We caught up with Mayer Hawthorne, who was DJing at The Universal Music Group Showcase '13 presented by Samsung. Mayer told us about his new album, his Grammy plans, and who he's rooting for at today's award show.
>> Karen Elson and Jack White are making sure their marriage — just over six years' worth — goes out with a bang, by holding a divorce party in Nashville this evening. The couple wasn't often captured together — it wasn't until last year that White finally agreed to be photographed with Elson for the first time, for Vogue's June 2010 issue. “When this [opportunity at Vogue] came about,” Elson said at the time, “for whatever reason, he was sort of like, You know, this is going to be the only time we are ever, ever, ever going to do this, so it might as well be with the best people on the planet, it might as well be with Annie [Leibovitz] and Grace [Coddington], to get that one great image of the pair of us.” Those images, plus the rare few others of the couple together, in the slideshow; plus, The White Stripes' video for "Blue Orchid," on the set of which Elson and White met in 2005. It premiered just days before they were married.
Divorce parties are nothing new, but what about throwing one with your soon-to-be ex? Former White Stripes front man Jack White and wife Karen Elson are doing just that! The couple sent out an invitation (see above) that could easily be mistaken for a wedding invitation if you didn't read the fine print: "Karen Elson + Jack White kindly request the presence of . . . at a party to celebrate their 6th anniversary, and their upcoming divorce with a positive swing bang hum dinger."
While my first reaction was that the event would just be too awkward for friends and family to go through, in their statement about the party it's clear they are doing it to have healthy, positive closure for the sake of their children. What do you think about throwing a party with your ex to celebrate the end of your relationship?
>> Karen Elson and Jack White, who married just over six years ago, have confirmed that they are divorcing in a statement: “We remain dear and trusted friends and co-parents to our wonderful children Scarlett (5) and Henry Lee (3). We feel so fortunate for the time we have shared and the time we will continue to spend both separately and together watching our children grow. In honor of that time shared, we are throwing a divorce party. an evening together in Nashville to re-affirm our friendship and celebrate the past and future with close friends and family.” The invitation for the party, at left. [Under the Gun Review]
Karen Elson and Jack White — what an original yet down-to-earth couple. She's a beautiful, ginger-haired British model and now also a singer. He's an eclectic musician, guitarist for The White Stripes and The Raconteurs, and drummer for The Dead Weather. Together, they're twice as stylish, twice as talented.
It all started when Karen appeared in The White Stripes Blue Orchid music video. They eventually got married in 2005 and are now parents of a girl, Scarlett, and boy, Henry. Though they don't pose for many photographs together, they do show up arm in arm at the Costume Institute's Met Gala. And most recently, they got snapped for their first-ever fashion spread together in Vogue's June issue. Karen and Jack make fair skin and adversely dark clothing look incredibly tempting.
To see more photos of power couple Karen and Jack, read more
Karen Elson — the 31-year-old model, wife of Jack White, vintage store owner, mother of two, and Upright Citizens Brigade performer — most recently added solo music artist to her growing resume. Elson has finished her first album (called The Ghost Who Walks and produced by her husband), and tonight she will perform a preview of songs at New York's Le Poisson Rouge.
The Nashville-based Elson says her music is highly influenced by Hank Williams and Patsy Cline. "There are also a lot of murder ballads on there, which is quite morbid," she told WWD. "The last song on my record is called “Mouths to Feed,” which was inspired by the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, about a woman who’s a farmer, who’s been working her hands to the bone and all she has left is dust."
In response to those questioning the model's legitimacy as a singer/songwriter, she says: "I was unbearably concerned and insecure about that, and that’s what has taken me so long to put a record out. Model-slash-anything is just such a [stigma], which is a shame because I know so many ridiculously talented models. It’s just the connotation of the word ‘model.’ If you said waitress-slash-singer or secretary-slash-singer, it’s all fine."
Karen Elson's The Ghost Who Walks will be released in May.
Source: Getty
>> Karen Elson Has an Album Coming Out —Karen Elson has dabbled in music a number of times in the past, but it sounds like this time she's making an official foray: she just released the debut video from her upcoming 12-song album — a live, acoustic version of the title track, "The Ghost Who Walks." The song can be downloaded from Elson's official page, and the album, which she would only describe as "spooky," is produced by her husband, The White Stripes' Jack White, and recorded at his Nashville studios. Expect a Summer release. [KarenElson.com, Spin, Beauty Counter]
Jack White is a bit of a jack of all trades. Last week his band The Dead Weather released its first album, but that's hardly the only thing on his plate. He's been rocking riotously with former flame Meg White in The White Stripes for more than a decade, jamming with Brendan Benson, Patrick Keeler, and Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs for about half as long, and popping up occasionally on the big screen in the meantime. That's quite the eclectic résumé. For me, Jack will always mean The White Stripes, but I'm also really digging this Dead Weather CD. How do you take your Jack?
