Lead Sister
The Story of Karen Carpenter
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
"This may well become the definitive biography of Carpenter....Pop music fans will appreciate this strong biography." —Library Journal, Starred Review
Named a Financial Times 2023 Best Book of the Year – Pop Music
Named one of The Times and The Sunday Times, UK 17 best rock and pop music books of 2023
A groundbreaking biography reevaluating the life and legacy of transcendent musician Karen Carpenter
As one of the biggest-selling acts of the 1970s, the Carpenters are celebrated for their melodic pop and unforgettable hits like “Close to You,” “Yesterday,” and “Top of the World.” Though Karen is rightly recognized as one of the greatest singers in popular music, the tragedy of her early death in 1983 at the young age of just thirty-two sometimes overshadows her incredible achievements. She has often been portrayed as a victim, controlled by her family and exploited by the music industry.
Forty years after her death, this biography reframes her life and legacy as a pioneering woman with her own vision and agency. With exclusive interviews with friends, musicians, and collaborators, bestselling author Lucy O’Brien explores Karen’s contributions as a singer, drummer, arranger, and producer, and traces the roots of the Carpenters’ iconic sound. Lead Sister also honors Karen’s triumphs in the face of her struggle with anorexia, providing contemporary perspectives on eating disorders and mental health. Despite the chronic nature of her illness, Karen Carpenter was, above all, a creative, dedicated, and assured artist whose music delivers an emotional resonance that has transcended generations—and that is how she should be remembered.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Music journalist O'Brien (She Bop) reconstructs the life of 1970s and early '80s pop star Carpenter, from the "intense musical creativity" and sonorous voice that propelled her to fame to the industry and cultural pressures she battled and the anorexia that eventually contributed to her death in 1983. Raised in New Haven, Conn., Carpenter was "driven by an instinctive rhythm and musical passion" that ignited when she started playing the drums in her high school marching band. In 1969, at age 19, she teamed up with her pianist brother Richard to form a musical duo that wove "lush soundscapes of melodic pop" and grew into "one of the biggest-selling acts of the 1970s and early 1980s," though becoming the duo's vocalist left her less opportunity to drum onstage—a serious blow, according to O'Brien, because Carpenter had used the instrument to express herself. Diet struggles had plagued her since childhood, and as the stressors of fame intensified, so did her determination to control her body through laxatives and food restriction, causing heart problems that led to her death. Mining Carpenter's music, as well as original interviews with those who knew her, O'Brien paints a nuanced portrait of both an inimitable, culture-defining artist and a highly visible casualty of the music industry's "relentless promotion" of women as uniformly thin, "saleable commodities." Carpenter's fans will be rapt.
