b. Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier, 9 May 1979, Los Angeles, California, USA. This US rock singer burst onto the UK music scene in 2001 in a blaze of publicity, appearing on the cover of his debut album in an iconic, bloodied pose and announcing himself as the saviour of rock 'n' roll. W.K., who was taught classical piano as a child, grew up in Michigan before relocating to New York City, where he held down several day jobs while plotting a music career. Adopting the name Andrew W.K. (he claimed the W.K. meant "White Killer", "Wild Kid" or "Want Kicks", although more prosaically it stands for the initials of his surname), he performed as a one-man band and released the Girls Own Juice and Party Till You Puke EPs on Bulb Records.
The famous picture of the singer drenched in blood (taken by his friend, Roe Etheridge) caught the attention of Dave Grohl, leading to Andrew W.K. and his band opening for Grohl's Foo Fighters in San Francisco. W.K.'s manic performance and the ensuing press coverage resulted in a major label recording contract with Island Records. The singer assembled a band and relocated to Florida to begin the recording of his debut album. The anthemic first single "Party Hard" broke into the UK Top 20 in 2001 on a wave of favourable media coverage. The single's hard rocking, white-trash manifesto was repeated ad nausea over the other 11 tracks on I Get Wet. The formula had worn very thin by the time the follow-up album The Wolf appeared in 2003.
