Initially, the duo had trouble identifying its special style. The artists wanted to focus on the mood the music created. They wanted to project self-confidence, sexuality, and naughtiness. Such an approach always impresses the audience.
Soon after Nick and Karen formed a band and gave a few small performances, they got an offer to be the opening act for The White Stripes. The musicians didn’t know anything about that group (even though it was already popular at the time), they agreed to perform for promotional purposes.
The musicians faced one problem. They didn’t have a drummer. Karen suddenly remembered her old friend Brian Chase, whom she studied with in Ohio before coming to NY. Luckily, Brian moved to NYC. The musicians changed the name to Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The group gave excellent headlining performance and started getting interesting offers. The same year Karen met John Spencer from Blues Explosion band, who invited the group to tour Europe with them. Later, Yeah Yeah Yeahs got an offer to be the opening act for The Strokes.
In 2001, the band started working with an independent label, Touch and Go. With its assistance, the musicians released their debut EP, Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Even though the album didn’t make into the USA charts, it became very popular in Europe.
The second EP, Machine, came out in 2002. Even though the album didn’t get into the charts, the single with the same name climbed to the 37th spot of the UK Singles Chart. The group suddenly became famous.
In 2003, the artists signed a contract with a famous label, Interscope Records, and presented a debut LP, Fever To Tell. The album reached the 55th spot on Billboard 200 and came in 17th on the UK Albums Chart. More than 750 thousand copies were sold worldwide. The album went gold in the USA and the UK. At that time, many fans wanted to book Yeah Yeah Yeahs for private events.
In 2004, the group’s debut LP was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Alternative Music Album.
In 2006, the artists released one more LP, Show Your Bones. It also reached high spots on the charts. Singles “Gold Lion” and “Turn Into” became international hits. The music video for the former collected more than 1.5 million views on YouTube and was nominated for an Antville Music Video Award.
In March 2009, the band presented the next LP, It's Blitz!. The album earned gold certification in the UK and Australia. The single, "Heads Will Roll", featured in the album, became a huge hit. The music video for the song collected more than 46 million views on YouTube. The album was nominated for an International Dance Music Award.
In 2013, Yeah Yeah Yeahs recorded another LP, Mosquito. It came in 5th on Billboard 200. Singles “Sacrilege” and “Skeletons” became hits
Even though the album was successful, in 2014, the band decided to go on hiatus. They returned to the stage three years later.
In 2017, the group gave many concerts. At the end of the year, the artists re-released its debut LP, Fever To Tell. The new version featured unpublished demo records and other interesting material.
In May 2018, the group performed at the All Points Festival in London.
Today, Yeah Yeah Yeahs is working on new hits and performing live.
