![]() ![]() Desperately wanting to have children by age 30, Karen was married for 14 months to a real-estate developer who hid the fact from her that he’d had a vasectomy.Karen dated Tony Danza, Mark Harmon, Steve Martin, and Donny Osmond’s older brother Alan.The Carpenters had to take a year off recording during the early 80s while Richard got his drug addiction under control.She considered singers Olivia Newton-John and Dionne Warwick her besties.Karen collected Disney memorabilia and lived with her parents until she was 26.Those same producers constantly goaded her to lose weight, although she was 5’4″ and weighed 145-lbs.in 1968.Producers finally coaxed her out front to a microphone against her will and wouldn’t let her go back, replacing her with another drummer. The first two albums cut by Karen and Richard had Karen singing from behind the drums.Karen played drums in high school and according to her brother Richard, always considered herself a “drummer who sang.”.She continued that hobby throughout her life, pitching on the Carpenter’s official softball team at the peak of their popularity in the mid-70s. As a child, Karen loved playing softball as a pitcher.Karen Carpenter was born and died at age 32 of heart failure related to anorexia and bulimia.Somehow a tiny obscure notice doesn’t seem like enough to memorialize Karen Carpenter.So I did a little research and put together a few interesting tidbits about the life of one of the most amazing honey-voiced contraltos the world has ever seen. To this day, The Carpenters Christmas Album in my seasonal fave. Her struggles and untimely demise have continued to raise awareness and prompt efforts to combat these disorders and provide support for those affected.This morning over my bowl of granola, I was tapping my toes as my den clock chimed one of my favorite oldies from The Carpenters, “I’m on the *(downbeat) top of the world looking *(downbeat) down on creation …” when I came across a tiny notice in the newspaper that today is the anniversary of Karen Carpenter’s death in 1983 at the age of 32.Ĭoming of age in the 70s as I did, the Carpenters played an enormous role in my life as the backbone of my dating life, romantic fantasies of the man of my dreams waiting out there somewhere for me, and even just fun, feel-good music to bop to with my best girlfriends in my living room while we nibbled on Sugar Babies and sipped coke floats. In the years following her death, the tragic story of Karen Carpenter served as a cautionary tale highlighting the dangerous consequences of eating disorders. Her battle with anorexia struck a chord with many, leading to increased awareness and discussion of mental health and body image issues. Karen’s death shocked fans worldwide and brought significant attention to the seriousness of eating disorders. Despite efforts to resuscitate her, including using a defibrillator, she was pronounced dead at Downey Community Hospital in Downey, California, at the age of 32. Her heart had been severely weakened due to years of malnutrition, causing arrhythmia, irregular heartbeats, and ultimately cardiac arrest. Karen’s condition had rapidly deteriorated, and she reportedly weighed only 77 pounds at the time of her death. Anorexia nervosa is a mental disorder characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight, leading to extreme weight loss through self-starvation. Karen had struggled with her weight and body image for years, and in 1982, her battle with anorexia reached a critical point. Her cause of death was cardiac arrest, resulting from complications related to anorexia nervosa. Karen Carpenter, one-half of the highly successful sibling duo The Carpenters, tragically died on February 4, 1983. ![]()
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