Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American singer and drummer who, along with her elder brother Richard, was part of the duo the Carpenters. She was praised for her three-octave contralto vocal range and drumming abilities.
Carpenter's first band was Two Plus Two, an all-girl trio formed with friends from Downey High. They split up after she suggested that her brother Richard join the group. In 1965, Karen, Richard, and his college friend Wes Jacobs, a bassist and tuba player, formed the Richard Carpenter Trio. The band rehearsed daily, played jazz in nightclubs, and also appeared on the TV talent show Your All-American College Show. She did not sing at this point; instead, singer Margaret Shanor guested on some numbers. The trio signed a contract with RCA Records and recorded two instrumentals, but they were not released.
A&M Records finally signed the Carpenters to a recording contract in 1969. Karen started out as both the group's drummer and co-lead singer, and she originally sang all of her vocals from behind the drum set. She sang most of the songs on the band's first album, Offering (later retitled Ticket to Ride); her brother wrote ten of the album's thirteen songs and sang on five of them. The opening and concluding tracks were sung by both siblings in unison. As well as drumming, Karen played bass guitar on two songs, "All of My Life" and "Eve", under Osborn's guidance. On "All I Can Do", she played in 5/4 time, while "Your Wonderful Parade" featured multiple snare and bass drum overdubs to emulate the sound of a marching band. The track "Ticket to Ride", a Beatles cover song that later became the album's title track, was released as the Carpenters' first single; it reached No. 54 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their next album, 1970's Close to You, featured two hit singles: "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun". They peaked at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on the Hot 100. After the release of Now & Then in 1973, the albums tended to have Carpenter singing more and drumming less, and she did become the focal point of all records and live performances. In 1981, after release of the Made in America album (which turned out to be their last), the Carpenters returned to the stage and went on some promotional tours, including an appearance for the BBC program Nationwide.
Carpenter released her first solo record, "Looking for Love" / "I'll Be Yours", in 1967 on Osborn's Magic Lamp label. Only 500 copies were pressed, and the label folded shortly afterwards.[46] In 1979, while Richard took a year off to treat his addiction, Karen made a solo album with producer Phil Ramone.[47] The sessions produced music that was different from the usual Carpenters material, tending more toward disco and up-tempo numbers, with more mature lyrics and taking full advantage of Karen's upper vocal register. The album met with a tepid response from Richard and A&M executives in early 1980 and was shelved by A&M Records co-owner Herb Alpert, in spite of attempts by producer Quincy Jones to convince him to release the solo record after a remix.[48] A&M subsequently charged Carpenter $400,000 to cover the cost of recording her unreleased album, to be paid out of the duo's future royalties.[49] A portion of the solo album was commercially released in 1989, when some of its tracks (as remixed by Richard) were included on the album Lovelines, the final album of previously unreleased material from the Carpenters. In 1996, the complete solo album, titled Karen Carpenter, was finally released.
Carpenter suffered from anorexia nervosa, which was little-known at the time. Her death from heart failure on the 4th of February of 1983, at age 32 was related to the illness.
