[2][3][4][5] Carpenter's work continues to attract praise, including appearing on Rolling Stone's 2010 list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.

Initially, Carpenter was the band's full-time drummer, but she gradually took the role of frontwoman as her drumming was reduced to a handful of live showcases or tracks on albums.

In 1975, Carpenter started exhibiting symptoms of anorexia nervosa due to the severe pressures of fame and her complicated family dynamics.

[1][6][7] She was never able to recover and died at the age of 32 in 1983 from complications of the disease, which was little-known outside celebrity circles at the time; Carpenter's death sparked worldwide attention and research into eating disorders and body dysmorphia.

[18] She graduated from Downey High School in the spring of 1967, receiving the John Philip Sousa Band Award, and enrolled as a music major at Long Beach State, where she performed in the college choir with Richard.

[24] In April 1966, the Carpenters were invited to audition at a session with bassist Joe Osborn, well known for being part of the studio-musician collective the Wrecking Crew.

[38][b] On "All I Can Do", she played in 5/4 time, while "Your Wonderful Parade" featured multiple snare and bass drum overdubs to emulate the sound of a marching band.

[43] After the release of Now & Then in 1973, the albums tended to have Carpenter singing more and drumming less, and she did become the focal point of all records and live performances; Bash said "she was the one that people watched".

Though she had a three-octave range, many of the duo's hits prominently feature her lower contralto singing, leading her to quip, "The money's in the basement.

[48][49] The duo was happy for Blaine to take the role in the studio, as he was a respected session musician and it was easier to record Carpenter's guide vocal without it spilling onto the drum mics.

[42] Blaine complemented Karen's drumming skills, but believed her greatest strength was as a vocalist and thought himself more adept at working in a recording studio, which required a different approach from that of an onstage performance.

[50] On Made in America, Karen provided percussion on "Those Good Old Dreams" in tandem with Paulinho da Costa, and played drums on the song "When It's Gone (It's Just Gone)" in unison with Larrie Londin.

[51] In 1981, after release of the Made in America album (which turned out to be their last), the Carpenters returned to the stage and went on some promotional tours, including an appearance for the BBC program Nationwide.

[57] In 1979, while Richard took a year off to treat his addiction, Karen started recording in New York for a solo album with producer Phil Ramone.

[58] The sessions produced music that was different from the usual Carpenters material, tending more toward disco and up-tempo numbers, with more mature lyrics and taking full advantage of Karen's upper vocal register.

[70] In early interviews, Carpenter showed no interest in marriage or dating, believing that a relationship would not survive constant touring, adding "as long as we're on the road most of the time, I will never marry.

[73] She later dated several notable men including Mike Curb, Tony Danza, Terry Ellis, Tom Bahler, Mark Harmon, Steve Martin, Alan Osmond, and Bill Hudson.

[59][74] After a whirlwind romance, she married real-estate developer Thomas James Burris on August 31, 1980, in the Crystal Room of The Beverly Hills Hotel.

[56] She refused to declare publicly that she was suffering from an eating disorder; in a 1981 Nationwide TV-interview, when asked point blank about anorexia, she simply said she was "pooped".

She used the medication in conjunction with increased consumption (as many as 90 tablets per night) of the laxatives upon which she had long relied, which caused food to pass quickly through her digestive tract.

Despite Levenkron's treatment, including confiscation of medications that Carpenter had misused, her condition continued to deteriorate, and she lost more weight eventually reaching an all time low of 77 pounds.

[93] On December 17, 1982, she performed for the last time as she sang Christmas carols for her godchildren, their classmates and other friends at the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California.

[102] In 2003, her body was moved, along with those of her parents, to a private mausoleum at the Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, California.

[106] An autopsy released on March 11, 1983, discounted drug overdose,[107] attributing Carpenter's death to "emetine cardiotoxicity due to or as a consequence of anorexia nervosa.

[108] Two years later, the coroner told colleagues that Carpenter's heart failure was caused by repeated use of ipecac syrup, an over-the-counter drug (emetic) often used to induce vomiting in cases of overdosing or poisoning.

[110] Carpenter's friends were convinced that she had abused laxatives and thyroid medication to maintain her low body weight and felt that the problem had begun after her marriage began to fail.

"[99] Carpenter's singing has attracted critical praise and influenced several significant musicians and singers, including Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Pat Metheny, Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, Shania Twain, Natalie Imbruglia, and k.d.

[9] In the BBC documentary Only Yesterday: The Carpenters Story, her friend Nicky Chinn said that John Lennon walked up to her at a Los Angeles restaurant and told her "I want to tell you, love, that you've got a fabulous voice."

94 on its list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, calling her voice "impossibly lush and almost shockingly intimate", adding "even the sappiest songs sound like she was staring directly into your eyes".

[123] A 43-minute film titled Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, directed by Todd Haynes, was released in 1987, and featured Barbie dolls as the characters.