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Who is Kat Dennings's fiance Andrew WK? 'Thor' actress engaged to rocker a week after confirming relationship

Prior to his relationship with Kat Dennings, Andrew was married to Cherie Lily for nearly a decade and also has children with her

Marvel actress Kat Dennings has announced her engagement with boyfriend Andrew WK on social media, sharing a cozy photo of the couple kissing. She also posted two photos showing her beautiful engagement ring. The announcement which sent her fans in a frenzy comes just a week after she confirmed her relationship with the California-born rock singer. 

Meanwhile, her fiance Andrew shared the same three photos on Instagram, captioning them simply with a diamond ring emoji. The pair had reportedly been dating for the past few months after meeting earlier this year in Los Angeles. Now, the news of their engagement caught her fans off-guard as they poured in congratulatory messages all over social media. 

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Who is Andrew WK?

Prior to his relationship with Kat, Andrew was married to Cherie Lily for nearly a decade and also has children with her. He tied the knot with Lily in 2008 and till 2018, she performed with his band as a vocalist and hype woman. However, the couple parted ways around 2019 as was confirmed in a press release, "Andrew W.K. and his ex-wife, Cherie Lily, began amicable divorce proceedings in late 2019." He started dating the 'WandaVision' actress recently.

Andrew Wilkes-Krier, more popular by his stage name Andrew WK, was born in Stanford, California. Interestingly, he was christened Andrew WK way before his musical career took off. In elementary school, he was dubbed the same by a teacher to differentiate him from two other Andrews in his class. He later adopted the same as his stage name. 

He grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan where his father James E Krier is a scholar at the University of Michigan Law School. Andrew developed a passion for music from his early age after he started learning piano from the age of 4, at the University of Michigan School of Music. In a 2018 interview with Pop Matters, he shared how their family trips to midnight mass shaped his love for music. 

Andrew continued to learn piano and keyboard throughout his school years. He joined a band at the age of 14 and even recorded a song ('Mr. Surprise') three years later. However, he began to gain popularity in the late 1990s after he moved to New York City. Initially, he even worked as a salesman, fashion photographer, waiter, and window decorator in NYC before making it big in music. 

His 2000 EP 'Girls Own Juice' created much buzz, followed by his debut studio album 'I Get Wet' in 2001. His 2003 album 'The Wolf' showed off his multi-instrumentalist skills. He faced controversy in 2004 after being allegedly targetted by a fraud person who published false accusations against him, using his obsolete stage name. 

In the next decade, Andrew released top albums like '55 Cadillac', 'You're Not Alone', 'Gundam Rock' and others. In February 2021, he released the single 'Babalon'. His next studio album 'God Is Partying' is set to be released on September 10, 2021. Over the years, he has been involved in non-music ventures like motivational speaking, writing, TV, and radio work. 

It remains to be seen whether his career plans take a backseat for a while if he has wedding plans in his mind, but for now, the duo has been frequently posting and sharing their romantic photos, with sweet captions. 

'Can’t wait to be a bridesmaid'

Kat's engagement announcement was flooded with congratulatory messages from celebrities and fans on Instagram and Twitter. 

"Can’t wait to be a bridesmaid," model Tess Holliday commented on her Instagram post. Actress Mia Tyler joked, "Congrats to your lil baby hand." Other celebrities like Brenda Song, Shelley Hennig, Colin Hanks and others chimed in with congratulatory comments. 

"Kat Dennings couldn't decide between Thor and Loki and went with a mash-up," comic book artist Patrick Zircher tweeted, teasing about Dennings's past relationship with Tom Hiddleston and Andrew WK's long-haired appearance.

"Will Kat Dennings and Andrew WK invite Steev Mike to the wedding," writer Leor Galil joked, hinting at Andrew's past controversy around his old stage name Steev Mike.