The best-known version is that recorded by American duo the Carpenters for their second studio album Close to You (1970) and produced by Jack Daugherty.

[11] Bacharach and David gave Herb Alpert the song after he scored a number one hit in 1968 with "This Guy's in Love with You", which the duo had also written.

After the Carpenters achieved their first chart success with "Ticket to Ride" in 1969, Alpert approached them to record their version of the song, believing it was well-suited for them.

Knowing he and Karen were in a vulnerable position with the label after the dismal chart performance of "Ticket to Ride", Richard went back to work.

When A&M Records decided to remove the extended coda and release it as a 3-minute, 40-second long single in May 1970, it became A&M's biggest hit since Alpert's "This Guy's in Love with You" from 1968.

[13] "(They Long to Be) Close to You" earned the Carpenters a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus in 1971.

[16] Richard had originally written the flugelhorn solo part for Herb Alpert but when he was unavailable at the time of recording, Chuck Findley was hired in his stead.

It later features in The Simpsons Movie (2007), as Homer tearfully watches a videotape left behind by Marge in Alaska containing the couple's first dance to the song, and subsequently collapses onto a broken heart-shaped iceberg in anguish.

[21] In 2014, Rob Hoerburger of The New York Times observed that the song "highlights both Karen’s aching alto and Richard’s deft piano playing and elegant Satie-like arrangement.

In 1986, Gwen Guthrie released her version of the song, which could only partially build on the success of her hit "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On but the Rent".