published an autobiography, ''The Red Flame'', in which she details her childhood eating disorder, her courage to stand up to harassers, and more. Elson resides in Nashville, TN.

References

External links

* *
The Citizens Band
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elson, Karen 1979 births Living people People from Oldham English expatriates in the United States English female models English women guitarists English guitarists English women singer-songwriters IMG Models models English twins People educated at North Chadderton School Singers from Nashville, Tennessee Third Man Records artists