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December 12, 2020

Rare Photos of Karen Carpenter Met Elvis Presley in the Early 1970s

Elvis Presley and Karen Carpenter. Two superstars who met their end much too soon. Reports suggest Karen met Elvis in 1973 and 1975. Certainly at the height of her popularity as part of Carpenters.


Petula Clark, a British beloved singer, recalled a meeting with the three of them where Elvis clearly wanted to take the relationship to a sexual level. Whether this is true or only her hunch is not to be known, but it does make for an interesting story.

Clark first met Karen Carpenter in Los Angeles at the 1969 premiere of Goodbye, Mr Chips, in which Clark starred alongside Peter O’Toole. The Carpenters, then unsigned, were performing at the afterparty. Impressed, Clark introduced herself and pointed them out to Herb Alpert, who went on to sign them to A&M. She did not run into Karen often, but “we had that connection, so that every time we did see each other, we were close.”

In the early 1970s, Clark and her friend Carpenter went to see Elvis Presley in Las Vegas. Afterwards they were invited to his dressing room, where the King’s eyes lit up with glee at the prospect of seducing one – or ideally both – of them.

Petula and Karen backstage with Elvis.

“Karen was quite naive and, by then, I wasn’t. I could see what was going on and I felt very protective, almost like I was her big sister. After a while I said, ‘Karen, it’s quite late and you’ve got to do that thing early tomorrow morning’. She just looked confused and said, ‘What thing is that?’ In the end, I shoved her out of the room. In fact, I shoved both of us out of the room. Elvis found it quite funny actually. As we were leaving, I turned around and he was smiling as if to say, ‘I’ll get you one day.’ But he never did.”

Any regrets? “I didn’t find him that attractive,” she said.

Portrait of a young Petula Clark in the 1970s.

After Carpenter died from complications resulting from anorexia in 1983, Clark paid tribute to her “very dear friend” and her “strange, tragic end” at the Royal Albert Hall.

4 comments:

  1. BOTH of the photos here of Elvis and Karen Carpenter are FAKE!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Given the entourage that Elvis kept around him at all times except when he was in bed, Petula's story seems fanciful at best.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I do not believe her story.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Why would she lie ?

    ReplyDelete




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