Inspired by Carole King and Karen Carpenter, Karen Ramirez recorded her debut, Distant Dreams, alongside Italian producers Souled Out. First single "Troubled Girl" failed to reach the Top 40, but the follow-up, "Looking for Love," a reworking of an Everything But the Girl track, became one of the biggest hits of 1998. Reaching number eight, it spent 11 weeks on the U.K. charts and also hit the number one spot on the U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play Chart. However, the album and subsequent singles failed to have the same impact. Ramirez took a break from the music industry, but she released a second album, Bees in the Trees, in 2006. ~ Jon O'Brien