Karen Carpenter’s Independence Slowly Vanished into a Haze

Karen Carpenter’s voice hits you like a ray of warm sun that can just as quickly disappear into a dusky cloud of melancholy. If that cloud happens to rain, her voice is also the velvety cloak to shelter you from the drops. In other words, by listening to Karen, you experience a surreal interlacing of dark and light.

Karen Carpenter performing / Karen Carpenter posing barefoot in front of a wooden wall / Karen Carpenter behind the drums with Richard in the background / Richard and Karen posing in denim jackets / Karen Carpenter holding a teddy bear / Karen Carpenter and Olivia Newton-John posing in front of a birthday cake

Photo by Lynne McAffe, Shutterstock / Source: Tumblr / Flickr / Photo by Alan Messer, Shutterstock / Source: Tumblr / Pinterest

This brilliant drummer and singer formed the musical duo Carpenters, along with her brother, Richard. They toured the world throughout the ’70s and sold over 90 million records during their 14-year career together. But sadly, Karen was struggling with persistent feelings of self-reproach and perfectionism that slowly (and literally) ate away at her. Here is the tragic story behind one of the greatest voices of all time.