1999-presentJess OrigliassoVocals1999-present
Lisa OrigliassoVocals1999-present
The Veronicas are comprised of twin sisters, Jess and Lisa Origliasso. The sisters were born on Christmas Day in 1984 in Albany Creek, Queensland (Jess was born 1 minute before Lisa). Prior to forming The Veronicas, Lisa and Jess played Sapphire and Emerald Buxton respectively in the Australian children television series, Cybergirl.
The Origliasso sisters moved from Brisbane, Australia to Los Angeles when they were 19 years old. In our interview,
Jess Origliasso expressed her thoughts on LA: "It's an extremely inspiring city, so much great old glamour, music history and movie history here. It's very motivating because there's so many creative people, you feel that buzz when you're here." Jess continued: "The people here are fantastic. You definitely grow up a little quicker. With the different people you meet, you're challenged on a social level, you're challenged on a musical level. It's also an incredibly beautiful place. You can go up north to Northern California, you can go to the beaches. And I think the best thing is that there's so much history with music and so many people that love what they do here. Of course, there's a dark side to Hollywood, but you'd have to expect that. It's also inspiring in a kind of sad way. So it's kind of inspiring to what you don't want to be and what you don't want to be suckered into. It's like watching a car crash where you see so many people that do get sucked into that place - you can't tear your eyes away. But it all fuels that creative energy, so I feel lucky that we've spent so much time here and had that chance."
The Veronicas are named after Veronica Sawyer, Winona Ryder's character in the film Heathers. Jess Origliasso told MTV: "The name is something we thought about for a long time, and we wanted it to be a girl's name, but we didn't want it to be 'the Jesses.' We were very conscious of not wanting to make it a twin thing, because we think that's really tacky." Lisa added: "So one day we saw the movie Heathers, and there's a line where one girl asks, 'Are you a Heather?' and Winona Ryder's character answers, 'No, I'm a Veronica,' and so we went with that, because she was this kind of cool, unique chick with an attitude." In 2005, Archie Comics filed a lawsuit against The Veronicas for apparent trademark infringement. Archie Comics claimed the sisters had named themselves after their comic book character, Veronica Lodge, and demanded $200 million in damages. A settlement was reached between both parties involving a cross-promotion, with The Veronicas going on to appear in multiple Archie Comic issues.
The Veronicas' debut studio album, The Secret Life of..., was released in the US on February 14, 2006. It peaked at #133 on the US chart. To promote the album, The Veronicas embarked on a US tour supporting Ryan Cabrera, who Lisa Origliasso briefly dated. The sisters also planned to tour alongside Ashlee Simpson (ironically, Ryan Cabera's ex-girlfriend), but they had to cancel the dates after Lisa developed nodules on her vocal chords.
In 2005, The Veronicas modelled for Calvin Klein. The girls have also endorsed footwear brand, Keds, hair care brand, Nu:U and FLIRT!'s Rock-n-Rebel Perfume Spray. In 2007, the sisters designed a fashion line for Target in Australia. The line was described by The Veronicas as "punk princess, mixed with rock 'n' roll."
The majority of Hook Me Up, The Veronicas' second album, was written and recorded at the Origliasso sisters' home in Los Angeles alongside coveted songwriter, Toby Gad. In our interview, Jess admitted to us that she and Lisa often have disagreements when it comes to songwriting: "Of course we have creative differences. But all in all we're pretty much on the same wavelength as to where a song should go. If there are creative differences, it's usually on lyrics or who sings what or a melody idea, things like that. But yeah, so I'd be lying if I said that there definitely wasn't. It plays a huge part in why we're able to write so well together." Hook Me Up, which saw the sisters explore the New Wave genre, was released on 3rd November 2007. It peaked at #107 on the US chart.
The Origliasso sisters are involved with a number of philanthropic causes. In 2006, they joined the late Steve Irwin's animal and conservation charity, Wildlife Warriors Worldwide. In 2009, Jess was invited to pose nude for PETA after a member of the organization spotted her on the New York subway wearing a fake fur jacket emblazoned with "F*CK FUR." That same year, Lisa marched alongside actress, Drew Barrymore,
Fall Out Boy bassist, Pete Wentz and other celebrities in support of gay marriage.
Jess Origliasso currently dates Billy Corgan, front man of
The Smashing Pumpkins. In our interview, Origliasso spoke of a happy relationship that she was in. Although Jess did not name names, it is likely she was referring to Corgan: "I found someone who helped me find my spiritual side and helped bring out the positive in how to balance myself as opposed to go to the dark things to relieve stress and tension, like wanting to go and drink or going out and partying and wanting to go and meet a thousand boys or girls. Finding a spiritual center, I totally calmed down. I feel I've definitely regained control of my life and started seeing things for the beautiful reality that they are instead of always feeling like there's a hole to fill."
Jess Origliasso is 1 inch taller than Lisa. She also has more tattoos in comparison to her sister, including a large bicep tattoo of a girl holding a guitar.
Lisa Origliasso told
BT that she loves being a twin: "It's a blessing, for sure. I wouldn't know any different to be honest, I can't imagine not having Jess in my life. I don't think The Veronicas would be what it is without that bond between us. We have a really strong intuition about each other, and when we're together 24/7 it's even more intense. We know what each other is thinking and feeling, so when we have time apart we try to really have time to ourselves. But you know, even then I'll suddenly get a feeling I need to call Jess about something and usually I'm right."
