New Book, ‘Lead Sister’ Reveals Karen Carpenter Had “Radical” Anorexia Treatment Prior To Death

The remarkable, troubled, and ultimately far too short life of Karen Carpenter is the subject of a new book, Lead Sister: The Story of Karen Carpenter. An excerpt from the biography alleges that Carpenter was severely underweight and underwent intense anorexia treatment in the months leading up to her death.

Karen Carpenter was half of the highly-successful musical duo, the Carpenters. She boasted a unique three-octave contralto range that drew high praise from critics and fans and saw her move from the position of drummer to frontwoman. Carpenter was just 32 when she died on February 4, 1983, after suffering cardiac arrest. The weeks leading up to her shocking death were, according to Lead Sister, just as troubling as the sudden nature of her passing.

The new biography, ‘Lead Sister: The Story of Karen Carpenter,’ details her extreme anorexia treatment

According to Lead Sister, anorexia became a dominating force in Carpenter’s life, one that dictated how she conducted herself each day. “Anorexia had become a tyrannical force in Karen’s psyche, telling her that food was an enemy to be fought,” writes Lead Sister author, music journalist Lucy O’Brien. “Thoughts of food and the methods to eliminate it had become obsessive, dominating her day and disrupting her sleep.”

RELATED: The Tragic Details Behind The Carpenters Coming To An End

This reached a head by 1982, just a year before Carpenter would pass. Her battle with anorexia drove Carpenter to uproot her life and move from California to New York, seeking help. There, she sought treatment from psychotherapist Steven Levenkron. The treatment was “radical,” putting him in a position of a “father figure” with enough authority over her anorexia to override the voice of the disorder. Carpenter reportedly “established her own separate identity” under this treatment method.

Karen Carpenter’s fight with anorexia began decades ago

Levenrkon’s own battle against Carpenter’s anorexia was a fraction of the long struggle the singer waged against it throughout most of her life. In fact, Carpenter started minding her food intake while still in high school. She held a weight of about 120 pounds, which, depending on a person’s physiology can be a healthy amount to stay at – but when the Carpenter craze was at its zenith, she saw a concert photo of herself and thought she looked heavy; Carpenter took up a diet even more strict than before.

By late ’75, Carpenter weighed 91 pounds.

As the years went by, Carpenter tried to confront and defy her anorexia, even when Levenrkon’s treatment methods were considered controversial. However, O’Brien writes, Carpenter “knew instinctively that she needed someone strong to help her fight the anorexia, someone who saw through her denial and her attempts to hide the illness.”

Even so, according to Lead Sister, Carpenter undid some of the work done by the treatments; she would power walk the significant distance between her hotel and the Levenrkon’s office, for example. Ultimately, the treatments were cut short by Carpenter – against Levenkron’s advisement – after declaring she was “cured” of the eating disorder, an incomplete end to an uphill battle that was paved with roadblocks every which way.

Lead Sister: The Story of Karen Carpenter was released in March 2023.