Karmin was an American pop duo consisting of Amy Renee Noonan and Nick Noonan. Starting as a novelty act that released covers on YouTube, they signed in 2011 with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. In May 2012, Karmin released their debut EP ''

Hello ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the ''Norwich C ...

'', which spawned the singles "Brokenhearted" and "Hello", and received mixed reviews. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' named Karmin's lead singer Amy as the winner of "Women Who Rock" 2012 contests. In March 2014, the duo released their debut album, ''

Pulses In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the nec ...

''. The album's lead single, "Acapella", charted in the top 10 in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and went Gold in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. They left Epic Records in the middle of 2014 and have since released music independently. Their second album ''

Leo Rising ''Leo Rising'' is the second and final studio album by American music duo Karmin, released exclusively on Apple Music on September 9, 2016, before being released to all other platforms on September 23, 2016. It is the follow-up to their 2014 maj ...

'' was released on September 9, 2016. In 2017, the duo disbanded Karmin to focus on

Qveen Herby Amy Renee Heidemann Noonan (born April 29, 1986), known professionally as Qveen Herby, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and entrepreneur. Born and raised in Seward, Nebraska, she first gained fame as part of the music duo Karmin, with wh ...

, Amy Noonan's alter ego. The project moves away from pop in favor of more of an R&B and hip-hop/rap sound.

Life and career

Early life and career beginnings

Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan met while attending

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, from which they graduated in 2008. Heidemann is a graduate of Seward High School in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. Noonan graduated from Old Town High School in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, where he was a member of the concert band and jazz ensemble. The duo has also been a couple since September 2005 and in March 2016 confirmed that they had married. That month, Amy changed her Twitter name from "Amy Heidemann" to "Amy Noonan". The duo's popularity grew due to exposure on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

, achieving more than 320 million views between two channels. The name of the band is an American-accented

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (p ...

made from the Latin word ''

carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

'' meaning "song" (also a Spanish female name), and the word ''

karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...

'', making the name ''Karmin''.

Music career

Karmin signed with

, and in late June 2012 entered the studio to record their debut studio EP, ''Hello'', which was released on May 7 via digital download. On February 26, 2013, the duo released a studio cover of

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

's song " Started from the Bottom" as a promotional single; a week later they also released a mash-up studio cover for "Karate Chop/Sweet Dreams" by

Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...

also as a promotional single. They released the single digitally for free download. The single "

Acapella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

" was released in July and debuted at number 98 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and two weeks later peaked at number 72. On October 28, 2013, they announced their 2014 ''Pulses'' tour, and released the full-length album ''Pulses'' on March 25, 2014; ''Rolling Stone'' gave it 1–1/2 stars. Karmin at the Leo Rising showcase

2014–2016: Split from Epic Records and ''Leo Rising''

In 2014, after the release of their debut album ''

'' and the attendant tour, Karmin left Epic Records. In an interview with Billboard, Heidemann said: "We were hungry to try a more musically honest approach. We wanted to be a little bit nerdier than we think they had hoped". Six months after the release of ''Pulses'', in September 2014, Karmin released a single with rapper George Watsky titled "No Flex Zone (Remix)", inspired by the song "No Flex Zone" by Rae Sremmurd. It was produced by Nick Noonan. Later that year, Karmin began work on their second album, ''

''. Two digital singles were released in 2014: "Sugar" on October 8, followed by "Yesterday" on October 24, 2014. Another single "

Along the Road ''Along the Road'' is an album by Susan Ashton, Margaret Becker, and Out of the Grey's Christine Denté, released in 1994. Track listing #"Angels" – 5:37 (Jennifer Kimball, Tom Kimmel) #"Song of Reconciliation" – 4:27 (Wayne Kirkpatri ...

" was released on March 25, 2015 and was slated to be the lead single off the project, was later relegated as a promotional release. In 2016, Wild Culture released the ''Sugar'' EP in collaboration with Karmin. It features three remixes of "Sugar" and a remix of Riley Pearce's single "Brave". The album ''

'' was released on September 9, 2016.

2017–present: Qveen Herby

At the beginning of 2017, Amy Noonan revealed in a livestream that a Leo Rising tour would not be held in 2017, and if there was one it would be in 2018. She also revealed that alongside the launch of a new website, new music was in the works. In 2017, all of Karmin's social media was rebranded to

and a small preview stating "Karmin Is Dead, Long Live the Queen" was posted. Noonan soon formally announced her solo career and launched the website Qveenherby.com. The music video for Qveen Herby's first single "Busta Rhymes" was released on June 1, 2017, followed by the release of ''EP 1'' a day later. The EP received positive reviews from critics, who praised Herby's rebranding as an artist and the exploration of R&B and hip hop music. The EP also experienced fair success, peaking at number 37 on the US ''Billboard'' Independent Albums Chart and 13 on the US Heatseekers Albums chart.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As featured artist

Promotional singles

Other appearances

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{Authority control American pop music duos Musical groups established in 2010 People from Brookline, Massachusetts Musical groups from Massachusetts American dance music groups American Internet celebrities Epic Records artists Berklee College of Music alumni Pop-rap groups Married couples Male–female musical duos Hip hop duos 2010 establishments in Massachusetts