I realise this is before many of you were born or can remember, but it is an important date for me. 25 years ago today, on February 4, 1983 the world lost Karen Carpenter, one half of the wonderful "Carpenters" duo (the other being her brother, Richard). She was 32. According to Wikipedia, Karen 'died from "recovering" from anorexia—she was recovering from the disease but her quick weight gain placed enormous pressure on her heart, which had been weakened by years of malnutrition.' The Carpenters were very popular in the 1970s. The combination of Karen's wonderful voice with the delightful melodies appealed to a wide range of people. Although I was a teenager at this time, in an era of glam, punk and new wave, I enjoyed The Carpenters music (even if it wasn't cool to say so). [YOUTUBE]dPmbT5XC-q0[/YOUTUBE] The songs are timeless and sound as fresh today as they did 30 years ago. RIP, Karen. EDIT: news footage of her death. [YOUTUBE]i0HhqNxy4F0[/YOUTUBE]
Me too. Yes, I was surprised when they said 25 years on the radio earlier. They are doing a tribute to her and playing some of their music on BBC Hereford and Worcester this evening.
That's very sad news, although I am 25 years late in saying so. I hope the memory of her death can help those suffering from anorexia, or any other eating disorder. And, just as an aside, I knew who you were talking about without reading your helpul description. When I'm bored I go on Wikipedia and look up random things that lead me to other random things, and one article I read was about The Carpenters, so I think I might be one of the few younger ppl on here who knows who she was
Aw wow, I can't believe that. I really like their music; even though I'm really young. And I learned that that was the first case of highly publicized celebrity anorexia nervosa thing. God that was long
The great thing about their music is that it is timeless. Some music from the 70s sounds really dated, but The Carpenters music doesn't age at all. So any age can appreciate and enjoy it. I think you are right. It was certainly the first I had heard of it.
