Richard Carpenter Forms 'The New Carpenter Trio' with Daughters in Video 40 Years after Karen's Death

• Karen Carpenter died in 1983, effectively ending the Carpenters' singing duo.
• Her brother leads a quiet life with his wife and five children, keeping the band's legacy alive.
• Richard Carpenter formed "The New Carpenter Trio" with his daughters 40 years after the death of Karen.

Siblings Richard and Karen Carpenter created the band The Carpenters in the 1970s and were hugely popular during that time. However, Karen was unhealthy and ultimately lost her life due to her body image issues.

Now, 40 years after her death, her brother keeps her memory alive by talking about her, playing their music, and reviving songs they made together. Richard and his children have also created a new band.

Karen struggled with anorexia while she was alive, and by the time she was 32, she passed away due to complications arising from her eating disorder. Her death left a hole in the music world and her family's lives.

Richard and Karen were always interested in music, with Richard being a piano prodigy and Karen playing the drums. Their peers in the music world were awed by their collective talent.

Many artists are still inspired by Richard and Karen's music, with composer M.M. Keervani accepting the Oscar Award for Best Original Song in a film to the tune of the Carpenters' "Top of the World," which is one of their most famous songs.

Keervani said he grew up listening to the Carpenters' music and said it gave him an immense amount of pride for a song by an Indian man to win an Oscar. He is elated that "RRR" won the award.

While artists worldwide were influenced by the Carpenters' music and have carried it with them to this day, Richard found it difficult to keep his sister's legacy alive because he was in shock.

After his sister's death, Richard had to go to rehab because he had developed an addiction to sleeping pills. When he exited rehab, he had a renewed sense of life and knew he had to do something to keep his sister's legacy alive.

He started by finishing as many Carpenters' songs as he could without Karen there to help him. He called them "outtakes" and said that while they are done beautifully, his sister sounds terrific, they cannot be completed songs. When asked what he missed most about his sister and making music with her, Richard mused:

"She was my buddy. And she was silenced way too soon. I mean, a voice like hers comes along once every three generations — maybe."

Richard is confident that if his sister was still alive today, she would still be singing, and they would continue making records together. He said she sang well and would still sound wonderful in her 70s.

Richard Carpenter Formed 'The New Carpenter Trio' 40 Years After Karen's Death with His Daughters

Although Richard and Karen's careers were cut short when Karen died, Richard found joy in marrying Mary Rudolph, his adopted cousin of no blood relation. The pair welcomed five children together; Kristi Lynn, Traci Tatum, Mindi Karen, Collin Paul, and Taylor Mary.

Richard gave his first daughter the name Karen would have given her daughter had she had any children. Now, Richard and his daughters recently formed a new band that also bears the Carpenter name for one song.

Since Karen's death, Richard has remained dedicated to music, releasing new compilations and performing their music. Most notably, in 2018, he released a collection of classical updates to their old music with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Recently, Richard also shared a video congratulating Keervani on his Oscar win. To mark the occasion, he and two of his daughters gathered around the piano to sing "Top of the World."

One fan joked that Richard and his daughters were the "New Carpenter Trio," before saying they loved the video. Other fans shared similar sentiments, saying Richard's daughters had beautiful voices.

Another fan called the video "wonderful" and said seeing Richard singing with his daughters was lovely. Others said the song brought back beautiful memories of Karen and the 70s.

Karen's Husband Refused to Have Children with Her: What Led to Her Death?

While she was alive, Karen dated men like Tony Danza, Mark Harmon, Terry Ellis, Alan Osmond, Steve Martin, and Mike Curb. Yet she married Thomas James Burris on August 31, 1980.

The pair had a short romance and then tied the knot in the Crystal Room at the Beverley Hills Hotel. Burris was nine years older than Karen and came into the marriage with an 18-year-old son.

Karen was desperate to be a mother and expressed this desire to her husband, who had had a vasectomy. Burris refused to have his vasectomy refused, and their marriage ended 14 months later. A friend of Karen's also claimed Burris was abusive toward her.

In 1981, the pair separated, and by October 1982, when she was in Lennox Hill Hospital, Karen filed for divorce from Burris. Their marriage ended for good shortly after that.

Throughout her life, Karen had body image issues and started dieting when she was only a teenager because she was shorter than most women and weighed 145. She was often told she was "chubby.”

She began by drinking eight glasses of water daily, leading to Karen losing twenty pounds. After that, she began monitoring her food intake, and her weight dropped to 90 pounds.

Karen's family and friends thought she needed to eat more calories while not understanding that she was suffering from anorexia nervosa. The eating disorder relates less to food and more to control.

The songstress shared a complicated relationship with her mother and sometimes with Richard. Her eating habits allowed Karen to feel like she was in control of her own life.

At the time, medical professionals didn't understand the nuances of the disorder and were, therefore, unable to help her for a long time. By the time she got the help she had needed, it was too late.

February 1, 1983, was the last time Richard and Karen ever saw one another. They had been planning a new album, but Karen collapsed in her parents' home three days later. Paramedics confirmed she had a high blood sugar level, and her heart was beating once every ten seconds.

She was rushed to Downey Community Hospital, where she tragically passed away. Her autopsy confirmed she had no illicit substances in her system. A coroner ruled her death a result of over-the-counter emetic medication. She ultimately died due to complications related to anorexia nervosa.

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