Karen Anne Carpenter
(March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983)
was an
American musician
who was the
lead vocalist
and drummer
of the highly
successful duo
formed with her
older brother
Richard.
With a distinctive
three-octave
contralto range,
she was praised by
her peers for
her vocal skills.
Carpenter appeared on
Rolling Stone's
2010 list
of the
100 greatest
singers of all time.
Carpenter was born in
New Haven, Connecticut
and moved to
Downey, California
in 1963
with her family.
She began to study
the drums in high school
and joined the
Long Beach State
choir in college.
After several years
of touring and recording,
the Carpenters
were signed to
A&M Records
in 1969,
when Karen was
Just 19 years old.
They achieved enormous
commercial and
critical success
throughout the 1970s.
Initially,
Carpenter was the
band's full-time drummer,
but she gradually
took the role of
Frontwoman
as her drumming
was reduced to a
handful of
live showcases or
tracks on albums.
In 1975,
Carpenter started
exhibiting symptoms of
anorexia nervosa
due to the
severe pressures
of fame and her
complicated
family dynamics.
She was never able
to recover
and died
at the age of 32
in 1983
from
complications
related to her disorder,
which was
little-known outside
celebrity circles
at the time.
Carpenter's death
sparked worldwide
attention and research
into
eating disorders
and body dysmorphia
Interest in her life
and death
has spawned
numerous documentaries
and films
