John Casablancas culture, turning models into celebrities that were featured in mass media as personalities rather than just faces. Elite proved to be a success, grossing nearly $100 million in annual model bookings during the years that Casablancas ran the day-to-day operations of the agency. Casablancas founded the John Casablancas Modeling and Acting Agency and School, and the Star System model and talent management agency. Casablancas divorced Jeanette Christiansen, his second wife. Casablancas is the father of Julian Casablancas, the lead vocalist of the American bands, The Strokes and The Voidz. He also had three younger children with his third wife Aline
Is This It Julian Casablancas, guitarist Nick Valensi, bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio Moretti. Casablancas's stepfather and Moretti's and Fraiture's older brothers introduced the quartet to the music of reggae artist Bob Marley, protopunk group the Velvet Underground, and alternative rock band Jane's Addiction. Discussing the formative stages of the group, Moretti noted, "Our music was, like, [the Doors'], but trying to be classical. We all took music classes and tried writing songs, and when we put them together they were this crazy amalgam of insane ideas that we thought was really cool." In 1998, Albert Hammond, Jr., who Casablancas knew from