Alison Mosshart

Alison Mosshart
Performing in July 2010.
Background information
Also known as	VV, Baby Ruthless
Born	(1978-11-23) November 23, 1978
Origin	Vero Beach, Florida, United States
Genres	Post-punk revival, blues rock, psychedelic rock, garage rock, indie rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter, artist, model
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, percussions, synthesizer
Years active	1995–present
Associated acts	Discount, The Kills, The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs, Royal Trux, The Last Shadow Puppets, Arctic Monkeys, Placebo, Primal Scream, Carla Azar, Cage the Elephant
Notable instruments
"White Penguin" Gretsch Bo Diddley, red 1960s Hagstrom Ⅰ, red 1970s Höfner 4575/V, black Rickenbacker 620.

Alison Nicole Mosshart (born November 23, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, artist, and occasional model best known as the lead vocalist for the indie rock band The Kills and blues rock band The Dead Weather. She started her musical career in 1995 with the Florida punk rock band Discount which disbanded in 2000.^[1] She then co-founded The Kills with British guitarist Jamie Hince (formerly of Scarfo and Blyth Power) in 2000 in London.^[2]

In The Kills' first album, Mosshart was known by her stage name "VV" and Hince was known as "Hotel".

In early 2009, she joined the supergroup The Dead Weather, formed by Jack White, along with Jack Lawrence and Dean Fertita. In that band, her stage name is "Baby Ruthless."

Career

Mosshart features on the 2006 Primal Scream song "Dolls (Sweet Rock and Roll)", from the album Riot City Blues, as well as on the Placebo song "Meds", the title track of their 2006 album. She also featured on Cage the Elephant's song "It's Just Forever", from "Melophobia". Mosshart also joined The Last Shadow Puppets on stage in 2008, in The Live Olympia Theatre in Paris. They performed the song "Paris Summer".

The Kills

Before the two even met, Mosshart, while on tour with her previous band, overheard Hince playing music in a squat above. She finally approached him, after which they started playing around with some music ideas. After she went back to Florida, she continued writing songs with Jamie, by sending her ideas overseas to London, where he lived. She became very exhausted and ill, so after saving money, Mosshart moved to London and the duo officially started. She has tattooed the date of their first concert on her left hand: 14 February 2002.

In 2003, The Kills released their first album Keep on Your Mean Side. In 2005, they released their follow-up album No Wow.

In 2008, Midnight Boom was released, and singles "U R A Fever", "Cheap and Cheerful", and "Sour Cherry" got much more exposure than The Kills' previous singles on shows and movies like House M.D., 90210, The House Bunny, Friday The 13th (2009 film), and The Losers.

On January 11, 2011, Mosshart announced the name of the new album Blood Pressures. It was released April 5 in the U.S. and April 4 elsewhere. The album is their most commercially successful to date. During the 'Blood Pressures' tour they celebrated their 10-year anniversary on February 11, 2012.^[3] They have released a photography book called Dream & Drive of their past 9 years with the photographer Kenneth Capello.^[4]

On June 26, 2014, The Kills opened for Jack White in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin, for White's Lazaretto tour. Mosshart joined White to perform White's song "Love Interruption", and both Mosshart and Hince joined White to perform Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene".

On June 3, 2016, The Kills released their new album Ash and Ice.

The Dead Weather

Alison Mosshart and Jack White performing live with The Dead Weather at the Glastonbury Festival, June 26, 2009.

Mosshart is one of the original members of the blues rock band The Dead Weather, formed in late 2008. She had performed previously with Jack White and Jack Lawrence and The Raconteurs, prior to this band's formation. She sings lead vocals and plays rhythm guitar.

She co-wrote (with Dean Fertita) the band's first single "Hang You from the Heavens" which was released on March 11, 2009. Mosshart also wrote So Far From Your Weapon and co-wrote eight of the original ten tracks on their debut album Horehound.

In 2010, a second album - Sea of Cowards - was released. The lead single, Die By The Drop, was written by Mosshart, Fertita, and Lawrence.

Mosshart and White jammed with Seasick Steve and John Paul Jones for the 2011 ITunes Festival. ^[5]

White's Third Man Records released a book made by Mosshart for her three bandmates called Shark Infested Soda Fountain containing pictures she took during their tour.^[6]

She recently joined Jack White on stage for his show at Bridge School Benefit to perform I Cut Like A Buffalo (from The Dead Weather) and Love Interruption with him while Dean Fertita was playing guitar.^[7]

On 29 August 2013, The Dead Weather announced that they had returned to the studio to record a follow-up to 2010's "Sea of Cowards."^[8] Announcement of their third album, Dodge & Burn, came in July 2015 for a release in September by Third Man Records. Along with four previously released tracks, remixed and remastered, the album features eight new songs.

Art

Mosshart debuted her artwork as part of ArtNowNY's collaborative exhibit, Push It, in 2014. Her primary medium is paint. In 2015 she had first solo art show, Fire Power, at the Joseph Gross Gallery in New York.^[9] In 2016 she featured in the Impossible Project in Berlin where she exhibited photographs.^[10]

Fashion

In April 2011, Mosshart contributed to Vogue.co.uk's "Today I'm Wearing" feature, sharing a picture of her outfits each day for one month. In 2013, she teamed up with French brand Surface to Air to design her ideal leather jacket.^[11]

The model and fashion designer Alexa Chung cites Mosshart as a style idol in a 2010 Vogue UK piece.^[12]

Personal life

Mosshart grew up in Vero Beach, Florida. She has a brother, Matthew Mosshart, a chef, who was engaged to media personality Kelly Osbourne until they announced their split on January 9, 2014.^[13][14] Mosshart maintains a residence in London, England as well as Nashville, Tennessee.^[10]

In 2011, Mosshart won the Hottest Woman award at the Shockwaves NME Awards.^[15]

Discography

• Discount - Ataxia's Alright Tonight (1996)
• Discount - Half Fiction (1997)
• Discount - Crash Diagnostic (2000)
• The Kills - Keep on Your Mean Side (2003)
• The Kills - No Wow (2005)
• The Kills - Midnight Boom (2008)
• The Dead Weather - Horehound (2009)
• The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards (2010)
• The Kills - Blood Pressures (2011)
• The Dead Weather - Dodge and Burn (2015)
• The Kills - Ash & Ice (2016)

Appears on

• "Meds": vocals on Placebo album Meds (2006)
• "Dolls (Sweet Rock and Roll)" and "Suicide Sally & Johnny Guitar": vocals on Primal Scream album Riot City Blues (2006)
• "Paris Summer": live performance vocals on Last Shadow Puppets CD single My Mistakes Were Made For You (2008)
• "Fire And The Thud" with Arctic Monkeys: co-wrote the song and did backing vocals on album Humbug (2009)
• "Rolling in on a Burning Tire": vocals with The Dead Weather on The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack (2010)
• "Tomorrow Never Knows": vocals with Carla Azar on soundtrack for Sucker Punch (2011)
• "What A Wonderful World": vocals with The Forest Rangers on Songs of Anarchy: Music from Sons of Anarchy Seasons 1–4 (2011)
• "The Passenger": vocals with The Forest Rangers on Sons of Anarchy Volume 2 Soundtrack (2012)
• "Unwelcome Company": vocals on Henry Wagons solo EP Expecting Company? (2012)
• "It's Just Forever": vocals on Cage the Elephant album Melophobia (2013)
• "Trying to Believe You're Mine": vocals with The Forest Rangers on Sons of Anarchy Season 7 soundtrack.
• "'Til The End Of The Night" and "Wild Love": vocals on James Williamson solo album Re-Licked (2014)
• "England's In My Bones": vocals on Gang of Four album What Happens Next (2015)
• "The Sky Is a Neighborhood", and "La Dee Da": vocals on Foo Fighters album Concrete and Gold (2017)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alison Mosshart.

• Mosshart performing "Salute Your Solution" with The Raconteurs
• Mosshart performing "Steady, As She Goes" with The Raconteurs