WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Karen Ramirez

Karen Ramirez was looking for love. But what about looking for success?

British singer Karen Ramirez (born 1971) is another of those singers like Billie Myers who achieved one substantial hit and then vanished into nowhere. She was born in London but moved to Trinidad and Tobago as a child only to return to attend university. Karen’s passion was music and after sending a number of demo tapes out, she was signed my Manifesto Records in 1997 as an aspiring pop star. Karen released her debut single, “Troubled Girl”, in early 1998, which reached No.50 on the UK singles chart. Recording her debut album that year, Karen included the title track of a 1993 Everything But The Girl EP, “I Didn’t Know I Was Looking For Love”. Shortened to “Looking For Love”, the track was put out as her second single.

Hoorah, success second time around as “Looking For Love” became a huge hit topping the US Club chart and peaking at No.8 in the UK. The track was also a top twenty hit across most of Europe and charted at No.47 in Australia. Karen released her debut album, “Distant Dreams”, in July 1998, which only got as far as No.45. “Distant Dreams” featured one further UK singles chart hit with “If We Try” (No.23) while a fourth, “Lies”, did not chart at all. The album was released in Japan with bonus tracks and mixes, while 1999 brought a complete remix album of all the tracks titled “Remixed Dreams”, of course! Karen dropped out of sight completely for some time thereafter with no follow up for eight years. Karen recorded and released her second album, “Bees In The Trees”, in 2006, which was released to download only.

Since then, Karen has returned to the abyss and has, to date, not recorded or been seen live at all, anywhere, which is a shame. She still maintains a social media presence but appears to have now abandoned the music industry. She sang “Looking For Love”, we are looking for Karen…we hope you are well and happy. We thank you for the precious material you have afforded us.