Karen Carpenter Biography

Karen Anne Carpenter was born on March 2, 1950 in New Haven, Connecticut to Harold and Agnes Carpenter. She had one older brother by the name of Richard who was born on October 15, 1946. In 1963, the parents had moved their family out west to Los Angeles, California in an effort to further her brother's career. At a very young age, Richard had displayed extraordinary musical talents playing the piano while his younger sister had a beautiful singing voice. While in California, Karen attended Downey High School and tried dieting for the first time. In 1965, her brother formed a jazz group called "The Richard Carpenter Trio" which included the siblings and a friend, Wes Jacobs. The trio won "Battle of the Bands" in 1966 and signed with RCA. Shortly thereafter they were dropped from the label. They then formed a second band called "Spectrums" with four other musicians but it went nowhere fast.