Veronicas

Artist Biography by David Jeffries The Secret Life Of... The Veronicas are Jess and Lisa Origliasso, a pair of identical twin sisters with omnivorous tastes who specialize in smart, stylish pop. Emerging at the height of mall pop-punk in the mid-2000s, the Veronicas were initially aligned with the likes of Avril Lavigne and Kelly Clarkson, working with Max Martin and Dr. Luke on their 2006 debut The Secret Life Of…, along with Toby Gad, a producer who would collaborate with them throughout the years. After sticking with punky pop on Hook Me Up, the Veronicas broadened their purview on their eponymous 2014 album. By that point, the duo were superstars in their native Australia, popular enough that they retained their fame for an extended period without albums, a phase they broke in grand fashion by releasing the twin albums Godzilla and Human in 2021. The Veronicas hail from Brisbane, Australia, where Jess and Lisa Origliasso began working in show business at the age of five. Born on Christmas Day in 1984, Jess and Lisa first performed as the Origliasso Twins, and their appearances at awards shows and sporting events drew the attention of agents and talent agencies. As teenagers, the twins released three teen pop albums under the name Lisa & Jessica, and they began making forays into TV after landing recurring roles in the Australian children's' series Cybergirl. After Jess received a guitar as a birthday present in 2002, though, the girls started devoting more time to songwriting, gradually transforming their sound from pop to alternative rock in the process. With the help of two friends, the Origliasso twins formed a band, Teal, and released "Baby It's Over," a hooky single that made them sought-after songwriters. After honing their chops by working with several different collaborators, the Origliassos signed a publishing deal and began contributing songs to a number of performers, including Australian Idol winner Casey Donovan, Japanese pop singer Miz, and the Russian group t.A.T.u. The girls were now focused on becoming internationally successful in their own right, and they moved to Los Angeles to try their hand in America. After changing their name to the Veronicas and turning 20, they landed a deal with Sire, an offshoot of Warner Bros. Revenge Is Sweeter Tour Sire released the Veronicas' full-length debut, The Secret Life Of..., in 2005. Although an international release followed in early 2006, the album fared best in Australia, where it generated three Top Ten singles and eventually went quadruple platinum. Hook Me Up followed in 2007, featuring a new wave-inspired sound and, once again, went multi-platinum in Australia. The girls toured in support of both albums and documented one of their jaunts with a live album, Revenge Is Sweeter Tour, in early 2010. The Veronicas started working on their third album in January 2010, and after two years they were set to release the record in 2012. Lead single "Lolita" didn't perform well and Warner decided to push the release of the record into 2013. During the final stages of completing the record, the Veronicas continued to have troubles with their record company, culminating in a split from the label in October 2013. The duo then signed with Sony Music, releasing "Did You Miss Me?" in March of that year. Another single, called "You Ruin Me," showed up in the fall before the group's eponymous third album saw release in November; it received a U.S. release in the spring of 2015. The Veronicas spent some time in 2016 working as coaches on The Voice Australia, exposure that helped the single "In My Blood" reach number one that year. Over the next few years, the Veronicas released digital singles before taking a hiatus that lasted for much of 2018. In 2019, they launched an Australian MTV reality show called The Veronicas: Blood Is for Life; the show was accompanied by a new theme song, "Ugly." The duo returned to The Voice Australia in 2020. The Veronicas released Godzilla, their first album in seven years, in May 2021. It was followed the next month by Human, an album that found the band exploring new electronic-influenced territory.