Richard Carpenter, born Richard Lynn Carpenter in New Haven, Connecticut, United States, on October 15, 1946, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who formed the pop duo the Carpenters alongside his younger sister Karen Carpenter. Raised in New Haven and Downey, California, he studied music at California State University, Long Beach. Signing with A&M Records in 1969, the duo released their debut studio album, Offering, in 1969, followed by their breakthrough single, “(They Long to Be) Close to You”, in 1970, which reached Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned a Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus. Their studio albums include Close to You in 1970, Carpenters in 1971, A Song for You in 1972, Now & Then in 1973, Horizon in 1975, and A Kind of Hush in 1976, yielding singles including “We've Only Just Begun”, “Top of the World”, and “Sing”. Following Karen's death in 1983, he released his debut solo studio album, Time, in 1987, followed by Pianist, Arranger, Composer, Conductor in 1998 and Richard Carpenter's Piano Songbook in 2022.
