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 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 Stone's 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.

In 1975, Carpenter started exhibiting symptoms of anorexia nervosa due to the severe pressures of fame and her complicated family dynamics. She was never able to recover and died at the age of 32 in 1983 from complications of the disease, which was little-known outside celebrity circles at the time; Carpenter's death launched widespread attention and research into eating disorders and body dysmorphia. Interest in her life and death has spawned numerous documentaries and films.