Karen Carpenter

Gifted with a crystalline voice spanning three octaves, the singer of the Carpenters duo recorded just one solo album before her premature death. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, on March 2, 1950, Karen Anne Carpenter grew up with her older brother Richard in Downey, California. She learned to play the drums at college and sang in the Long Beach choir, before forming a duo with her brother in 1965. Signed to A&M Records, The Carpenter quickly caught the public's attention and recorded ten successful albums, with a dozen songs ranking in the top ten best sellers on their release. In 1979, she decided to record a solo album with producer Phil Ramone, but found it unconvincing and was shelved. Suffering from anorexia, her health deteriorated, and she lost a lot of weight, requiring hospitalization in New York. Returning to California, she resumed her work with Carpenters until a heart attack, which combined with various factors in her illness, proved fatal. Karen Carpenter died on February 4, 1983, and three posthumous Carpenters albums were released before the 1996 release of her only solo recording under her own name.