Karen Carpenter died 40 years ago at the age of 32, a life mapped out in a new biography by Lucy O’Brien called Lead Sister. It’s a chilling, cautionary tale of how she and her brother became international stars and the devastating personal repercussions that were the consequence. Our conversation with Lucy covers the waterfront and includes …
… the perils of “helicopter parents”.
… why Richard was “The Chosen One”.
… a disastrous association with Nixon.
… destabilising press comments about weight issues and her “milksop presence”.
… what Hal Blaine said about her mother.
... the night she met Elvis.
… what singers need to survive.
… the private bebop language she invented.
… “Drummers are like hockey goalies. No-one knows how to talk to them apart from another drummer.”
… the howling disaster of her solo album.
… and what she discovered about her husband three days before she was due to marry him.
Lead Sister by Lucy O’Brien …
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lead-Sister-Story-Karen-Carpenter/dp/1788708245
The Carpenters’ first TV appearance, 1968 …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cz60nGaopM
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