{{Use British EnglishEngvarB|date=DecemberAugust 20182024}}

| caption = Elson performing in [[New York City]] in 2010

| birth_place = [[Oldham]], [[Greater Manchester]], England

Elson was born in [[Oldham]], [[Greater Manchester]], and attended [[North Chadderton School]] as a child. She has a fraternal twin sister, filmmaker [[Kate Elson]].

In 2010, she modelled a [[Patricia Field]] dress for the Sex and the City Archive in the [[Naomi Campbell]]'s Fashion for Relief runway show for the White Ribbon Alliance, an organizationorganisation aiding mothers in [[Haiti]].

Elson contributed backing vocals to a remix of [[Robert Plant]]'s "Last Time I Saw Her" from Plant's album [[Dreamland (Robert Plant album)|''Dreamland'']] in 2002.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webwombat.com.au/lifestyle/fashion_beauty/elson.htm |title="Karen Elson" by Sara Templeton |publisher=Webwombat.com.au |date=14 January 1979 |access-date=2 August 2013}}</ref> In 2005, a personal recording of Elson singing "Coming Down" was made available on a CD accompanying the August 2005 issue of [[Uncut (magazine)|''Uncut'']] magazine. The song was chosen by REM singer Michael Stipe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=373879 |title=Elson's "Coming Down" on "The REM Collection Disc 2: Michael Stipe Presents ..." |publisher=Eil.com |access-date=2 August 2013}}</ref> She sang a duet with Cat Power of "[[Je t'aime... moi non plus|I Love You (Me Either)]]" for ''[[Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited]]'', a tribute album to French singer/-songwriter [[Serge Gainsbourg]].<ref>[http://monsieurgainsbourg.artistes.universalmusic.fr/uk/02monsieur_gainsbourg_revisited.php Elson's duet with Cat Power, "I Love You (Me Either)" on ''Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021075405/http://monsieurgainsbourg.artistes.universalmusic.fr/uk/02monsieur_gainsbourg_revisited.php |date=21 October 2007 }}</ref>

Her first full-length album was written, for the most part, in secret without letting her then-husband [[Jack White]] hear what she was doing. "At home I would hide—I would play my songs really in isolation. I would lock the bathroom door and hide. Eventually he was like, 'Why are you hiding this from me?'".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/karen-elson/ |title="Karen Elson" "Interview Magazine" |date=27 April 2010 |publisherwork=Interviewmagazine.comInterview |access-date=2 August 2013}}</ref> Elson released her debut solo album ''[[The Ghost Who Walks]]'' in May 2010, via White's label, [[Third Man Records]]. It received generally favourable reviews. ''Spin'' magazine gave it 7/10 and compared her voice to both [[Jenny Lewis]] and [[Loretta Lynn]]. Elson and her band performed on the ''[[Late Show with David Letterman]]'' in September 2010.

Elson has recorded numerous cover songs throughout her career including "[[Season of the Witch (song)|Season of the Witch]]" by [[Donovan]] (included in the [[HBO]] TV series ''[[True Blood]]'' episode "If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin'?"), "Vicious" by [[Lou Reed]] (released for [[Record Store Day]] 2011),<ref>[http://store.thirdmanrecords.com/karenelson-viciousblack7vinyl.aspx KAREN ELSON – Vicious (7" BLACK VINYL)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608230108/http://store.thirdmanrecords.com/karenelson-viciousblack7vinyl.aspx|date=8 June 2012}}</ref> "Milk and Honey" by [[Jackson C. Frank]] (released for Record Store Day 2012),<ref>[http://store.thirdmanrecords.com/karenelson-milkandhoney7vinyl.aspx KAREN ELSON – MIlk and Honey (7" VINYL)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120831205152/http://store.thirdmanrecords.com/karenelson-milkandhoney7vinyl.aspx|date=31 August 2012}}</ref> "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" by [[Buddy Holly]] (for the tribute album ''[[Rave on Buddy Holly]])'', "[[Gold Dust Woman]]" by [[Fleetwood Mac]] (for the album ''Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac)'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/news/46892-j-mascis-lee-ranaldo-st-vincent-antony-best-coast-washed-out-on-new-fleetwood-mac-tribute/ |title=New Fleetwood Mac Tribute Includes St. Vincent, Best Coast, and More; Hear New Pornographers Do "Think About Me" |publisherwork=Pitchfork.com |date=18 June 2012 |access-date=2 August 2013}}</ref> "If I Had a Boat" by [[Lyle Lovett]] (in closing credits of the 2014 movie ''[[Still Alice]]'')

* ''Double Roses'' – H.O.T. Records/1965 Records – 2017<ref>{{cite web|url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/double-roses/id1192826078?ls=1&app=itunes|title=Double Roses by Karen Elson on Apple Music|websitepublisher=Itunes.apple.comiTunes Store|date=7 April 2017 |access-date=31 May 2017}}</ref>

She is an ambassador for [[Save the Children]] and has travelled to [[Sierra Leone]], the [[Middle East]] and the [[Ivory Coast]]. She has written numerous articles and appeared on [[CNN]] in regards to her advocacy for [[child rights]]. In 2020, she published an autobiography, ''The Red Flame'', in which she details her childhood eating disorder, her courage to stand up to harassers, and more.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Abrams|first=Melanie|date=2020-10-12|title=Karen Elson on Body Shaming, Nudity and Speaking Up for Herself|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/12/style/karen-elson-autobiography.html|access-date=2020-10-12|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>