Karen Zoid (born Karen Louise Greeff) is a female South African rock artist with vocal and guitar and acting talent. She is also a songwriter whose lyrics have been included in Afrikaans poetry courses at Stellenbosch University and the University of Pretoria.
On 3 May 2008 she won the South African Music Awards SAMA for Best Female Solo Artist of 2008, one of the 5 most prestigious music awards in South Africa.
Born, on 10 August 1978, in Brussels, Belgium, to a South African diplomat, Karen Zoid grew up in Belgium and then Johannesburg. She attended the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg, and then studied drama at AFDA, a film school in Johannesburg. In 2001 she dropped out of university to focus on her music.
In 2004, Karen married band member Don Reineke, and on the 29th of January 2007 the couple had a son, Ben Francis Reinecke. Zoid and Reinecke divorced in 2010.
Her first album, "Poles Apart", released by EMI in June 2001, was an instant success, especially amongst the youth of South Africa. The press started referring to the "Zoid Generation", and her icon status was highlighted in 2004 by both Time Magazine and U.S. News & World Report.
EMI released her second album, "Chasing the Sun", in June 2003, and her third, "Media" In July 2005.
In 2007 she left EMI and signed with Just Music. On 2 August 2007 her fourth album, "Postmodern World", was released. In particular her songs "Aeroplane Jane" and "Postmodern World" topped the charts at the end of 2007 in South Africa.
In 2009, Zoid released "Ultimate Zoid", a two disk album combining hits from her previous albums with three new tracks, and a live recording.
In 2010 a new album, "Terms and Conditions" was released by EMI.
She has consistently had major radio play. Her CDs have been included on the audio entertainment of international flights to and from South Africa. She has written music for television and two of her songs featured in the 2006 movie "Number 10".
Karen Zoid performed at the inaugurations of State Presidents Thabo Mbeki in 2004 and Jacob Zuma in 2009. She and her band also performed at the Nelson Mandela 46664 HIV/AIDS benefit concert in 2005. She and her band have had several concerts in London, mainly to South African audiences. In 2006 they performed in London, Canada and Dubai (at the Dubai Desert Rhythm Festival).
In 2010, Karen Zoid starred in a Franz Marx film, Susanna van Biljon. She recorded the theme song for the sound track, and a simpler version that foregrounds her voice, and replaces the orchestral backing with a simpler piano accompaniment on her "Terms and Conditions" album.
Karin Zoid became famous for a song called "Afrikaners is Plesierig" (released 2001) which is based on a fragment of an Afrikaans folksong, originally published by the Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereeninge in their Sangbundel.
Read more about Karen Zoid: Discography