I wanted to ask you something… since on January 14th 2027 it will be my 21st birthday, I was thinking of a birthday gift for myself: two framed photos.
One photo of Karen Carpenter, and one photo of Karen and Richard Carpenter together.

I know it’s early, it’s next year, but I wanted to plan ahead so I can choose a beautiful photo of Karen and a beautiful photo of Karen and Richard… but I’m not sure which ones to choose.

Today is August 31st.

It would have been Karen Carpenter’s wedding anniversary.

On her wedding day, Karen wore a beautiful white wedding dress. She looked absolutely stunning, with her lovely hair and her beautiful, radiant smile.

Karen deserved a man who truly loved her. She deserved to have children and to become a mother. She didn’t deserve to be treated the way she was. She suffered so much.

I truly believe Karen would have been a wonderful and loving mother.

Karen wanted her dream of becoming a mother to come true, but sadly, it never happened.

Dear Karen, rest in peace. You were truly a very special person.

May you be singing and playing your beloved drums with the angels in heaven.

I’m truly sorry, Karen, that you had to suffer so much. You never deserved that.

We all love you, Karen. ♥️

I have a question. I watched this Carpenters interview that I’m sure many of you know, This Is Your Life.

I’d like to know who the man sitting next to Karen is. In the interview, Karen has her arm around him and rests her head on his shoulder. I originally thought he might have been Karen Carpenter’s boyfriend.

Could someone please tell me who he is?

I’m a little confused and I’d really appreciate your help. ❤️

RIP Karen 🎶 ❤️

For analyzing vocal harmonies, string and brass arrangements etc., it would be nice to have access to the actual complete scores of some of Richard's full arrangements. Were these ever published or made available to the public?

“The Carpenters” now on display at the Downey History Center and Museum! Brought to you by the Downey Historical Society and its board members.

Let me introduce myself:

My name is Silva, I’m 20 years old and I live in Italy, in Bologna.

I became a fan of The Carpenters in 2025.

Karen Carpenter was introduced to me by my American friend on Instagram in 2024.

Before I met my American friend on Instagram, I had never even heard of Karen Carpenter or her music.

Then, when my friend introduced me to her, I started to like her a little and I adored her.

Now I’ve fallen in love with her. I love the way she sings. She sings like an angel.

In 2024 I wasn't a real fan of Karen then little by little I was starting to like her

I met my friend on Instagram on December 3, 2024. She was the one who introduced me to The Carpenters. Before I met my friend on Instagram, on December 3, 2024, I had been living in a residential community since September 25, 2023. I will leave the community when I turn 21. I remember that it was probably at the end of August or the beginning of September 2024. It was evening, around 9 PM. I was with an educator, a few girls, and a boy. One of the girls who was staying in the community wanted to watch her favorite Disney movie, “The Parent Trap” (1998). In one scene of the movie, a Carpenters song was playing in the background, “Top of the World.” However, it wasn’t sung by Karen; it was a different version sung by someone else.

I didn’t really pay attention to it. Then the movie ended, and that was it. I went to bed. Then I remember that, maybe at the beginning of December 2024, around the 2nd or 3rd, I was watching YouTube or TikTok — I don’t really remember — and a short video appeared. It said something like “Things I liked about the 1970s.” I saw several pictures in the video, and in the last one there was a photo of The Carpenters, with Karen and Richard in 1969. The image was from the album “Ticket to Ride” (1969). I looked at the picture… and that was it. In 2024, I wasn’t really a Karen Carpenter fan. Actually, I didn’t like The Carpenters. Then, in August 2025, I said to a friend of mine, “Can you send me some happy Carpenters songs?” She sent me some songs, and I was curious to listen to their music.

In 2025, while I was going for walks and listening to The Carpenters on YouTube with my earphones, sometimes I would suddenly take my earphones off because I was feeling nervous. But it had nothing to do with Karen or her music. My friend asked me, “Then if you’re nervous, why do you listen to their songs?” I explained to her that I wasn’t upset with The Carpenters’ songs. Then, little by little, I started to like Karen Carpenter a bit. Even before I really liked The Carpenters, I had bought a Carpenters T-shirt with Karen making a funny face. I was simply curious.

Carpenter Trio - Dancing in the street (Your All American College Show, June 22, 1968).

A video of Karen Carpenter at age 18.

Carpenter Trio - Dancing in the street full video. 　

Carpenters In Concert - 1976 (excerpt).

My friend has started to like the Carpenters and I'm interested in your opinions about the books and where to start from

Today: Carpenters' Christmas Portrait ranks #1 on Amazon's best selling easy listening albums:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/music/67171/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_music

But what's also amazing to me is:: Carpenters Gold ranks #2 (And that's not all. Check out the top 50 list). 💿

Recorded in 1981 for the "Made In America" album, this performance is a work lead by Karen.

Choose one song that you like a lot.
Mine would be Bettie Serveert - For All We Know.
Who still remembers this compilation ?
GRIN. GRIN. GRIN.

I only let myself buy them when I've done something worth rewarding. I passed my placement last semester but hadn't bought a CD yet for reasons. Anyway, today I decided that the ebay listing I had open was gonna be the one (had also been considering A Kind Of Hush or Karen's solo album, but also reviewing ebay etc regularly to check if there were any especially cheap etc.).

So this Christmastide I'll have the Christmas Collection (both CDs) to cheer my Christmas!

That will add to my collection which is already: Ticket To Ride, Close To You, Carpenters, A Song For You, Voice of the Heart and Interpretations.

I love CDs and ripping the mp3s so I can listen to them on my laptop or my phone anytime without ads; listened on repeat to keep myself together when I was last in the psych ward. Right now I'm listening to "If I Had You".

What's your favourite track off the Christmas Collection? I'm extremely fond of Karen's rendition of "Christ Is Born".

Karen Carpenter had a voice like warm velvet—effortless, intimate, and deeply haunting. She could make millions of strangers feel completely understood, yet she spent her short life fighting a lonely, silent battle with anorexia at a time when nobody knew how to name or treat it.

We lost her at just 32, but her music remains a bittersweet gift: a reminder of incredible talent, the hidden weight people carry, and why we need to take care of the human behind the art.

What’s your favorite Carpenters track that still hits you every time?

This Is Your Life is an American reality documentary series broadcast on television. It was originally hosted by its creator and producer Ralph Edwards. In the program, the host surprised guests and then took them through a retrospective of their lives in front of an audience, including appearances by colleagues, friends, and family.

Hello everyone! I wanted to share this unique copy of "The Singles 1969-1973" by The Carpenters from my collection. It is a 1985 Spanish reissue (A&M Records, Ref: 393 601-1) with runout matrix 850 393601 // 1 * A/B * 1 (First lacquer).

The vinyl and sleeve are in beautiful EX/NM condition, but the most interesting part is on the back cover. There is a clear printing error (misprint) where the black ink layer completely shifted during the manufacturing process at the printing plant (Coracolor). It creates a very strange and unique visual effect, almost like a 3D shadow.

I haven't been able to find any other documented copies with this specific defect online or on Discogs. Has anyone ever seen a similar misprint on this specific Spanish pressing? Thanks for looking!

Richard's liner notes on the album "As Time Goes By" for this track : "This song was written and introduced by a group called Wildweeds. It got some regional airplay and I heard it while driving from one engagement to the next in early 1971. We both thought it was catchy, and I put together this arrangement. Karen and I recorded a track for it, but since Karen was the drummer, there is no "work lead". This is a live recording, done on September 25, 1971 at the BBC television Studios., London, for our first UK special, which was originally broadcast on November 6, 1971."