Why was Karen Carpenter’s Skinniness Caused by Her Domineering Mother?
Vložit
- čas přidán 30. 06. 2024
- Support The Channel Here: / ageofvintage
Click „SHOW MORE”!
📍 The tragic story of Karen Carpenter - the first known celebrity to die since Anorexia.
Karen Carpenter has suffered from thinness for years, but the underlying problem was more than just a struggling body image and weight loss, but a lack of matriarchal love for the love of her life.
Karen Carpenter has reached the pinnacle of her career, with a smooth velvet voice that has captivated the world. She and her brother formed the iconic group "The Carpenters" and sold over 100 million records in the 1970s.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Join The Age of Vintage Society! Click Here: bit.ly/31OkwcK
Main Channel: bit.ly/3kExgeE
New Videos: Every WEDNESDAY!
Facebook Group: bit.ly/3iCZFQF
Facebook Page: bit.ly/3kELrR9
SUPPORT Age of Vintage Channel! If you Like 👍🏻 our videos, don’t let anything hold you back from Sharing 🙌🏼 Them! We appreciate your personal opinion, don’t be afraid to Comment! 💻
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outro Music: • Chill Retro Funky Jazz...
It’s the worst thing to feel you’re not loved. That’s why I tell my children I love them every day. And I know they love me. And that is the greatest feeling in the world to know you are loved
Absolutely .. growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, I knew my parents loved me but I rarely, if ever got a hug and that definitely made me sad. I didn’t realize it until I was older. When my daughter was born I hugged her every single day and told her I loved her .. my sweet baby granddaughter was born a month ago and I can already see my daughter doing the same thing - she tells her and more importantly : SHOWS her That loving touch is so important
@@janeskey5042 Absolutely, that one to one bodily touch with a baby is crucial. It’s a bonding . My grandson always has his baby on his chest.
😊very sad about Karen Carpenter.
There will never be another like her. RIP Karen 💔🙏
She was different than the rest of her family so she felt like an outcast. She was in need of love and affection, but her stoic family couldn't understand her. It's so very sad.
BS
All Karen needed was love and understanding specially from her mother. She never got it.
I can relate.
Almost spot on, her family WAS capable of showing love, they gave it all to Richard…Karen was emotionally starved ( no disrespect at all intended ) by her mother and therefore she deprived herself physically. She made the outside reflect the inside..her mother was the only one who could’ve ever saved her before she got to the point where she was too far gone.
Let us NOT FORGET, while Carpenter was indeed slowly recovering from anorexia & was slowly gaining back some healthy weight, she temporarily moved out of her Century City luxury apartment & BACK into the family home in Downey, CA, where proof shows that her mother, Agnes Carpenter was doing her BEST to nurse her daughter back to health; this is FACT. Close friends of Karen, like Newton-John & Warwick would make several trips from Hollywood Hills into Downey, adding to the much needed support system. Although Carpenter was showing improvements & was under excellent care of psychiatry, indeed her heart simply gave out; weakened by the years of strain & the disorder, that took a ravage toll upon her body. Those who wish to POINT all the blame on her mother, simply DO NOT understand the FULL COMPLEX FACTS of family dynamics, not to mention the extreme pressures of the "showbiz" factor, which I believe was much more the cause of the development of her anorexia, than simply, a somewhat strained relationship with her mother.
It is both outright sad & deplorable that the media always takes the sensationalist view of people's fragile issues & demise, as fact & truth.
BolsaChicaRadio
I'm in recovery from deadly anorexia. It was after multiple hospitalizations and being told by someone I respect very much that I reminded him of Karen Carpenter that I finally sought help.
No matter what is said about Karen I still love 💕 her. One of the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard yesterday and today. My love for her will never die
Moving voice.
Got that right, Paul
Paul Caron, I really love Karen Carpenter's voice 🎤💐💐 and she was an outstanding drummer 🥁💐💐, but I truly believe in spite of the fact that Karen Carpenter was troubled that she was a very kind💐💐🤗🤗 and sweet person💐💐🤗🤗 deep down. Karen Carpenter also had a really good sense of humor 😃😃which I think is really cool too!! I often wish I could have met her, but Karen Carpenter died😢😢🌹🌹 when I was a Child😢😥.🌹🌹.
What could anyone ever possibly say about her other than praise her? She is universally admired for her enormous talent and universally beloved for the torturous struggles she braved all on her own. These struggles were all internal and none of her demons were based on anything real. Her only failing was expecting perfection of herself. I suspect all creative geniuses face a similar struggle. Of course, for us it would be unthinkable to even contemplate the idea that the extraordinary musical talent that was Karen Carpenter would have ever thought of herself as less than. A truly unfathomable notion, and yet perhaps her quest for perfection may have in fact distorted her own self-image. Rest with the angels forever and always, sweet Karen! You're finally at peace. 💕💕💕💕💕
@@wantingoneangel8976 😉😊
As the daughter of a narcissistic mother I know how devastating it is to know that no matter what mother’s love and approval will not be forthcoming. Sad to think Karen’s mother probably never recognized the gift that her daughter truly was.
She’s one of my all time favorite singer, it’s so sad her mom didn’t realize how much she was hurting her own daughter. Thanks for sharing her story so respectfully
Why is your comment up 3 times?
It's as repetitive as this vid.
@@jackiebayliss why are you so negative and why do you care get a Life hahaha 😂
Her mom simply didn't give a dam.
@@MIKECNW her mom’s a narcissist and she was a scapegoat and her brother the golden child
If Karen Had A More Loving Mother She May Have Still Been With Us All I Know She Is Truly Loved And Missed ❤️💔
@@Emma-qo4no True👍
I never even knew any of the mother issues:( I was around 10 when this happened and I remember like yesterday seeing it on tv in my room:( it’s so sad! We all loved her but the one woman she NEEDED to love her just couldn’t :( and then to hear that she wouldn’t say it when the counselor told her to, that just proves she was a narc I believe. She couldn’t do anything on demand, she couldn’t say it if she was being told to say it which is so sad
She was one of the top 5 best drummers - EVER! "They" never should have taken her drums away. She "died" in '71.
She died in 83
What a beautiful lady and voice. Heartbreaking 💔 such a loss of a beautiful legend. ❤️🙏🙏🙏😢😢😢😢truly missed 😢
She had fame, money, extremely raw talent, and admiration from millions of people. What she didn't have was the woman who brought her into the world to show any sort of love and affection for her. Had her mother treated her like her daughter, she could've been saved.
Why didn't dad step in?
I was bulimic from 1977-1982. I didn't know there was a word for it. I feel you, Karen. People in those days treated bulimics as though they were clinically insane and disgusting.
I'm happy you recovered. My father never did. He died in 2007. I miss him.
Or worse, that you were staging it for attention.
@@prettypennyschannel - because being temporarily insane and puking your guts up till you see blood is so much fun.
@@dennismason3740 IKR?! My ED wasn't classic bulimia. It was what they now call an undefined eating disorder. I went through that until 1987.
I wasn't vomiting after 10, 0000 calorie binges. I would starve, starve, starve. Exercise like an MF. Then I would break, have a fucking bagel, get guilty and scared, then purge.
I stopped the vomiting the day I gave myself a bloody nose. But when I stopped, I still went on crash diet with milk products. I gained 25 pounds. And since I lived in LA and OC then, I was treated like a second class citizen, even by hired help in my parents home.
I had weight gains being caused by an allergy to milk I didn't know I had. And eating what you're allergic to causes weight gains. Vomiting regularly causes the metabolism to slow down until you stop. I was such a mess because I couldn't get skinny, let alone emaciated. And like Karen, I was secretly hoping the abuse would stop if my body was thin.
When I overcame THE ED. I had to maintain a weight that was still 10 to 15 lbs. over what I am now for years. It was the 90s. Body positivity wasn't FAT ACCEPTANCE for beached whales yet. So that was helpful. Getting rid of the milk I was allergic to was a total game changer.
An after thought: even in the 90s lots of fat people were full of shit. We had to accept their fat bodies. But those fuckers regularly shamed me for having a crossed eye since 1995, and still do. The body acceptance just emboldened them to body shame others in public.
And I can't have an operation without being blinded. But, I'm supposed to treat this like a simple nose job by these fucking ORCA DOPPLEGANGERS when my condition wasn't my fault, and half of
them don't have allergies.
Half the fat people do, half don't. So half of them ate gluttons who have earned shame, while half of them don't. So that's a total societal mind fuck.
Thanks Dennis for opening this conversation. It was sheer Hell for me doing living through the 80s that way. And Fuck what everyone says. That horrible decade paved the way for what we're dealing with now. I'm glad we both survived.
It must've been even harder for you as a guy. Less than 10% of the anorexics and bulimics diagnosed then were male. I was actually treated like a failure for not getting emaciated after all that, and felt like one. I was trivialized because I wasnt emaciated, even when I finally confessed to a couple of doctors. I can't even imagine the extra mind fuck a dude would be given for bulimia.
RIP Karen. At least your music temporally eased the pain for people like Denis and me. We love you.
@@prettypennyschannel - Orca Dopplegangers. Jeez. How do ya really feel?
She had such a beautiful voice! I hope she knows how much she is loved and missed by so many people.
The reason for Karen's death is very tragic. She opened up the window on eating disorders and in a lot of other ways she led the way to greater understanding of something very new to all of us back then. Was her mom a malignant narcissist? I used to wonder what Richard was really like. Karen left a huge legacy that even the golden child can't supersede.
I have all her music and I had no idea that her brother was domineering and he never talked about his mother or his father. She had the most beautiful and melodic voice I have ever heard and I will never forget her that I keep buying her music when she sings you still hear it afterwards. I miss Karen Carpenter and I'm sorry that her life was so suffocating. She was truly one of the best the most beautiful voice I have ever listened to and I will continue
❤
The media and her own family criticized her appearance, and that was what started her down that path with her weight, the laxatives, insulins, and thyroid medications. It seems she never felt loved...especially by the man she married, and what a terrible shame that a woman who sang so many pretty songs about love never really had it herself. But her diagnosis was psych, and that was the help she needed above all else and never got.
I will never understand why her story ended the way it did. I've seen many of her performances towards her latter years when she looked ghastly from being extremely underweight. She had family and MANY friends who could have and should have forced an intervention to help her when she was so obviously ill and BEFORE it became necessary for her to have to go to a hospital. Her brother, who she was very close to, kept performing on stage with her looking like that. After she passed away, when he suddenly didn't have a career anymore, that's when he began going around talking about how sick she was and how much he missed her.
I agree. RC should have demanded the STOP of her performing right away and seeked treatment.
I agree with everything you have written. Totally absurd. Definitely a lot could have been done. And f... the media. What they have written about her is totally immoral. Reporters are generally senseless creatures anyway who have no consideration for someone's feelings. The whole thing is such a tragedy.
I wonder if Karen's mother was jealous of her daughter's talent. Also, her dad was no mere bystander. No family is perfect. It's sad that Karen rebelled so hard in her own way she destroyed herself.
BS. She became anorexic after a newspaper article called her fat and said that this was why she hid behind the drums. This video is pure bs.
@@pollypurree1834 If that's the case, she would have stopped when she lost weight, initially.
@@pollypurree1834 And what make you such an expert?
It is possible for parents to be jealous of their children. Don't know how true it was, but a similar story surrounded Joe Jackson and Michael.
Narsistic mother as minE theY are envies of theY daughters
It's one of the saddest things. I am truly sorry. RIP Karen. You had an angel's voice.
To have died at 32, Karen's passing is similar in pathos to the passing of Cass Elliot at the same age. Two voices snuffed out from tragic weight-related issues.
Nice years apart.
Very true. Extremes in weight and both resulted in heart failure/coronary deaths.
Wow! I hadn't thought of that and I grew up with both ladies. Most interesting.
Not really. Cass Elliott's arteries were plaqued and narrowed from years of eating badly.
Karen’s velvety voice was amazing. Richard’s music skills are tremendous. They were both fantastic. RIP Karen.
I was living in Houston TX. when she died. In the 70s and early 80s everyone was using amphetamines. People were dying of anexoria while hospitalized. Even liquids could not save them. I was 8 years old when first heard the Carpenters. My parents loved them and I remember us all singing along with our parents as we listened to pop radio in Memphis Tn.
The roots to almost everyone's problems always go back to the parents. It's a shame. You have to pass a test to drive, but anyone can be a parent. All you have to do is......well, you know !
Anyone can be a parent. I'm glad I'm not one!
Anyone can have a child but no not everyone can be or knows how to be a parent. Marriage & children is not for everyone. It's a heavy tough responsability. The job of a lifetime.
BS. She became anorexic after a newspaper article called her fat
Sad but true.
Reporters called her fat in magazine stories, how shameful
Yes I've always thought that was the real reason for her eating disorder. I've never liked reporters anyway, generally very inconsiderate people. But after Karen's story, I simply despise them. Senseless creatures, only after getting "a story". Immoral. I'm so surprised that there is no mention of this aspect here, so for me this video is incomplete.
Karen was never fat. I have no idea why someone would say that about her. It's important to ignore the mean things some people might say because they're often wrong.
Anorexia is a complex disorder. It is considered to be part of the spectrum of obsessive-compulsive disorders. The issues with her mother are probably only the tip of the iceberg in a family likely dysfunctional across generations.
She became anorexic after a newspaper article called her fat and claimed that this was why she hid behind her drums. This video is pure bs
@@pollypurree1834 You are stunningly ignorant.
@@pollypurree1834 Wow such a strong reaction. I think there's something in your own back round causing this reaction. I'd say most of societies issues are caused by people coming from less than nurturing childhoods. Karen Carpenter is an example of this. Lack of motherly love.
@Brian Walsh, you're being a deliberate jerk - your own issues can benefit from therapy rather than pathetically trolling CZcams comments you don't understand. Eating disorders are not caused by a mean mom or gossip. Sit down.
Any eating disorder is. My bulimia that I suffered from. From many years from 12 years old to 19. Was caused by my mom. My mom always called me fat as a kid and always loved my younger brother more too. It does have to do with control. But also, self esteem. Insecurities. And all the skinny thin models we used to see growing up. Karen is one of the most relatable celebrities to exist.
To this day, I cannot listen to her amazing voice without feeling my heart break and with tears. I just adored her. I hope I will meet her in heaven. I know what rejection from your Mother feels like. You were beautiful Karen, and loved beyond words.
❤❤❤
It's sad when a parent only has love and affection for one child while the other one is ztanding out in the cold with knowing they're not loved. I wish Karen would have accepted the love of her friends and realized that her mother didn't have the love for her. Karen you are missed and loved.
KC would have made a great and caring mom.
She died but She became a living legend...we miss her voice so much!!!
❤ I am a 66 year-old African-American woman and the Carpenters are my all-time favorite she Karen Carpenter has the most beautiful voice you could ever ever hear and once you do hear her you can never forget her and you will never ever leave her maybe I should say she will never ever leave you
I can’t imagine growing up with a unloving mother. I can’t think of anything more depressing. If her mother couldn’t even say, I love you when prompted, she was probably the main source of the problem. Would you guess maybe her mother was jealous of her? I don’t know, but I am quite certain that Karen needed her mother’s love more than anything else in the world. Sad story. If Karen was still around, she would still be touring, she is loved by millions and millions of people to this day.
I don’t think her mother was jealous at all, nothing Karen did was ever enough to get the attention, love and affection she so desperately sought from her mother. Some parents tend to favor one child over the other, but her mother loved her son so much that she put all of her focus, pride and joy onto him, even though Karen ended up getting her contract first, even though it was her voice that the world fell in love with an admired, even though she was the lead, the face and more recognized half of the group, her mother would credit Richard for all of the success and never learned how to love both of her children equally. It saddens me to say this but perhaps she never wanted another child or maybe she never wanted a daughter..there was nothing she could do or possess to please her mother, win her love or even make her jealous..she simply didn’t care for Karen..completely apathetic to her existence..
Karen's death broke so many hearts. She never knew how much loved she was. So sad.
It's hard for her to accept that Karen is the one who loved by millions of people..They keeps on saying that Richard is the one who form the sound of Carpenters,but it's the voice of KC that was heard by people.Her voice is the sound of Carpenters..KC can be a big Star even without Richard..Secondly,why a mother couldn't tell the word I LOVE YOU to her daughter?if you know that your daughter is loved by this entire world..What kind of mother are you?FOR YOU KC,WHEREVER YOU ARE NOW,THE WORLD IS STILL YOURS..THE LOVE YOU LONG TO HEAR IS HERE IN YOUR FANS..WE LOVE YOU VERY VERY MUCH.
❤❤❤❤❤
I can understand that as I had a mother that was not loving towards me and I was a good kid too so I can relate to this
Unfortunately a lot of people can relate to a lack of parental love. It's by far the greatest cause of societal issues.
She was so freshed faced and beautiful. I love the Carpenters, I had no idea Karen died at 32.
Karen didn’t even start singing right away - to think that the mother wouldn’t have heard that voice and said to herself “OMFG” shows that she didn’t really have much of an ear for music
She had the best singing voice I ever heard, and so far no one has outdone her. It's a damn shame that she couldn't control her eating, and no one seemed to care. If she would have left home, she probably would have had a better chance at life.
Such a tragedy really...
No one expected Karen's talents to come forth. Richard was the focus at first.
Yet he lingered close to her for his entire career. He seemed afraid to make any break from her or pursue a solo endeavor.
Becaise he was nothing without her
He's still milking her legacy in a way. Karen helped society to learn and grow so there was a knowing about the eating disorder. She hugely gave way more than any of us knew at the time or even thought much about later. Her life was not in vain.
She put a face to anorexia, it's not fair, she was so beautiful
Her Mom Favored RICHARD and Karen Knew That, it was ALL about Richard to his Parents especially her Mother!! How Ironic that SHE was the one who became SOOOO Famous and Not really Richard but the damage was already done. Emotional Scars NEVER Go AWAY!!!! I ADORE Karen and Always Will!!!! xoxoxoxo
I’m still listening to her today! Amazing!
Poor woman....she had a lovely voice and her brother made lovely music
Agnes was such a horrible mother. For Karen it was like being bullied constantly. Who could cope with a parent that didn't live them?
It's sad that you don't seem to know that her mother had her own psychological problems.
@@mcjs8640 So what?
lindaeasley5606 I think it's sad too, that back in those days you were just supposed to love and bow down to your parents no matter what. People realize nowadays that no matter how much you love your parents, sometimes their behavior towards you can just be toxic as hell, and you either have to stay away from them or learn to let it roll off your back.
@Terria111 Since the post by mcjs is gone I can't remember what he or she said but by no means I was trying to sound unsympathetic to Karen.
Thete s always more variables.
Me too, she is the prettiest artist with the most beautiful voice of all the times, and I will love her for ever. No matter what they keep saying about her family blaming her mother and this and that.
Are we going to ignore the fact that she was also going through a divorce around her time of death, a major stress contributor in ones life. Rip Angel.
I was a fan of the Carpenters as a young man and remember them well. They were successful at a time when Rock and Roll was changing drastically. They stayed true to what they liked to do with their music. After Karen’s death I remember Richard disappeared from the pop music scene for quite awhile but the music the Carpenters had recorded lived on. Richard returned to the world of pop music with an album tribute to Karen and the Carpenters. Today their music can still be heard as it is played by radio stations that play oldies and in the influence their music has on today’s groups. I am still a fan of the group and its two main members.
I've come to the conclusion that the brilliant ones aren't meant to stay with us for a long time. Loved her voice.
agreed .. Mozart was another insanely gifted soul whose ethereal light was snuffed out so tragically soon. They were conduits for a force of pure genius; it consumed them.
Watching this brought tears to my eyes. My favorite female singer ever. Can never be replaced February 2023.what great vocals love her always.
I noticed both children were quite thin to begin with. So sad to die at such a young age...😔😓
Her mother probably was never told that she was loved growing up and she didn’t know any better.
My heart has often ached for Karen Carpenter. Such a talented individual! I wish she and her brother would have been able to break free from the influence of inept parenting, though I also know it can be easier said than done. Despite all their struggles, they gave our world a lot of beautiful music.
Her anorexia was caused by Karen believing a news reporter after he called her chubby in an article. That was the beginning of her downward spiral. I've studied her life and read the book about her to know this.
Mom played favorites and Richard was her favorite. The parents would move heaven and earth to assure that Richard could become a successful concert pianist. They didn’t realize there are a million talented pianists but only one Karen Carpenter.
I'm not sure Richard was domineering, but her continued close association with him into adulthood was probably unhealthy. Within her circle of performers, not the public at large, they were all admiring of Richard, not just for his keyboard and arranging skills but his instincts for what would be a hit. They were all dependent on it. This continuation of her childhood with Golden Boy Richard made it hard for her to overcome her childhood insecurities. Abuse of Ipecac will damage the heart muscle which wasn't well understood at the time.
He pretty much controlled her artistic endeavors. When he was in rehab, she made an album of her own, but he hated it and squelched its production. Maybe not domineering, but controlling and in charge of The Carpenter sound and image even when it had nothing to do with him.
@@dianelipartito6654 He sounds like he definitely took after his mother. He was her golden child.
@@brianwalsh1401 Sad, but true.
If I had been in Richard’s shoes, would have given my sister artistic decision making, as well as reminding her, and the public, that my sister is the reason we’re successful and here for you.
I think Agnes played a role . She clearly favored her son between the two while the father probably was neutral or loved them equally but wasn't super affectionate. When neither parent is affectionate it does affect you. Usually one is or tries to be at least. Richard tries or tried to control things perceived about their mother but when more that were around them are saying one thing versus one denying it you pretty much kniw majority rules .I do feel agnes loved in her own way (buying the drumset which was rare for females to play then,sacrificing financially for her kids dreams). So while I love you or hugs weren't thrown around in their family you realize your parents do love/care for you. It becomes normal not experiencing the touchy feely stuff but part of you does desire it at some point . Ultimately tho Karen was an adult and at that point you are no longer under the thumb of your parents unless they $uppport you into adulthood. That wasn't the case here. She just allowed Agnes to still dominate her life while taking control of her diet or body . It was a fatal choice unfortunately.
it was the ipecac that killed her, prolonged use weakens heart muscles and ultimately leads to heart failure. Sad what happened to her, I dont think she knew it had that side effect. If it wouldve been the late 80s or early 90s maybe she couldve gotten better care and lived as anorexia was more of a household name by those times.
Edit: grammar
Because of her death we learned about Anorexia.
anyone who takes 80 or 90 pills of laxatives are aware that they are playing with their life and can die any time. It is called unconscious suicide. She knew or at least felt that she could die any minute.
When I was a kid I was fat. I took the same diet,8 glasses of water a day and meat only. I did lose weight, but the diet was torturous. The Carpenters were my favorite singing group.
Is her brother still alive today ? Tq
@@shirleycameron7718 Yes and he is still active in music, Born 1946 he was married since the 80's and had 5 kids.
I read a book about Karen Carpenter, and indeed, her parents did send her to a therapist who was supposed to be an expert in eating disorders, so he claimed to be, but he did not help her at all. And when they asked him why he failed, and why she died he said well she’s the only one I ever lost. None of my other patients ever died.
I understand this: my mother always said; you brother is the smart one, your sister is the pretty one…then there’s you. I didn’t need her approval, but it still hurt. She also said it was sad that I was happy in my marriage and my sister wasn’t, it just wasn’t fair.
Wow your mother is a monster!
Your mother was a mean-spirited, emotionally immature woman. Anyone should have been proud and beyond happy to have a daughter like you, Renae. Hang in there.
Pretty is temporary when you lose your looks and you have to think of something else . Your wits.
I think an eating-disorder will always be caused by different factors.
It's very easy to blame one person for all. But I think it's wrong. There were more things that worked together.
Both, Richard and Karen were very young, when they had this huge success. They enjoyed working together and make music together. But they had an incredible huge program to absolve over years. This is too much pressure for a human. And the press was also very cruel to Karen. She develloped the eating-disorder and Richard became addicted. Fortunately he overcome his addiction, Karen unfortunately not.
Last but not least all the discussions changes nothing! A nice and amazing lady with a remarkable and unique voice passed away much too soon.
I'm very thankful to Richard and Karen for their talents and gifts, they shared with us. They created all-time-classics with their music and I want to honor and celebrate them with listening to their unmatchable songs and bring them to younger people.
I don't see what being young has to do with anything.
Glad someone said it. She had issues with her mother for sure, but it is more complex than that and many factors were involved.
It all stems from childhood. Without that, her stress would have been dealt with in a different way.
While you make excellent points, in this case Karen's mother Agnes played a huge, pivotal part in Karen's destruction.
Most anorexics have a dominating parent. Furthermore, Richard was the Golden Child/Son-Husband. Karen was the scapegoat. Having to depend on Karen's talent to make Agnes and Richard's plans work pissed them off to no end. A lot of hidden jealousy of Karen fueled the situation.
Also: After the horrible things done to the name Karen, at least Karen Carpenter won't be subjected to that on top of everything else. RIP Karen Catpenter
It takes more than a bad mother, it takes the perfect storm.
She was my favorite singer. What a sad thing that happened to her.
C'est l'une des pires histoires jamais vécue par une artiste internationale au talent aussi rare . Karen Carpenter est entrée dans ma vie quand j'étais adolescent et aucune voix ne m'a jamais été si agréable à écouter. Le manque d'amour par sa mère est abominable ! Son histoire est aussi dure que celle d'Édith Piaf ! Deux voix hors du commun à des époques différentes , mais aussi tristes et injustes . Karen est toujours un ange pour moi. Sa voix est la plus apaisante malgré toutes les souffrances subies . 💔🎶🙏
Beautiful voice 💕love to hear her sing . So sad all she wanted is her mothers love .💔
I would say that more than 50% of the reason for her decline was being worked to death by record labels and promoters and with that came the scrutiny of music critics who were making comments about her costumes and appearance. Hundreds of shows on the road for something like 5 years straight and not being able to have a regular routine of eating and sleeping properly would harm anyone.
This happens with a lot of singers being pushed to do more and more. They than end up drinking or doing drugs in order to keep up with the fast pace
Partly yes. She was worked to death and she also lost a lot of control. She wanted to play the drums more insteading of singing, but she was denied because the record labels imagined a different 'image' for the Carpenters. Her brother was also dominating her, not to mention her mother who gave zero love for Karen and gave all the attention and love to his son, she was incredibly controling and overbearing. Karen had a busy life with no regular routine, she lost control of everything except what she ate so she decided to starve herself no matter what. It was a combination of these three things.
i relate to her in the sense that she was surrounded by people but no one knew how to help her. the people around me would just criticize how thin i'd gotten. i don't think anyone around me knew how to help me in 2020, and i am sure that no one knew how to help karen back then. if only she had someone! i was able to recover only because i got really lucky with my therapist who saw me for free. but i was never a stage performer, and my image was never so closely scrutinized like karen's. i feel like i wish i could go back and help her 😭if you know anyone suffering from an eating disorder, i recommend you find gentle ways to suggest DBT therapy to them, consistently deposit your concern to them, and make it very clear to them it's a life-threatening disorder
In my eyes, she was absolutely beautiful. I’d have definitely made her feel like the priceless lady she was.
As much as Richard was wonderfully talented, Karen was the star.
I think he was jealous of that.
It is heartbreaking to have a jealous mother , who never has never told you or shown you how much they love you. 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔. This definately wud have contributed to the death of Karen carpenter. 🤐🤐🤐🤐☹️☹️🙁🙁❤️❤️❤️❤️ Who was beautiful inside and out. And had the voice of an angel. 😁😁😁😁😘😘😘
Didn't her mother also introduce her son to heavy duty sleeping pills, the quaaludes?
Yes
Her narcissistic mother killed her.
I loved Karen Carpenter before I moved to CA with my sister in 1969. Ironically my sister and I moved from my aunts house into the Shoji apt., in Downey, not long after the Carpenter family had lived there. My cousin went to Downey High with the Carpenters, she knew of them, but they didn't travel in the same circles. My Aunt said she went to the parent/teacher meetings at the school and knew of Karen and Richards mother whom she did not like at all. She thought their mother was overbearing and controlling. I heard a story once that after a concert, it was raining so hard when they left the building, they ran into the limo that was waiting for them, leaving fans waiting outside to get their autographs, when their mother found out she was livid and told them never to leave fans waiting again. We lived around the corner from them and one Halloween, we took my six year old daughter trick or treating in the circle where they lived. We stood back as she went with other kids up to their door and knocked. Karen answered the door and was so sweet to he kids, handing out candy to them. My daughter was just in awe of her!!!
On my way to work, Florence Ave was packed the day they had Karen Carpenters' funeral. I lived in Santa Fe Springs and had to drive through Downey to get to work. They were so popular during the 1970s, said that she struggled with low self-esteem.
No one knows what it's like to have parents who continually put you down and make you feel like a loser. My Dad was a horror story, just like Karen Carpenter's mother, who almost ruined my life. Thank God I got away from those people when I was very young and managed to have my own life away from them, I could never do to my children what they did to me!
I still miss her in 2023
All Karen needed was her mother's love and understanding. She never got it. When her mother mentioned that she sat behind the drums while singing to hide her body, that started the eating disorder that lead to her death.
Well done! I’ve heard of a lot of pieces done on Karen and I have to say this is the best one yet
Where was Karen Carpenter when she collapsed? So despite being adored by millions of fans and having fame and fortune, Karen suffered from anorexia because her mother was domineering? So everyone suffering from anorexia has a domineering mom? I have to tell you, my mom loved me so much, always told me how beautiful and intelligent l was that l feel compelled to blame her for my being obese. No, you armchair psychologists, Karen couldn't be who she wanted to be because the critics wouldn't let up on her and Richard. Thin was in then and thin is in now. It wasn't good enough to have one of the most incredible voices ever, the critics labeled her " square " and " goody two shoes" Karen wanted to be sexy like Olivia Newton John. Karen was beautiful, but she didn't feel beautiful and that was the cost for being famous and always being under a microscope. Dead all these years and still under a microscope. My guess is Karen would defend her mom against these accusations, but people still would accuse her mom anyway. At 32 years old and able to be anywhere in the world, Karen chose her parents house and that's where she collapsed. Like the words in Rainy Days and Mondays state " the only thing to do, run and find the one who loves me".Karen knew her mom loved her and she loved her mom. Please, if you claim to love Karen so much, let her AND her mom rest in peace.
Thank you for this comment.
Domineering mothers commonly contribute to eating disorders. Mine certainly did.
@@Vxjx15 people who suffer from mental health conditions, like myself, often want to blame others and not take accountability for our actions. Regardless of any and all of the terrible relationships in our lives, we have to own what we can control and are responsible for or we will never truly recover.
Karen had her own apartment in LA...she went shopping with her parents the day before looking for a new washer and dryer and then they went to lunch. She spent the night at her mom's house because they were going to go shopping again the next day as they still had not found the washer/dryer for Karen. She was in her closet getting dressed in the morning when she died.
Karen had the voice of an angel and outshine her brother all of the time. She was a multitalented artist and there was nothing she couldn’t do. Agnes was too focused on her golden child Richard to notice how extraordinary Karen was.
Your essays are excellent.
My father bought her Newport Beach home after her death and the next door neighbor told us her mother nagged her to death.
Newport Beach was the house that Karen and her husband Tom lived in. Karen's mom and dad lived on Newville Ave and after 1979 Richard had been living at Lubec Street. After I think it was around January 1981, Karen actually moved out of Newport Beach and was living in one of her apartments next door to Casey Kasem for a while.
January 6 2022 Looks like her mother was "Mommy Dearest". So sad.
The media played their hand too
I hope that witch of a mother is satisfied !!😠😠 She destroyed Karen's self esteem and pushed her to the breaking point .
You really show such ignorance with this comment.
The failed marriage to a narcissist husband didn't bring her to a breaking point? The press calling her chubby didn't bring her to a breaking point? The last album she did that was not a success didn't bring her to a breaking point? She was with her parents and family at the end...she was eating and they were there for her but the physical damage took it's toll.
Karen was one of the best voices f all time but Richard was super talented as well
Agnes was part of the cause of Karen's anorexia but you make no mention of Karen's desire to have children and a traditional marriage, both of which could have been a relief for her anxiety disorder. That she married a man nine years her senior who was emotionally abisive, financially unreliable (he reportedly drained Karen's cash reserves to near zero) and flat out refused to give her children during their brief fourteen month marriage was cited by friend Karen Kamon as ""the straw that broke the camel's back. It was absolutely the worst thing that could have ever happened to her." Karen actually filed for divorce while hospitalized for her disorder. Karen Carpenter desperately desired to be loved by the very people who were incapable of giving love. And it killed her.
Marriage and children doesn’t cure anorexia or anything else. If you’re not in a good place to begin with, you’re in deep trouble as a spouse or parent.
Dude. The gold digger husband didn't "refuse her children", she was emaciated, unhealthy, and not even ovulating. She was so off course that physiologically couldn't have gotten pregnant even if she had wanted to.
Such a heartbreaking illness. I was so sad when she died.
So was i.
I'm sorry but that might not be 100 percent accurate but contributed to it, I'm sure. I remember this when it happened. There was a fan magazine doing a feature on the Carpenters after they were famous and there was a picture of her where she was overweight at the time and the writer mentioned it in the article... this deeply wounded her body image at the time. I saw the article and watched her slowly slip away after that.
I completely agree with your point. I believe the writer commented that she was chubby and that set her on the road to dieting. I think that one of the problems with anorexia is that when Karen looked in the mirror she didn't see the extreme weight loss. Her mind would play tricks on her and she would still see herself as overweight. The video didn't mention her marriage. If it had worked out maybe away from her parent's influence things might have improved.
She was an attractive woman, and she did reach a size where she should have stopped. Unfortunately, she didn't see it!
I remember that and that was the start of her anorexia.
I think it was Rolling Stone magazine
She wasn't so much chubby due to body fat, but had gained muscle mass during '73 due to an intense fitness programme. This changed in '74 and Karen was on the slippery slope down. As we know this was only part of the problem.
She’s my favorite female singer of all time. Every time you open your mouth about her, lies fall out.
Yes she had a difficult relationship with her mother, but her anorexia started after a photo of her was in the paper.
A female reporter called her “ his chubby sister”.
That’s when her anorexia started.
Not because of her mother.
Karen was essentially asked/told to not play the drum kit by thise around her while having an awesome voice unequaled voice her love was was playing the kit as showing by her smiles
Did you really say “Altho she wasn’t a beast . . . “ Really? Sheesh, man, that’s harsh!
She was a beast for emotions but it's true that she was very sensitive and that's not her fault.
He said obese not a beast...she was neither.She was a lovely woman with the voice of an angel.
I love Karen Carpenter, her music will live on and on, God bless her, may she rest in peice...
Always when I see them performance ,I feel the sadness in her that make me want to comfort her and give her the feeling that's she been loved and that she noticed how beautiful she was, In and outside,miss her 😥and hope she is happy now in God,s garden..rip..sweet girl..❤❤❤
The way I see it...Father, was there..but didn't display much, if any "fatherly energy." ..Mother, was there...wore the pants of the house, displaying distructive emotional energy, and favoritism towards son..(.Mama's boy...,?.)..Son, genius behind his music 🎵🎵, but never noticed him singing lead....son wrote alot of the famous songs...Daughter, genius behind or in front of her drums, displaying best in sound of contralto, one of the best female singers to this day..putting her heart felt soul into her brothers words of his songs..she sang lead then, now and forever, in heaven!! Bless ya Karen!! You're very much appreciated, loved and Missed..🌟✨🌠🌟
Its a very sad and tragic thing losing Karen Carpenter to anorexia. It's sad that she had to do the things she did to cope. The thing is food is the ultimate medicine for anorexia. It is nutrition that will get you well. I know as I'm doing everything I can do to get well.
Those pictures of her at the beggining of her career then shortly before her death ☠️ are
chilling.
Karen, Richard ...your talent your delivery....Pure genious..!....Richard..I admire how you step aside and let Karen shine...! What a combination of talent...you transported millions of people..the world! What a heavenly combination...! You were a wonderful brother to Karen......I'm sure her mother loved her too...I believe Karen had a mental issue.......no one can save you if you want to die....
The sweetest angelic voice EVER❤
Way to go mom , you killed your own daughter and deprived the world of one of the greatest voices of all time !
Me too
Narcissist Mother
True deal. If you have this or anything from abusive mother please get help soon.
Not loved by mom - family scapegoat is soo hard . You may have huge over attachment disorder like me
Karen Carpenter still is the best sounding female "pop" vocalist on the planet. And she's been gone for over 40 years.
my mother spit pure evil . evil poured from her tough like a flow of fire to distroy all in its path.
She was a drummer before becoming a singer. She loved the drums and excelled at it. However, at the behest of her brother, and probably mother and music industry, they knew she would be more valuable as a singer. Just because she could sing, didnt mean it was her preference of choice. But she did what she was told, because that is how she was. I think they all crushed her spirit and took away from her what she really loved.