Back Karen Carpenter Afrikaans Karen Carpenter AN كارين كاربنتر Arabic كارين كاربنتر ARZ Karen Carpenter AST Karen Carpenter Aymara کارن کارپنتر AZB Карэн Карпентэр Byelorussian Карэн Карпэнтэр BE-X-OLD Karen Carpenter Catalan

Karen Carpenter

Karen Carpenter
Carpenter at the White House in 1972
Carpenter at the White House in 1972
Background information
Birth nameKaren Anne Carpenter
Born(1950-03-02)March 2, 1950[1]
New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
OriginDowney, California, U.S.
DiedFebruary 4, 1983(1983-02-04) (aged 32)[1]
Downey, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • drums
Years active1965–1983
LabelsA&M
Formerly of
Spouse
Thomas Burris
​
​
(m. 1980; sep. 1981)​
Websiterichardandkarencarpenter.com

Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American singer and drummer who formed half of the highly successful duo Carpenters with her older brother Richard.[2] With a distinctive three-octave contralto range, she was praised by her peers for her vocal skills.[3][4][5][6] Carpenter's work continues to attract praise, including appearing 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 after graduating. After several years of touring and recording, the Carpenters were signed to A&M Records in 1969, achieving 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.[2][7][8] She was never able to recover and died at the age of 32 in 1983 from complications of the disease, which was little-known outside celebrity circles at the time; Carpenter's death launched widespread attention and research into eating disorders and body dysmorphia.[7] Interest in her life and death has spawned numerous documentaries and films.[2]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference rollingstone was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Randy Schmidt (October 24, 2010). "Karen Carpenter's tragic story". The Guardian. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  3. ^ "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". Rolling Stone. December 2, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  4. ^ Hoerburger, Rob (November 3, 1991). "Recordings View; Revisionist Thinking on the Carpenters". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 27, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  5. ^ Samberg, Joel (February 4, 2013). "Remembering Karen Carpenter, 30 Years Later". NPR. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  6. ^ Tauriello, Dena (December 2013). "What Do You Know About...Karen Carpenter?". Modern Drummer. Archived from the original on September 20, 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference second was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Rabin, Nathan (July 21, 2016). "Little Girl Blue explores the life and legacy of Karen Carpenter". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 14, 2022.

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