Karen Carpenter

Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American singer and drummer who formed half of the highly successful duo the Carpenters with her older brother Richard. With a distinctive three-octave contralto range, she was praised by her peers for her vocal skills. Carpenter's work continues to attract praise, including appearing on Rolling Stones 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. From then on, she found her appearance under constant scrutiny and developed anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder, as a way to cope with the massive pressure to look slim on stage. She was plagued by the disease for years. She died at the age of 32 of heart failure due to complications from anorexia, which was little-known outside celebrity circles at the time, and her death triggered widespread attention and research into eating disorders and body dysmorphia. Interest in her life and death has spawned numerous documentaries and movies. Early life Karen Anne Carpenter was born on March 2, 1950, at Grace New Haven Hospital (now called Yale New Haven Hospital) in New Haven, Connecticut, the daughter of Agnes Reuwer (née Tatum, March 5, 1915 – November 10, 1996) and Harold Bertram Carpenter (November 8, 1908 – October 15, 1988). Harold was born in Wuzhou, China, where his parents were missionaries. Before finding work in the printing business, he was educated at boarding schools in the United Kingdom.