When she and her brother Richard were members of the Carpenters, Karen Carpenter had one of the best vocals ever. The music industry was stunned by her death in 1983 at the age of 32, yet her impact endures.
But how and from where was Karen found, and what caused her tragic demise? Here are all the crucial facts:
Who was Karen Carpenter?
Along with her brother Richard, American vocalist and drummer Karen Carpenter was a member of the Carpenters, a legendary musical group.
She was notably well-known for her contralto singing, and both musicians and journalists greatly praised her drumming skills.
She was the daughter of Harold Bertram Carpenter (1915-1996) and Agnes Reuwer (1915-1996). She was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on March 2, 1950. (1908 – 1988).
Richard, her only sibling and three years older than her, was a piano prodigy who developed an early interest in music.
Karen admitted that she initially felt anxious about performing in front of an audience, but she “was too immersed in the music to care about it.”
Two Plus Two was her first group, an all-girl trio made up of classmates from her high school. She recommended her brother Richard join, and they broke up.
Together with his undergraduate buddy Wes Jacobs, Richard Carpenter formed the Richard Carpenter Trio, which A&M Records finally signed as the Carpenters in 1969.
Why was Karen Carpenter killed?
While still a senior in high school, Karen started dieting. She started the Stillman diet on the recommendation of her doctors, which involved consuming only lean meals, eight glasses of water each day, and avoiding fatty foods.
Until 1973, when the Carpenters’ success peaked, this caused her weight to drop to 120 pounds (8 st 8 lb). She later came across a photo of herself taken during a concert that gave the impression that she was “heavy.”
She hired a personal trainer who advised her to alter her diet, but this led to her gaining muscle instead of losing weight, giving the impression that she was bigger. Karen fired the trainer and started her own calorie-counting weight loss program.
She hoped to drop more weight after losing 20 pounds (1st 6 kg) quite quickly. Her eating habits saw her give food to others in order to remove it from her plate.
She weighed only 6 st 7 lb in 1975. After noticing, some admirers wrote to the couple to inquire about possible problems. In 1981, when she refused to openly admit she was ill, she claimed to be “simply pooped.”
Richard later said that neither he nor his parents knew how to assist her. She confessed to Richard that she was anorexic and needed support. She decided to see Steven Levenkron, a psychotherapist in New York City.
In the 1980s, Karen also began using laxatives, which hastens the passage of food, and thyroid replacement therapy, which raises metabolism.
She continued to lose weight while her condition deteriorated further. She was sent to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York in September 1982, when she was started on an intravenous drip.
Furthermore, she began to put on weight after the treatment was successful, but this put stress on her heart. After this, she was able to maintain a healthy weight for the remainder of her life.
Karen made her last public appearance at a meeting of former Grammy Award winners on January 11, 1983. Friend Dionne Warwick said she appeared fragile but cheerful, saying to everyone: “Observe me! I have an ass!”
The last time Karen saw her brother was on February 1, 1983, when they spoke about the upcoming Carpenters album. She passed out in her bedroom at her parents’ house on February 4.
Her heart was beating once every 10 seconds, according to the paramedics, and she passed away at Downey Community Hospital at 9.51 am.
Her death was attributed to “emetine cardiotoxicity due to or as a consequence of anorexia nervosa” after an autopsy ruled out the use of narcotics or a prescription overdose. Not only that, but her blood sugar level was more than ten times the average at 1,110 milligrams per deciliter.
Carpenter’s recurrent use of ipecac syrup, an over-the-counter emetic designed to induce vomiting, was blamed by the coroner for her heart failure.
Karen Carpenter had children and was she married?
As long as we spend the majority of our time traveling, Karen Carpenter once declared, “I will never marry.”
Later, she dated others including Alan Osmond, Steve Martin, Terry Ellis, Tony Danza, Mike Curb, and Mark Harmon.
She quickly fell in love with real estate entrepreneur Thomas James Burris, and on August 31, 1980, they were married in the Beverly Hills Hotel’s Crystal Room.
Burris was nine years older than her, divorced, and had a son who was 18 years old.
She was believed to have wanted children very much, but Burris had a vasectomy and would not have the procedure reversed. Their 14-month marriage came to an end. His alleged abuse of Karen was also alleged by Karen’s friends.
Carpenter and Burris split up in 1981, and on October 28, 1982, while she was a patient at Lenox Hill Hospital, she filed for divorce.
Has she released any albums on her own?
Only 500 copies of Carpenter’s debut solo record, “Looking For Love,” were produced in 1967.
Karen planned to record a solo album with producer Phil Ramone in 1979, while Richard took a year out to deal with his addiction. With a concentration on disco and fast-paced songs, some sessions generated music that was significantly different from the Carpenters’ typical output.
Richard and A&M officials responded negatively to the record at the beginning of 1980. Despite producer Quincy Jones’ efforts to persuade Herb Alpert to release the album following a new remix, he ultimately decided to put it on hold.
When some of the solo album’s tracks (remixed by Richard) were included on the album Lovelines in 1989, a small portion of it was made public.
The full album, just titled Karen Carpenter, was eventually published in 1996.
