Karen Carpeneter died 42 years ago.

Sonic Youth were big fans of Karen Carpenter; they even wrote a couple of songs for/about her....  

Her drumming abilities were world class.  Some people from her time speculate that moving her off her beloved kit to singing out front contributed to her sad downfall.  Naturally shy evidently.  There is an interview with Sheila E who is in awe of Karen's skills.  And yes that gorgeous voice...Part of my youth for sure.

WOW! I miss what could have been at what was. Karen had such a gorgeous voice and was my first female singer that really captivated me in my youth. I have to admit the arrangements by her brother played a part, but her voice, lush, clear, entrancing. I think tonight I'll be listening to them again. I too also enjoyed the fact that she could drum with the best of drummers too. Back then you didn't find many women playing any instrument maybe outside of guitars back then.

Legend has it that Frank Sinatra said Karen Carpenter "was the only singer that he would pay to see.".

One of the stupidest things I have ever done was to trade the only Carpenters album I owned in at the local Peaches store in Atlanta. They were giving a 50 cent credit for used records toward new albums, so I picked out a few from my collection that I had listened to a couple of times, but felt like I wouldn't be listening to them much in the future. The clerk who helped me tried to talk me out of trading it in (I think he knew it was a decision I would would later regret, which I did). There is no other female artist that would be mistaken for Karen Carpenter - her voice was that unique.