The Carpenters Biography

The Carpenters were the biggest selling American artists of the 1970s. A vocal and instrumental duo, the act consisted of siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter. With their brand of melodic pop, they charted a score of hit recordings on the American Top 40, becoming leading exponents of the soft rock or adult contemporary genre and ranking among the foremost recording artists of the decade. It has been estimated that The Carpenters' album and single sales total more than 100 million alone, easily making them part of the list of best-selling music artists.

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, (lived at 55 Hall Street, New Haven, Connecticut), (Richard Lynn on October 15, 1946, and Karen Anne on March 2, 1950), the Carpenter siblings moved with their parents Harold and Agnes to California in 1963 and settled in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, California, at 13024 Fidler Avenue (this house was torn down with hundreds of other homes to make way for the 105 Century Freeway project). The Carpenters also lived at 2 other Downey addresses, 9828 Newville Avenue (the home the Carpenters bought for and shared with their parents), and 8341 Lubec Street (the home Richard and Karen bought and lived in without their parents). Richard had developed his interest in music at an early age, becoming a piano prodigy. The move to Southern California was intended in part to foster his budding musical career. Karen, meanwhile, did not manifest her musical talents until high school, when she joined her high school band (Downey High School, 11040 Brookshire Avenue, where an outdoor performance stage is dedicated in their honor) and found an interest in the drums. She soon taught herself how to play the drums and mastered them. Around this time she also realized she could sing.

Richard and Karen received their breakthrough with the 1970 release of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David song "(They Long to Be) Close to You", which rose to #1 and stayed atop the charts for four weeks. The Carpenters' version of "We've Only Just Begun" (written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols) reached #2 to become the duo's second major hit in the fall of 1970, and is considered by Richard Carpenter as the group's signature song ( it has been re-recorded over 100 times by other singers). Both songs featured on the album Close To You, which became a bestseller, earning Richard and Karen two Grammy Awards. The duo rounded out the year with a holiday release, "Merry Christmas Darling", which Richard co-wrote with Frank Pooler, who had been the duo's choral director at Long Beach State. The single scored high on the holiday charts in 1970 and made repeat appearances on the charts in subsequent years.

A string of hit singles and albums kept the Carpenters on the charts through the early 1970s, including "For All We Know", "Rainy Days and Mondays", and "Superstar" (all from the LP Carpenters) in 1971; "Hurting Each Other", "It's Going to Take Some Time", and "Goodbye to Love" (an early example of the power ballad, from the LP A Song for You) in 1972; "Sing" and "Yesterday Once More" (from the oldies-oriented LP Now & Then) in 1973. "Top of the World", an album selection on the Song for You LP, was covered by country artist Lynn Anderson, became a country and western hit and was rerecorded for single release in 1973, reaching number one on the Popular Music Top 40 charts late that year. A greatest hits LP, titled The Singles: 1969-1973, topped the charts in the U.S. and the United Kingdom and became one of the best-selling albums of the decade, ultimately selling more than 7 million copies in the U.S. alone.

During the first half of the 1970s, the Carpenters' music was a staple of Top 40 playlists and, even more so, Middle-of-the-Road, Easy Listening and Adult Contemporary radio. The duo produced a distinctive sound featuring Karen's expressive contralto on lead vocals, with both siblings contributing background vocals that were overdubbed to create densely layered harmonies. To his role as vocalist, keyboardist, and arranger, Richard added that of composer on numerous tracks. Several of his compositions with lyricist John Bettis became hit records, including "Goodbye to Love", "Yesterday Once More", and "Top of the World". To promote their recordings, the Carpenters maintained a staggering schedule of concert tours and television appearances during this period. Among their numerous television credits were appearances on such popular series as American Bandstand, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, and the The Carol Burnett Show. In 1971 the duo appeared in a television special on the BBC in the United Kingdom and were the featured performers in a summer replacement series, Make Your Own Kind of Music, which aired on NBC-TV in the U.S. In May 1973 the Carpenters accepted an invitation to perform at the White House for President Richard Nixon and visiting West German chancellor Willy Brandt.

The Carpenters' popularity often confounded critics. With their output focused on ballads and mid-tempo pop, the duo's music was often dismissed by critics as bland and "saccharine". The recording industry, however, bestowed awards on the duo, who won three Grammy Awards during their career (including Best New Artist, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo, Group, or Chorus, for "Close to You" in 1970; and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group for the LP Carpenters in 1971). In 1973 the Carpenters were voted Best Band, Duo, or Group (Pop/Rock) at the first annual American Music Awards.

Extensive touring in 1973–74 left the duo with little time for recording new material. As a result, the Carpenters did not issue a new album in 1974. Instead, the pair chose for single release the Williams-Nichols composition "I Won't Last a Day Without You". Originally recorded as an album track for 1972's Song for You LP, the single version became the fifth and final selection from that album project to chart in the Top 20, reaching #11 on the U.S. charts. Also in 1974, the Carpenters achieved a massive international hit with an up-tempo remake of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya", which, while not released as a single in the U.S., reached the top 30 in Japan and sold well in England, among other countries. In late 1974 a Christmas single followed, a jazz-influenced rendition of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town".

In early 1975 the Carpenters scaled the charts with a remake of the Marvelettes' hit "Please Mr. Postman". Released in late 1974, the single soared to #1 on the U.S. charts in January 1975, becoming the duo's third and final number one single. Later that spring, the pair scored a final top five hit with the Carpenter-Bettis song "Only Yesterday" peaking at #4. Both singles appeared on the LP Horizon, which also included covers of The Eagles' "Desperado" and Neil Sedaka's "Solitaire", which became a moderate hit for the duo that year. The LPs Horizon and A Kind of Hush, released in 1975 and 1976, respectively, achieved "gold" status but failed to peak as high as previous efforts. Their singles releases in 1976 likewise followed a pattern of diminishing returns. The duo's highest charting single that year was a cover of Herman's Hermits' "There's a Kind of Hush", which peaked at number 12. The follow-up single, the Carpenter-Bettis song "I Need to Be in Love" ( Karen's favorite of all of the duo's singles), charted no higher than 25, while the 1930s novelty song "Goofus" failed to reach the Top 40 entirely, and was also the first Carpenters single not to reach #1 or #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart since "Ticket to Ride". The disco craze was in full swing by 1977, and adult-appeal "easy listening" artists like the Carpenters, as well as John Denver, Helen Reddy, and Olivia Newton-John (before her starring role in the movie musical Grease brought her back to prominence) were getting somewhat less airplay.

Karen Carpenter gained a total of 30 lbs. over a two month stay in a New York Hospital, but the sudden weight gain further strained her heart, which was already damaged from years of dieting and abuse. On February 4, 1983, at the age of 32, Karen suffered cardiac arrest at her parents' home in Downey and was taken to Downey Community Hospital where she was pronounced dead twenty minutes later. Karen was planning to officially sign her divorce papers on the day she died.

Her funeral service took place on Tuesday, February 8, 1983, at the Downey United Methodist Church in Downey. Karen Carpenter, dressed in a rose colored suit, lay in an open white casket, and through an afternoon rain, a thousand mourners passed through to say goodbye, among them her friends Dorothy Hamill, Olivia Newton John, Petula Clark, Cristina Ferrare and Dionne Warwick. "I saw her at the Grammys photo session and she was so proud of the way she looked", Warwick said.

Karen's estranged husband also made an appearance at her funeral and in front of her shocked family took off his wedding band and threw it into the casket with his deceased wife. It is not known if he said anything to her brother, mother or father as he left the visitation.( According to the Ray Colman Book The Carpenters: the Untold Story)

On October 12, 1983, the Carpenters received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a few yards from the Kodak Theater. Richard, Harold, and Agnes Carpenter attended the inauguration, as did many fans.

Karen's death brought lasting media attention to anorexia nervosa and also to bulimia. Karen's death encouraged celebrities to go public about their eating disorders, among them Tracey Gold and Diana, Princess of Wales . Medical centers and hospitals began receiving increased contacts from people who were suffering from these disorders. The general public did not know what anorexia nervosa and bulimia were prior to the death of Karen Carpenter, making the conditions difficult to identify and treat.

In December 2003 Karen (along with her parents) was exhumed from Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Cypress, California, and reinterred in Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, California, (which is located two miles from Thousand Oaks, CA).

US chart positions courtesy the Hot 100. The Carpenters placed a total of twelve songs in the US Top 10, including three number ones and five songs that hit number two.