The Carpenters were one of the most successful sibling duos in the 1970s. Brother and sister Richard and Karen Carpenter were both incredibly talented, and, as such, they spent a lot of time in the public eye. Despite all of their time in the spotlight, there are still some things that most people don’t know about them. With that in mind, here we present our list of 15 things you probably didn’t know about the Carpenters. Check out part one below, and stay tuned for part two, coming soon!
Number Fifteen: Karen Was Multi-Talented. Karen played drums and sang for the Carpenters, but did you know she also played the electric bass? She played electric bass on two songs by the Carpenters – “Eve,” and “All of My Life.”
Number Fourteen: Their Biggest Show Was at the Ohio State Fair. The Carpenters played for approximately 50,000 people in the summer of 1971. The crowd gathered at the Ohio State Fair to see them, and they only played for one night there.
Number Thirteen: They Lip-Synced. No, they didn’t lip-sync all the time, but they did lip-sync a very important performance. At the 1972 Academy Awards, the Carpenters lip-synced their performance of “Bless the Beasts and the Children.”
Number Twelve: Richard Nixon Was a Fan. In 1973, the Carpenters went to the White House to play for Nixon, who was reportedly a fan of their music.
Number Eleven: Karen Is One of the Greatest Singers of All Time. The U.K. Rolling Stone magazine has named Carpenter’s voice as one of the 100 greatest voices of all time. She clocked in at number 94.
Number Ten: They Moved to California for Richard. While Karen spent her childhood playing outside, Richard was a musical prodigy from the very beginning. In 1963, the family actually uprooted from their Connecticut home and moved to Downey, California – a suburb of Los Angeles – because they thought the scene would be better for Richard’s musical career.
Number Nine: Karen Got a Contract Before Richard. Though Richard was known as the prodigy, Karen was the first of the two siblings to get a contract, at age 16. However, the deal didn’t last long because of financial issues on the label’s end.