Karen Carpenter the silky voiced singer, who with her brother, Richard recorded some of the biggest hits of the 1970s, died today at 32 from a heart attack, said a hospital spokesman.
The Carpenters mellow songs like "We've Only Just Begun" and "Close To You," sold more than 60 million albums worldwide.
She died at 9:51am at Downey Community Hospital, 25 minutes after being brought in by paramedics, a hospital spokesman said. Her brother and parents were with her when she died. The singer suffered from anorexia nervosa, a disorder caused by compulsive dieting. Her publicist, Paul Bloch, said she died of a full cardiac arrest. It was not known whether the anorexia contributed to her death, but the 5-foot-4 woman weighed 108 pounds.
A two hour autopsy failed to determine the cause of death, and the Los Angeles coroner's office called for more detailed tests that were expected to take weeks.
Downey Fire Capt. Paul Cook said Karen's mother, Agnes, found her daughter on the floor of an upstairs walk-in closet and was giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when paramedics arrived. "We found her in cardiac arrest. The cause of that we don't determine. We had a doctor on the line and gave the condition of the patient and the paramedic on the scene administered the drugs," he said.
Karen's anorexia first affected her professional career in 1975, when the Carpenters canceled a command performance for Queen Elizabeth and a concert tour of Europe and the Orient. She then weighed 90 pounds. But the anorexia "had been considered in control for some time," according to her public relations representative.
THE POP world was stunned last night by the sudden death of superstar singer Karen Carpenter.
Karen, 32, collapsed from heart attack at her parents' home. She was rushed to a nearby hospital in Los Angeles but died 30 minutes later. By her bedside was brother Richard. Together as The Carpenters they had a string of 16 consecutive hits in the seventies. But Karen's glittering career - the duo sold more than 60 million albums - was dogged by the slimmers' disease anorexia nervosa.
In 1975, when The Carpenters were at the peak of their popularity, they had to cancel a British tour after Karen collapsed from exhaustion. Richard told then how her obsession with slimming had turned her into a "walking skeleton."
Her weight had dropped by three stones to a mere 6st 2lb. Karen and Richard Carpenter were the undisputed leaders in the "soft rock" field. They produced more than 18 gold discs, including Rainy Days and Mondays. On Top Of The World. We've Only Just Begun and Close To you. But the duo split in 1978 and went on to pursue solo careers. Ironically, they had planned to make a new album together soon.
Three years ago, Karen was thought to be on the road to recovery from anorexia when she married property developer Tom Burris. But they divorced just a year later and Karen went to live alone in a Los Angeles flat.
TRIBUTES
Friends said her weight dropped dramatically again in the last few months. Karen collapsed in a bedroom while visiting her parent's home in Los Angeles. Her mother Agnes fought frantically to revive her.
A medical spokesman said: "She looked very thin. She had a full cardiac arrest." Last night tributes from the pop world poured in. Close friend OLIVIA NEWTON -JOHN said: "I just can't believe it. I went to her wedding." And disc-jockey PETE MURRAY said: "It's very sad and a great loss to the entertainment world."
Shirley Boone, whose eldest daughter Cherry also suffered from anorexia, said Miss Carpenter had called her seeking help. Mrs. Boone, wife of singer Pat Boone, said their daughter Debbie, had recently seen Miss Carpenter in New York. "Karen considered herself well but Debbie was concerned for her," Mrs. Bonne told UPI. "Debbie said she had noticed Karen had put on some weight. I'm sure Karen felt she had gained weight and was conquering it."
Miss Carpenter who was divorced from real state developer Thomas Burris last year after a brief marriage lived alone in a high rise apartment in the exclusive Century City area of Los Angeles. But yesterday she was found in her parents' home - where the Carpenters had a complete recording studio - when paramedics were alerted. Karen's mother was "working frantically" on the singer, giving her mouth-to-mouth resucitation when paramedics ran in, Cook, the fire captain, told The Post. Miss Carpenter had a weak pulse at that time, but efforts to revive her failed. Her parents and her older brother and singing partner, Richard Carpenter, were with her in the emergency room at the time of her death, according to a family spokesman.
Cook speculated that she had just awakened and was preparing to dress when she was stricken. The Carpenters had 18 gold records to their credit and had won three Grammy awards. They sold more than 60 million records.
The melodies that will linger on...
Here is a list of the hit albums that pop-rock duo Richard and Karen Carpenter recorded:
* "Ticket to Ride," November 1969: Invocation; Your Wonderful Parade; Someday; Get Together; All Of My Life; Turn Away; Ticket To Ride; Don't Be Afraid; What's the Use; All I Can Do; Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing; Benediction.
* "Close to You," August 1970: We've Only just Begun; Love is Surrender; Maybe It's You; Reason To Believe; Help; Close To You; Baby It's You; I'll Never Fall in Love Again; Crescent Moon; Mr. Guder; I kept on Loving You; Another Song.
* "Carpenters," May 1971: Rainy Days and Mondays; Saturday; Let me be the one; Hideaway; For All we Know; Superstar; Druscilla Penny; One Love; Bacharach-David Medley: Knowing When to Leave, Make it Easy on Yourself, Always Something there to Remind Me, I'll Never Fall in Love Again, Walk on By, Do You know the way to San Jose.
* "A Song For You," June 1972: A Song For You; Top Of The World; Hurting Each Other; It's Going to Take Some Time; Goodbye to Love; Intermission; Bless the Beasts and Children; Flat Baroque; Piano Picker; I Wont' Last a day Without You; Crystal Lullaby; Road Ode.
* "Now and Then," May 1973: Sing; This Masquerade; Heather; Jambalaya; I Can't Make Music; Yesterday Once More; Medley of Fun, Fun, Fun, The En of the World, Da Doo Ron Ron, Deadman's Curve, Jhonnie Angel, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Our Day Will Come and One Fine Day; Yesterday Once More.
* "The Singles 1969-1973," November 1973: We've Only Just Begun; Top Of The World; Ticket to Ride; Superstar; Rainy Days and Mondays; Goodbye to Love; Yesterday Once More; I'ts Going to Take Some Time; Sing; For All We Know; Hurting Each Other; Close to You.
** "Horizon," June 1975: Aurora; Only Yesterday; Desperado; Please Mr. Postman; I Can Dream, Can't I?; Solitaire; Happy; Goodbye and I Love You; Love Me For What I Am; Eventide.
* "A Kind Of Hush," June 1976: There's A Kind of Hush; You; Sandy; Goofus; Can't Smile Without You; I Need to be in Love; One More Time; Boat to Sail; I Have You; Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.
* "Passage," September 1977: B'wana She No Home; All You Get From love is a Love Song; I Just Fall in Love Again; On The Balcony of the Casa Rosada: Don't Cry For Me Argentina; Sweet, Sweet Smile; Two Sides; Man Smart Woman Smarter; Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft.
** "Made In America," June 1981: Those Good Old Dreams; Strength of a Woman; Back in My Life Again; When You Got What It Takes; I Believe You; Touch Me When We're Dancing; When It's Gone; Beechwood 45789; Because We Are in Love (The Wedding Song).
Karen Carpenter
2nd March 1950 - 4th February 1983
And for those of you who just scrolled down
- Karen Carpenter - Passed away on this day in 1983
Thanks Ben you provided a public service there B)
Hmmm...it wouldve been much easier to just say that lol. Cheers Ben!
It was an opportunity to give some background for shows!!!
Mars....
Pierre
I havent had a Mars bar in ages - might get one later!