Formation and Fever to Tell (2000–2003) In early 2000, singer/songwriter
Karen Orzolek—henceforth known as Karen O—and guitarist
Nick Zinner founded the acoustic duo Unitard. Later that year, they changed their name to Yeah Yeah Yeahs and shifted towards a "trashy, punky, [and] grimy" sound inspired by the contemporary Ohio music scene. In September 2000, the band was invited to
open for
the White Stripes at the
Mercury Lounge in Manhattan. As Karen O did not want to use a
drum machine live, she enlisted drummer
Brian Chase a day before the show. He became a permanent fixture of their lineup, making Yeah Yeah Yeahs a trio. In late 2001, Yeah Yeah Yeahs hired Jerry Teel, a former guitarist for the punk rock band
Boss Hog, to co-produce a
demo intended to secure more shows. This ultimately developed into their
self-titled debut EP, a decision that Zinner attributes to their desire to share their music. They
self-released the EP on their own label in July 2001, to little attention. leading to a high-profile performance at
South by Southwest in 2002. The EP was reissued by
Touch and Go Records in the United States and
Wichita Recordings in the United Kingdom that same year. Their first
royalty payment from the latter label, who signed them after hearing "Bang", was $32. The EP topped the
UK Indie Chart and, according to
Nielsen SoundScan, has sold over 71,000 copies. Reviews were generally favorable, and both
The New York Times and
NME ranked it among the best singles of the year, with
NME placing it second. By the end of 2002, Yeah Yeah Yeahs's first record and live shows garnered them recognition. The band received offers from
major record labels to finance and produce their debut album,
Fever to Tell, but rejected them, as they felt it would compromise their creative control. They funded the album themselves and hired the then-unknown
Dave Sitek (
TV on the Radio) as a co-producer, his first of several collaborations with the band. They recorded the album at the local
Headgear Studio in early 2002 and compiled unused material into
Machine, their second EP, for promotion. In contrast to their usual no-bass style, Zinner played bass in the studio recordings.
Fever to Tell was released in May 2003 and sold more than one million copies worldwide by 2009. The album propelled the band to international stardom, being hailed as the best release of 2003 by writers of
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and by publications like
The New York Times. It reached number 55 on the US
Billboard 200 and number thirteen on the
UK Albums Chart, and it was nominated for the
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album and the
Shortlist Music Prize. Considered an essential work of the 2000s
garage rock and
post-punk revivals,
NME rated it the fifth-best album of the decade, writing: "When they first arrived in Britain a year ago, it seemed likely they'd make a debut album fixated on the simple art of fucking. Instead, 'Fever to Tell' is more complicated: seeking to explain love, sex and the remarkable, brittle, sometimes disturbing connections between the two." Four singles were released from the album: "
Date with the Night", "
Pin", "
Maps", and "
Y Control"; the first three reached the top 30 of the
UK singles chart.
Show Your Bones (2004–2006) In October 2004, Yeah Yeah Yeahs released their first DVD,
Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow, which includes a concert filmed at
the Fillmore in San Francisco, all of the band's music videos to date, and various interviews. In early 2005, they began work on their second album,
Show Your Bones, with the goal of reinventing their sound and not creating "
Fever to Tell part 2". Sitek returned to co-produce with the band and
Sam Spiegel, better known as Squeak E. Clean. They faced various problems during production, including once scrapping and restarting the project, Karen O explained, "We just scared the shit out of each other, it was a dark and scary realm that we were going into – not that the music was dark and scary it was just totally different." Chase said that he did not understand the music until a month after they had finished the album. in 2006
Show Your Bones was officially released in March 2006. It became the band's career-highest entry in the United Kingdom, at number seven, It received positive reviews, with publications like
Alternative Press and
The Village Voice stating that Yeah Yeah Yeahs had successfully avoided a
sophomore slump; some believed the band's tension showed in the music.
NME ranked it as the second-best album of 2006 and the 32nd best of the decade. It also earned the band their second nomination for the Best Alternative Music Album Grammy. The record spawned three singles: "
Gold Lion", "
Turn Into", and "
Cheated Hearts". The first peaked at number 88 on the
Billboard Hot 100, As major contributors to the festival, Yeah Yeah Yeahs were included in the 2009 documentary
of the same name. Also in 2006, they released a live EP exclusive to
iTunes. That same year, they joined
BeatBullying's "Take a Stand" campaign to advocate against
bullying and contributed a remix of "Cheated Hearts" to the
charity album Give. Listen. Help. Volume 3, which aimed to raise
awareness of breast cancer.
''It's Blitz!'' (2007–2009) Yeah Yeah Yeahs announced the release of a fourth EP,
Is Is, in June 2007, composed of songs written between the production of
Fever to Tell and
Show Your Bones and produced by
Nick Launay. It was released in July 2007 to positive reviews and chart success, entering the US
Billboard 200 at no. 72. One single was released from the EP, "
Down Boy", ranked by
Rolling Stone as the 61st best song of the year. Also in 2007, the band wrote and recorded "Sealings" for the
soundtrack of the superhero film
Spider-Man 3. in 2009 In 2008, Yeah Yeah Yeahs began working on their third album, ''
It's Blitz!''. They wrote all the material during production, in contrast with the sessions for their first two albums. Launay, who returned as a co-producer with Sitek, remarked that he had not seen a band do so since 1979. Several breaks were taken during production, to "get inspired". The band embarked on an international tour to support the album from May to December 2009. ''It's Blitz
was ultimately released in March 2009 and doubled the sales of Show Your Bones
in the United States alone. It was acclaimed by critics, with publications like AllMusic, Blender, and The New York Times'' lauding the band's new musical direction. In addition to the band receiving their third nomination for the Best Alternative Music Album Grammy, ''It's Blitz!
was named the second-best album of 2009 by Spin and third-best by NME''. The record spawned three singles: "
Zero", "
Heads Will Roll", and "
Skeletons", which garnered strong reviews and sales. "Zero" was ranked as the best song of the year by the aforementioned publications, while "Heads Will Roll" became the band's best-selling single to date, going double platinum in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. The song's
music video was nominated for the
MTV Video Music Award for Breakthrough Video. A remix by Canadian artist
A-Trak, which further heightened the song's popularity, was placed on
Rolling Stones list of "The 200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". The band also covered
Ramones's "
Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" for
War Child Presents Heroes (2009), a charity album whose funds provided aid to children in war-afflicted countries.
Mosquito (2010–2013) , California, in 2013|left Yeah Yeah Yeahs headlined a fundraiser performance at the
Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2010, which honored several philanthropists and raised funds for the museum. Following the ''It's Blitz!'' shows, Karen O announced in December 2011 that they were working on new material. However, the band's activity would decrease in the next two years as the members continued working on personal projects. Their next album,
Mosquito, was produced during turbulent times for the band, who wrote and recorded its songs only when they felt inspired. Marking a return to their early sound with a "playful, lo-fi approach", Sitek and Launay returned to produce the album and were joined by
James Murphy of
LCD Soundsystem, who the band were previously interested in collaborating with. They toured worldwide from April to July 2013 to promote the album. In January 2013, Yeah Yeah Yeahs announced
Mosquito, whose artwork by Beomsik Shimbe Shim was derided by critics and fans. After a series of promotional performances,
Mosquito was placed at number 30 on
NME's list of the best albums of the year, contrasting the band's previous efforts, which each made the top three. Only two singles were issued: "
Sacrilege" and "Despair", both of which were accompanied by music videos. The first won two
UK Music Video Awards and nominations for two MTV Video Music Awards. "Despair" was shot atop the
Empire State Building, making Yeah Yeah Yeahs the first band to ever film there.
Hiatus and concert focus (2014–2021) in 2018 with
Imaad Wasif In December 2014, Karen O told
NME that the band had been "on a bit of a hiatus", citing a lack of inspiration and motivation. The members then focused on their solo careers. Chase continued his experimentation in music, working on the album series
Drums and Drones from 2013 to 2018; Karen O became a mother and released her debut solo album,
Crush Songs, in 2014; and Zinner opened a photography exhibit, "601 Photographs", in 2015; They briefly reunited for a one-off performance in 2016 for a
Mick Rock documentary, playing with
Money Mark and Jaleel Bunton of TV on the Radio. Also in 2016, they released a remix of "Under the Earth" from
Mosquito to promote the
water sanitation charity Drop in the Bucket. They announced their return by headlining
Sound on Sound Fest with
Iggy Pop and
Grizzly Bear, their first concert in four years; the festival was ultimately cancelled. In September 2017, Yeah Yeah Yeahs announced a
reissue of
Fever to Tell for its fifteenth anniversary, featuring previously unreleased
demos and material from the era. It was published the following month alongside a short film,
There Is No Modern Romance, which features both concert and offstage footage from their 2003
Fever to Tell tour. The releases were well received by critics, leading to retrospective analyses of the album from
The Line of Best Fit and
Uncut, who reaffirmed it as the band's defining work. To celebrate the reissue, the band performed a small series of shows in three cities that same month. In February 2018, the band recorded a
Spotify-exclusive cover of
Big Star's "
Thirteen", their newest release in five years. They focused on live performances in the years afterwards. They aspired to create new music as early as 2020 but were halted by the
COVID-19 pandemic, though they released a
home recording of "Phenomena", a song from
Show Your Bones. The band appeared on the charity album
Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy, Volume 2 (2020), which advocated for
suffrage.
Cool It Down (2022–present) After a period of sporadic activity, Yeah Yeah Yeahs signed with the independent record label
Secretly Canadian in May 2022, announcing new music and performances through their social media. They then began work on their fifth album,
Cool It Down, which was recorded at three different studios:
Sonic Ranch in Texas, Federal Prism in California, and Zinner's basement. Sitek returned as a producer with Justin Raisen and
Andrew Wyatt and co-wrote four of its eight songs. In June 2022, the band confirmed the album would be released later that year. They donated $1 of every
pre-order of
Cool It Down towards
ClientEarth as part of their activism against
climate change. , London, in 2022
Cool It Down came out in September 2022 and, after the mixed reception of
Mosquito, marked a critical resurgence for the band. Writers from
AllMusic,
NPR, and
Rolling Stone said the album featured the band's most consistent work and Karen O's most refined songwriting yet.
Consequence of Sound ranked it the fourth-best album of the year, and
The Guardian placed it at 16th best. It received nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, the band's fourth in the category, and the
Libera Award for Marketing Genius. It was nominated for the inaugural
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance, and its
music video (directed by
Cody Critcheloe, designer of the
Fever to Tell album art) was nominated for the
Libera Award for Video of the Year. The song earned further recognition after appearing in
The Gorge, topping two
Billboard digital charts. To promote
Cool It Down, Yeah Yeah Yeahs played a small set of shows in June, July, and October 2022. In March 2025, Yeah Yeah Yeahs announced the
Hidden in Pieces Tour, which aimed to "showcase the band's catalog reimagined in a captivating new light, performing in intimate theater settings across both North America and the UK." The tour ran from June to July 2025 and was critically acclaimed, with reviewers lauding the vulnerability displayed through the softer renditions of their discography. Journalists from the
Chicago Sun-Times,
Rolling Stone, the
San Francisco Chronicle, and
The Times said the tour served as an example of the band's enduring talent and ingenuity. A portion of proceeds from the tour was donated to ClientEarth. ==Artistry==