The Carpenters story is one that is filled with the joy of overwhelming success and the sadness of a life cut short.

With their light, airy melodies and meticulously crafted, clean arrangements, the Carpenters stood in direct contrast with the excessive, gaudy pop/rock of the '70s, yet they became one of the most popular artists of the decade.

Between 1970 and 1984, the Grammy Award-winning duo had 10 gold singles, nine gold albums, one multi-platinum album and 17 singles in the Billboard Top 20, 12 in the Top 10, three number 1 songs and six songs at number 2.

Karen Anne Carpenter was born on Thursday, March 2, 1950 to Harold and Agnes Carpenter, of New Haven, Connecticut. Karen's brother Richard had arrived four years earlier on October 15, 1946.

Harold Carpenter hung swings in the basement of their home at 55 Hall Street and Karen and Richard spent many hours literally swinging to the music of their father's extensive record collection. It was in that basement that the Carpenter siblings first heard the sounds of Les Paul and Mary Ford, Spike Jones, and Patti Page, all figures that played a huge role in the development of the Carpenters' sound, nearly 20 years later.

Initially, it was Richard who took an interest in music. Karen recalls, "While Richard was listening to music in the basement, I was out playing baseball and football, and playing with my machine gun! I was very tomboyish, quite a character I hear. I remember I wanted to be a commercial artist, or a nurse, or an airline stewardess." She laughed recalling these early ambitions, saying, "One, I can't stand the sight of blood; two, if I fly one more mile...!"

Karen, watching Richard's talents exploding, tried her hand at music as well back in New Haven, and began practicing the flute while attending Nathan Hale School, just around the corner from Hall Street. The lessons went nowhere and she continued watching her brother and his talents in awe.

The Carpenter family moved from their New Haven home to suburban Downey, California in June 1963. Harold Carpenter hated the frozen winters in Connecticut and had been yearning for sunny southern California since the mid-1950s, not to mention Richard's musical abilities could pay off in the L.A. area. Hollywood and such surroundings would surely aid in establishing the career in music he dreamed of. After the Hall Street house sold back east, the Carpenter family bought a house at 13024 Fidler Avenue on Downey's south side.

While Karen loved sports and other outdoor activities, she hated Gym class at Downey High. With Richard's help, she was allowed to substitute Band for Gym, and ultimately joined the school's choir to avoid Geometry. In the Downey High School Band, Karen marched in the drum line with her glockenspiel. She soon became fond of the drums around her and finally asked her parents for a drum set.

A fellow drummer in the Downey Band, Frankie Chavez, helped Karen with the rudiments of drumming and she was soon showing off on her own set of Ludwigs. "Boy, could she play 'em!" exclaims Richard. Agnes Carpenter reportedly had to keep a stock of band-aids for her daughter's ailing, overworked fingers. "Luckily, drumming came naturally," Karen said in a 1981 interview. "I started right off playin', and time signatures came naturally... I don't know how, I mean, it felt so comfortable when I picked up a pair of sticks.

With Karen still in high school, her seventeen year-old brother Richard entered California State University as a music major in the fall of 1964. He soon became buddies with a tuba and bass player named Wes Jacobs, who joined Richard and his drum-playing sister to form the Richard Carpenter Trio. Growing accustomed to playing for dances and weddings, the trio reached the finals of the prestigious talent contest "The Battle of the Bands" at the Hollywood Bowl. Playing Richard's "Iced Tea" along with "The Girl From Ipanema," Richard, Karen, and Wes took top honours and were soon approached by an RCA Records representative. The trio was signed to the label and cut 11 tracks, but the deal was soon dissolved with no commercial release.

On May 13th, 1966, Karen, just discovering her vocal capabilities, was signed to Magic Lamp Records, a small, independent label. The label was owned by Joe Osborn, a well-known session bassist in the L.A. area. It was in Osborn's garage studio that Karen recorded "Looking for Love," "I'll Be Yours," "The Parting of Our Ways," and one other. Karen was the drummer of course, while Richard played keyboards and Joe played bass. A lone single was released in the summer or 1966. With a pressing of 500 records, a lack of distribution is blamed for the unsuccessful release. That Magic Lamp 45 RPM is today reportedly worth $500-$1,000!

That tape from the session however, was directed toward Herb Alpert , the head of A&M Records. Alpert liked what he heard and in April of 1969, signed "The Carpenters" to the label.

The Carpenters' debut album, "Offering", was released in November of 1969 and featured their first single, a ballad version of "Ticket to Ride," which peaked nationally at #54. That was soon followed by "Close To You," which would become Karen and Richard's breakthrough recording that took just six weeks to reach #1 where it remained for four consecutive weeks.

"Close to You" became an international hit, beginning a five-year period where the duo was one of the most popular recording acts in the world. During that period, the Carpenters won two Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist of 1970, and had an impressive string of Top Ten hits, including "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Superstar," "Hurting Each Other," "Goodbye to Love," "Yesterday Once More," and "Top of the World."

After 1975's number four hit "Only Yesterday," the group's popularity began to decline. For the latter half of the '70s, the duo were plagued by personal problems. Richard had become addicted to prescription drugs; in 1978, he entered a recovery clinic, kicking his habit. Karen , meanwhile, became afflicted with anorexia nervosa, a disease she suffered from for the rest of her life. On top of their health problems, the group's singles had stopped reaching the Top Ten and by 1978, they weren't even reaching the Top 40. Consequently, Karen decided to pursue a solo career, recording an album in 1979 with Phil Ramone. The record was never completed and she returned to the Carpenters later that year. The reunited duo released their last album of new material, "Made in America" in 1981. The album marked a commercial comeback, as "Touch Me When We're Dancing" made it to number 16 on the charts. However, Karen's health continued to decline, forcing the duo out of the spotlight.

She had an extreme case of anorexia and she fought to over come the disease throughout the last two years of her life. Her body couldn't take anymore. She'd been starving herself for seven years, using laxatives, drinking water with lemon, taking dozens of thyroid pills daily, and even throwing up.

On February 4, 1983, Karen was found unconscious at her parents' home in New Haven; she died in the hospital that morning from a cardiac arrest, which was caused by her anorexia. She was only 32 years old.

Karen was laid to rest in the Carpenter family crypt at Forest Lawn in Cypress.

Since then, Richard has remained active, releasing a solo album, "TIME", in 1987, which featured guest appearances by Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick.

In 1989, Richard served as executive producer for the TV movie "The Karen Carpenter Story," which painted a stark and honest picture of the duo's personal lives and Karen's struggle with anorexia. He has gone back into the studio to remix and sometimes re-record parts of the Carpenters' repertoire for such compilations as 1991's boxed set, "From The Top".

At the height of their popularity, The Carpenters became one of the most popular groups in history, selling nearly 100 million units worldwide. They toured internationally through the 70s, and their 1976 tour of Japan was the largest grossing tour in that country up to that point. Karen's voice is considered by many to be the finest and most expressive in popular music. She is praised for her control, sense of pitch, and the subtle nuances of personal expression she introduced to a melody.

The Carpenters were awarded eight Gold albums, five Platinum albums, and ten Gold singles in America. They were the #1 best-selling American group between 1970 and 1980.

In their first year, from July 1970 to June 1971, the Carpenters had four Top 5 hits , twice the number of any other artist during that period. They are still second on the list of "Artists With The Most #2 Hits": Carpenters had five, while Elvis Presley had six.

1966: "Looking for Love/I'll Be Yours" (Karen's solo with Magic Lamp Records)
1969: "Ticket To Ride",
1970: "Close To You", "We've Only Just Begun", "Merry Christmas, Darling",
1971: "For All We Know", "Rainy Days And Mondays", "Superstar", "Hurting Each Other",
1972: "It's Going To Take Some Time", "Goodbye To Love",
1973: "Sing", "Yesterday Once More", "Top Of The World",
1974: "I Won't Last A Day Without You", "Please Mr. Postman"
1975: "Only Yesterday", "Solitaire",
1976: "A Kind Of Hush", "I Need To Be In Love"
1977: "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft", "Christmas Song",
1978: "Sweet, Sweet Smile", "I Believe You",
1981: "Touch Me When We're Dancing", "Back In My Life Again", "Those Good Old Dreams"
1982: "Beechwood 4-5789",
1983: "Make Believe It's Your First Time",
1984: "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore",
1985: A&M Memories Series Singles (10 total),
1987: "Something In Your Eyes" (from Richard's album),
1989: "If I Had You"

Glenn Frey lived in Detroit until he followed his girlfriend out to L.A. On his first day there, he met John David Souther, who was going out with his girlfriend's sister. The two had much in common, including a love of music. They decided that they'd had it with rock and roll, formed an acoustic country folk duo called "Longbranch Pennywhistle", and made one album for a soon to be deceased label. Another act on the label was a band called "Shiloh", a Texas band containing drummer Don Henley.

Born in Gilmer, Texas, July 22, 1947, Henley cut his first solo album about his life in Texas called "Talking To The Moon" when he was still a boy. He attended Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas where he majored in English Literature and found that his love for music suited him well. Henley heeded the advice of an English teacher to pursue his interest and move to L.A.

Soon, Glenn's and J.D.'s and Don's recording hopes dried up as their record company went down the drain. The two future Eagles commiserated together, hanging out at the Troubadour and , in Don's words, "getting drunk a lot," until they were assembled by producer John Boylan in 1970 as backup musicians for Linda Ronstadt on her "Silk Purse" album. They then served as her backup band for two years. They played so well together that it was obvious they had to form a band of their own and Linda had to resign herself to losing them.

Randy Meisner came from Nebraska. He met the Buffalo Springfield when his group, The Poor, played the Whiskey in L.A. When the Buffalo Springfield broke up, he helped form Poco with Jim Messina and Richie Furay. After a year, Randy was not happy with the sound of the original Poco on record. He quit to join Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band. He wasn't happy in that situation either, and he had even left music altogether for some time before the Eagles rescued him from selling tractors. One night he filled in when Linda Ronstadt's bass player didn't show up, and Don and Glenn knew they had a bassist.

Meanwhile, Bernie Leadon was leaving his group, the Flying Burrito Brothers. Don, Glenn and Randy gave him a call, and he sat in one night when Linda played at Disneyland. They all liked what they heard. The foursome then picked the name Eagles because of its connection with Hopi mythology, rehearsed for two weeks, and went to see Glenn's manager, David Geffen. After a month of playing four sets a night in an Aspen, Colorado bar, Geffen packed away the newly born Eagles off to England to work with producer Glyn Johns.

The resulting album, "Eagles", was an incredible success. Three songs from that very first album -"Take it Easy," "Peaceful Easy Feelin," and Witchy Woman" - became hit singles. "Eagles" also established a precedent for future albums. They were to be a blend of country flavoured rock, spiked with bluegrass and strong ballads, and topped with sweet, full, high harmonies. The rocking pulse of a "Witchy Woman" would continue to be balanced by the banjo or mandolin oriented tunes such as "All of Us Are Sad" or Randy's plaintive "Take the Devil."

Their albums would also be, in Glenn's words, "song-oriented. It wasn't a planned move to record an album full of singles," he has said, "but we did set out to put ten good songs on every album instead of having fillers, where one song is the single because it's so obviously a better song than any other on the album." And just as the albums were to be song-oriented, the band itself was to be "music-oriented."

"It seems that for bands like "Alice Cooper" and the "Sweet", the music is secondary to the theater trip. For us, the music comes first," said Don Henley. There were those who argued that the Eagles were just a cover band for better and more sensitive songwriters such as Jackson Browne, who co-authored their first hit, "Take It Easy." But there had to be some scepticism regarding the Eagles' instant success. After all, they had barely been together for a few months and they had immediately received the commercial acceptance denied to other descendants of the superstar groups.

Their second album would force the Eagles to prove they were not a fluke. Once again, the band went off to work in England with Glyn Johns. In foggy London, they recorded the tales of a band of Western outlaws, the Doolin-Dalton gang. Critics did not respond to the concept behind the album, but as time has passed, cuts from the Desperado album such as "Tequila Sunrise" have become increasingly popular. In their stage show, in fact, the band performed "Desperado" not once, but twice, just as they do on record.

In 1974, The Eagles' third album, "On The Border", was a success if ever there was one. It was not, however, as easy to come by as one might think. The Eagles could not instantly wind up and grind out solid gold smashes, and "On The Border" marks the separation of the Eagles and producer Glyn Johns. The third time around their union failed to produce musical magic, and the Eagles were simply not satisfied with the tracks they had recorded. They had no choice but to leave Johns and damp London to look for inspiration back in the U.S.A. "What our music needed was a good kick in the ass," Glenn Frey told Circus magazine. The group decided that producer Bill Szymczyk was the man for the job and the Eagles re-recorded all of the tracks they had originally cut in England to finally complete the album.

"On The Border" also brought studio guitarist Don Felder to the Eagles' nest. Glenn had called him because Joe Walsh wasn't available to play slide on "Good Day in Hell." The four original Eagles got off on Felder's playing and company so much they eventually asked him to join the band permanently. The LP was a breakthrough record, going gold in three months and producing the #1 hit "Best of My Love," which didn't top the charts until almost a year after the album's release, just in time to set up their fourth album.

" One of These Nights", the first of four straight albums to top the charts, featured the title track, along with "Lyin' Eyes," and "Take It to the Limit," both Top Ten hits in 1975.

The album also marked Don Felder's emergence as a full-fledged Eagle. "He's definitely the fifth Eagle," said Glenn. "No doubt about it." This new, slightly harder-edged sound gave The Eagles their mainstream breakthrough. The album went platinum in America and finally cracked the European and British markets.

Near the end of 1975, The Eagles would lose their banjo and mandolin player Bernie Leadon, who by now was sick and tired of the road. The grind and pressures of touring made Bernie announce his retirement from the group, to return to session and studio work. He would be replaced by the one and only Joe Walsh.

Joe Walsh's musical career began in the form of leader of the "James Gang". An enigmatic, humorous and clever musician with an awesome talent for the guitar, Walsh's approach and blend of rock, pop and skewed humour has helped to forge an attractive solo career. Although chiefly recognised as a guitarist, Walsh has proved himself to be a handy keyboard player, along with being a competent, if croaky, vocalist.

The Eagles released a greatest-hits album in 1976 that has sold over 14 million copies, the best-selling hits record of all time and later that year completed what would become their signature album, "Hotel California".

The Eagles' transitioned from soft country to a harder, more electric mainstream rock sound. The songs were mostly downbeat tales about coping with LA's rock-star lifestyle, but its title track, portraying California as a hedonistic prison, hit #1 in the US, as did "New Kid In Town". The band hit the road, on a long and spectacular tour, using the Hotel California theme as a back drop.

By 1977, Randy Meisner had also grown tired of the hectic road life and left the Eagles to try an ill-fated attempt at a solo career He was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit, who had previously succeeded him in Poco.

It took the Eagles until the fall of 1979 to issue their next album, "The Long Run", another million-seller, featuring the chart-topper "Heartache Tonight" and Top Ten successes in the title track and "I Can't Tell You Why." The next year saw the release of a live album.

By 1981, The Eagles outstanding musicians had grown in different directions and constant artistic differences took their toll. The group had decided to split up and try their hands a solo careers. All five members released solo albums, the most successful of which have been by Henley and Frey .

After the Eagles permanently broke up, apparently to Henley's surprise, he immediately established himself as a viable solo artist with his very first album, "I Can't Stand Still". Not as financially rewarding as the later Eagles' records, the album still provided the listener with an impressive array of songs, launching the hit single "Dirty Laundry". Henley's second album, "Building the Perfect Beast" followed a few years later, further helping to establish him as a solo star and continue to impress the critics with his rich and thought-provoking music.

Further ambitious aspirations led Henley to pen and record his third and most successful album to date, 1989's "The End of the Innocence" providing the listening world with such gems as the title track, 'In a New York Minute" and "The Heart Of The Matter".

Glen Frey began his solo career in 1982 with the album "No Fun Aloud", notching a pair of Top 40 hits with "I Found Somebody" and "The One You Love." 1984's "The Allnighter" spawned the hit "Smuggler's Blues," which subsequently inspired an episode of the hit TV series Miami Vice on which Frey guest-starred. Other ill-advised acting roles saw a rapid return to music and the highly successful 1985 Top Ten smash "The Heat Is On," a single released from the soundtrack to the Eddie Murphy comedy Beverly Hills Cop. Further musical releases over the following years began to fare increasingly bad with the public, a shame, as his work was in fact growing in quality.

The appeal of The Eagles didn't dissolve with their break-up. Their back catalogue continued to sell throughout the 80s and 90s, and Henley and Frey eventually put aside their differences. They decided to re-form the band for a one shot summer stadium tour and re-assembled Don Felder, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit. Interestingly, they did not contact original bass player, Randy Meisner, who was publicly vocal about his disappointment of not being invited.

The Eagles recorded an album as part of an appearance on the TV show MTV Unplugged that featured acoustic versions of old favourites as well as several new songs. The resulting album, "Hell Freezes Over", was the first Eagles album of new recordings since 1980. The name of the disc was chosen in reference to the answer the band would give to fans when asked when the Eagles would get back together. It was released on Nov. 8, 1994, and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Album chart. "Hell Freezes Over" has sold more than 6 million copies in the U.S. to date (certified six times platinum) and remained in the Top 100 for nearly two years. The album was No. 4 on Billboard's 1995 year-end Top Album of the year ranking, and the Eagles were No. 5 among Top Album Artists of the year.

The Eagles won three 1995 American Music Awards: Favourite Pop Group, Favourite Adult Contemporary Artist, and Favourite Pop Rock Album for "Hell Freezes Over". Winners of four previous Grammy Awards, the Eagles were nominated for four more Grammys: Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Love Will Keep Us Alive," Best Pop Album and Best Engineered Album for "Hell Freezes Over", and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Hotel California."

In the U.S., the single "Get Over It" was released Oct. 11, 1994, and reached the Top 10 in the U.S. In February 1995, the track "Love Will Keep Us Alive" hit No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart and remained there for more than seven months. In summer, the "Learn To Be Still" track made the Top 20 on the Adult Contemporary list.

When the tour ended, the band once again went their separate ways to pursue solo projects. Don Henley began work on a new album and Joe Walsh has appeared as a spaced out guitar player on "The Drew Carey Show".

Don Henley had this to say about touring with The Eagles again in the 1990s. "It was just like it always was, actually. There were moments of great elation and joy, and there were moments of great misery and disappointment, anger. Things don’t really change that much, you know. People don’t change that much... people don’t change, they just become more who they really are."

Despite their in-fighting, The Eagles re-united to play a farewell to the nineties concert at Staples Center, Los Angeles on New Year's Eve, 1999. They shared the stage with their long time friends, Jackson Browne and Linda Rondstadt.

Even though they had smoothed out many old arguments, dissention once again split the Eagles. Guitarist Don Felder filed a lawsuit against his former bandmates, Don Henley and Glenn Frey, claiming that he was wrongfully dismissed from the group in early 2001. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on February 9th, reportedly sought the dissolution of Eagles Ltd., the band's corporation, as well as an accounting of record royalties, touring revenue and merchandising since Felder joined the band in 1974.

In early 2002, the remaining Eagles, Don Henley, Glen Frey, Joe Walsh and Timmothy B. Schmitt were back in the recording studio working on a new album.

The Eagles have sold more than 83 million albums worldwide, earning five No. 1 albums and five No. 1 singles. They sold more albums in the 1970s than any other American band. Their "Greatest Hits 1971-1975" is the largest selling album of all time in the U.S. (more than 27 million copies, ahead of Michael Jackson's "Thriller", at 25 million) and was the first album ever to receive platinum certification.

The Eagles' "Greatest Hits, Volume II" received the Recording Industry Association of America's Diamond Award in March 2001, marking sales of more than ten million copies. It is their third album to reach "Diamond" status, along with Greatest Hits 1971-1975 and Hotel California. The new round of certifications pushed the Eagles' to the third highest certified band, behind only the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, and the fifth highest certified artist of all time. "The Eagles are the epitome of rock music," said RIAA president and CEO Hilary Rosen. "The accomplishment of selling more than 83 million records over their career is monumental."

The band continued to tour and in November, 2004, recorded their show in Melbourne, Australia for a DVD release titled "Farewell 1 Tour - Live From Melbourne". Footage from that night was part of a 2-hour TV special on NBC, shown in the US on June 1st, 2005. The band played all of their hits backed by an eight-piece backup band that included new lead guitarist Steuart Smith. Over the Summer, Don Henley was slated to play a series of shows with Stevie Nicks, after which The Eagles planned a mini-tour of California.

The Eagles Single Releases: