Karen Carpenter
March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983
Karen Carpenter and her brother, Richard, formed the duo The Carpenters during the 1970’s. Karen’s voice has been one of my favorites since the first time I heard her sing, Close To You. Not only was she an extremely talented singer but she played a mean drum as well. Karen struggled with anorexia, an eating disorder, for many years. She died from heart failure most likely caused by anorexia at the age of 32.
Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter is a book about this remarkable woman.
https://youtu.be/woKKnEn8h9w
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Music By Karen Carpenter (The Carpenters)
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~Plucking Of My Heartstrings~ 
So sad……I loved her voice!!
I think she had one of the greatest voices. It is a sad…
I adore her voice! Such a talent.
She has always been one of my favorite singers.
I also loved her voice and was sad when she passed away so long ago.
I remember hearing about her death on the news, even after all these years. Her voice was awesome!
I love her voice. It’s magnetic with a little melancholy mood!
I agree!
If I remember correctly, her mom at one point said she was overweight, so she starve herself to please her mom, and develop anorexia. Did she die of heart failure?
From what I have read she died of heart failure but it was due to the anorexia.
Yes, that’s what I heart also! She was so talented!
Anorexia is such a dreadful disease. It kills more people ( usually girls and women) than depression. I find that fact astonishing. Nice to remember Karen Carpenter. Lovely voice.
I think it kills more females because we seem to care more about what other people see when they look at us. Most men don’t care…lol
I think also that anorexia has it’s roots as a mechanism to cope with stress. The person can stop worrying about everything else and just focus on not eating. I know it sounds weird but someone in my immediate family struggled with it and I went to a support group for friends and family of people with eating disorders and through that read several books about it which really opened my eyes to how complex the causes of the disease are.
I have watched documentaries on the disease. I think support groups are great!
I loved her voice. Was lucky enough to see her perform live twice.
Lucky you! I wish I had been able to see her perform live. What a talent!!
I watched a show about her life. It was so sad how such a talented person was criticized for not being thin enough. Consequently she struggled to keep her weight down and paid the price with her life.
Women need to be seen in a positive way no matter how their body looks. I blame social media and those looking to make a buck off someone for illnesses such as anorexia.
Karen had a voice that called to you, like she was singing to you alone about you. I was a kid listening to her and wondering how she knew my thoughts. I wish we knew more about eating disorders at the time. As I write this I hear, “Why do birds suddenly appear, every time you are near….”
She certainly had a voice that could get right into the core of you. I remember so many people having Close To You as their wedding song.
[…] I posted my Musical Monday Special Edition ~ Remembering Karen Carpenter last week I noticed that only the links to the videos were showing up. I had hoped that this would […]
Karen and her brother were such a great team. Her voice was so unique; she could sing anything and add her own touch.
Such a sad story. When I was young, I loved the Carpenters.
Thanks for sharing this.
You are welcome. I need to go back and see if I can get the videos to work now. Whatever the problem was seems to have been fixed.