Olivia Newton-John & Karen Carpenter - "Close to You"

[willington1976]

NOTHING COMPARES TO YOU KAREN ...R.I.P

[mbblover]

olivia has/had a pretty voice.. but karen is truly one of the greatest singers of the 20th century.. no one sounds like karen... while olivia's voice while pretty it isn't very unique...even olivia would admit she wasn't in the class of a karen, or barbra, etcetera....NO ONE and i mean NO ONE can touch the beauty and intimacy and richness and perfection of karen's voice...olivia no offense to her also 'made it" due to her blonde/blue eyed looks..

[morik1]

The duet that NEVER was!!! I've always wondered WHY on EARTH they never got to record a song together??? EVEN in Olivia's Multi-Star TV special Hollywood Nights (1980) Karen did sort of last minute appearance at the end of Heartache Tonight, blink and you will miss her....

[swedenbrazililoveyou]

Congratulations to who did this great job, absolutely THE BEST !!!! Wonderful !!! Greetings from Brazil by KIKO

[lightube12]

Oh my god, Musik from heaven ... Peace

[michito46]

No me gusta.

[nounnounn]

beau travail.

[isuriadireja91]

disappointed. i thought this was some "just recently discovered" video of the two of em doing a duet. they are like De Niro-Pacino of 70's female pop singers.

[ChristiLatte]

Olivia's not singing in her key, she's singing in Karen's key, as tribute.  I think this is beautiful.

[lolr66]

This is one of the saddest things I have ever seen, crying too hard to articulate x

[laminage]

Also, Karen's Marriage to her Husband lasted less than Two Years because he felt that he was "Competing" with Richard for Karen's attention. She never even moved out of the House until seh got married.

[arfies]

@laminage Actually, Karen moved out in 1976 and didn't get married until 1980. And I think the marriage breakup had FAR more to do with Tom stealing Karen's money.

[laminage]

They were really good friends and Olivia was very sad over her Friend's Death and to have to deal with her daughter Chloe having the same problem must have hurt alot. Yet Karen "Had" Family Problems even before she and Olivia met. Her Parents were "Stage" Parents and her Mother was very jealous of Karen's success. Richard was addicted to Prescription Pills (Ie Sleeping Pills), and he and Karen found it hard to date because they were jealous of The Other Persons' Boyfriend/Girlfriend.

[rsvy913688]

@laminage You hit the nail on the hammer exactly. I could go on about the relationship between Agnes Reuwer Tatum Carpenter and her daughter. Actually Agnes was going to have more than two children from some article I read years ago. I wonder what would that have been like if there had been more than Karen and Richard.

[trafikuty]

Olivia, the great surviver could not stop Karen killing herself, but it is not her fault.

[JohnGLewis1964]

This was their first great hit.

[cowhanson]

unique version....!

[coastallad1010]

Livvy in her early sixties singing this....good effort

[todfam5]

Didjeridoo - Awesome... It is so sad that we dont have a real duet of these to phenomenally talented women and best friends, but this work is amazing... You should be proud to have given us such a great treat!

[Charliekpalmer]

It is so unfair to compare Karen at the height of her talents to an aging Olivia. Karen's voice was deeper than Olivia's. Most singers cannot hit the low notes that came so easily to Karen, and Olivia is singing in Karen's key. Olivia was also an amazing performer when she was at full power and singing in her own (higher) range.

[infinera06]

Olivia for my eyes, Karen for my ears any day!

[miaahmeek77]

Karen ande Olivia, you are both loved by your fans, never mind the naysayers.....Love your music and always will.......

[miaahmeek77]

Karen and Olivia, You Both are loved by us music lovers, never mind the naysayers.....Thank you for your music.....love ya both, always.....

[markcruiser64]

the tempo is a tiny bit faster in the original it seems at times to me. Olivia should have just sang it in her higher range to contrast Karen's. My 2 FAVORITE female singers of all time!

[rpchambon]

Karen was unique but it's fine that Olivia paid tribute to her by singing her song. It takes guts to do that.

[Tony1949d]

Uhh, although I like Olivia Newton John, this don't cut it with Karen C,

[TheKaraokechris]

Nice try...good concept, but unfortunately, you've bastardized two beautiful singers. Maybe a different version of Karen would've fit better. Love them both; love the song; thanks for the sync attempt! :)

[EdWatts]

It's nice to see one of these "mashups" in which the two are singing in the same key.

Thank you.

[scottbradyporter]

Two of the most amazing women in the recording industry. Karen is my all time favorite, and I am so happy she and Olivia were good friends.

[CMCHRYSLERVALIANT]

Oliva was a great mate of Karens, I'd so love to sit down and have a chat to olivia about karen

[rudyxrudy]

yes love Olivia but she cant compete with karen.....

[stanotter]

They are both great.

[DJLoganMatthews]

Olivia does an awesome job covering this!

[TomNovice]

They just don't create music and singers like this anymore. Sorry Rihanna.

[TheCozybear65]

Olivia is the hottest babe on earth.

[hitcher177]

Karen and Olivia - Wow - they could have ruled the world -

Well the music world, anyway....

Two young ladies, with such talent.

[sewdavicious]

Kudos to Olivia for keeping a dry eye. Someone like her singing that song would have really want for her friend to be right by her side so they can sing together, that's what she was realy feeling. Poor Olivia!

[MrReneManuel]

@sewdavicious Yes.

[tarziejanee]

I love them both!!

[marciomega]

It´s really unnecessary to compare Olivia and Karen´s voice!!!They BOTH are awesome singersand have unique voices.It´s so cool to know they were such close friends...Amazing video and photos!!!!

[cluvsonj]

@marciomega I agree. People do that all the time and I hate when two people do the same song that people compare and critique. Why cant each be beautiful in their own right. Yes this is Karen's song and most associated with the artist but Olivia has a beautiful voice and she made the song sound very nice. Olivia is such a good hearted friend. Her tribute to her friends was wonderful

[k0d0kan]

Great effort. Not on par with Karen tho.

[kimutak123]

NIce cut! Nice tribute to the great Karen Carpenters. Thanks for the effort.

[vastolive8]

Olivia sang that song as a tribute to her friend Karen , she wasen't competing with her !!!

Btw..both are great singers

[ainzmuva]

Karen's song and no one will ever cover to my satisfaction. Olivia doesn't cut the mustard with this one, sorry!

[MelissaLovesMakeup89]

@ainzmuva No need to compare. They were actually very good friends and I am thinking Olivia did this out of respect to her friend and not to compete!

[mik23276]

@ainzmuva of course she could not - she wasn't anorexic and crazy enough

[LEDANCETHERAPY]

@ainzmuva Cool idea but Karen's voice is so pure it's magical.

[dtmenace70]

@ainzmuva I wouldn't want Karen to sing "Xanadu"...Olivia stick to your own stuff!

[fsa74pjl39]

@ainzmuva Cheese & Chalk, Olivia tries to sing it breathlessly while Karen hangs onto the chords Nice but not nice.

[cluvsonj]

@ainzmuva Actually Olivia never did a cover of it. SHe was singing it in concert live as a tribute to friends who has passed on. IT was a very lovely tribute. I saw it myself live and she also did songs to John Denver and Linda McCarthy & Peter Allen.

[Keezie27]

Olivia seems a little sad here.It's probably because she was thinking of Karen. Karen & Olivia were very good friends. Olivia was said to have been very shaken up by her death. No one can sing this song better than Karen with her beautiful, velvet voice but Olivia did a very nice job and it's very nice of her to sing this song in tribute to her friend Karen. Karen was great, one of the greatest voices and sweetest spirits ever. Olivia is great too. We miss you Karen!

[TeeneyBop1976]

i love both karen carpenter and olivia newton john. both beautiful with amazing talent :) <3 x

[oporuy]

Olivia is the greatest female pop singer of the last century but this song is Karen's only.

[sunnysoundblackpool]

theyve never ever sang together youtube also picks it up as

Carpenters - (They Long to Be) Close to You Download This Song: iTunes

not saying that oliver newton john is no good, becos shes a great singer aswell karen :')

[thebobkatt]

@sunnysoundblackpool they sang together on Olivias " Hollywood nights special 1980" the song was Heartache tonight/

[No1KCfan6]

olivia's voice lacks the sweetness of karen's, but i appreciate her covering karen's song

[GreatestSingerEver01]

@No1KCfan6 Olivia is a little older here than Karen was then.  They would probably be about the same age now. Olivia's voice is a little deeper and a little raspier these days but she is still right on and as awesome, as ever. You wanna here perfection and sweetness, you only need to listen to Olivia early on with "I Honestly Love You" , " Have You Never Been Mellow" and so on. Karen and Olivia were good friends. You should listen to "Borrowed Time" , "Winterwood", "Love Song" by Olivia.

[No1KCfan6]

@GreatestSingerEver01 oh, i love liv. i have heard "i honestly......" many times and love it. i just think karen does a better job with "close 2u," and maybe it does have something to do with liv's age. i do admit that i'm an unabashed karen fanatic. i have liv's "if u love me let me know, have u never been mellow, please mr. please, if not 4u, sam, heart attack, a little more love, make a move on me, twist of fate, suddenly, & fly away" in my itunes library. i have 61 of the carps songs!

[GreatestSingerEver01]

@No1KCfan6 We all have our favorites that really get to our hearts. I found something about Olivia's voice and music when i was 8 years old that I loved. I'm 44 now and still do. I think they could have done a duet of Close To You and it would have top the charts back then. I'm happy to see Olivia happy with her new husband and her upcoming big movie spot she landed in "A Few Best Men." I totally understand your love for Karen's music. Her voice is so beautiful. :-)

[No1KCfan6]

@GreatestSingerEver01 agreed

[msonj]

Awesome job with this my friend....I always wondered what they would sound like together, this is probably as close as it gets....

[FanofKaren2]

Very beautiful. 

[Gibblove1]

I love Olivia and Karen very much so thank you for posting this beautiful video with some pics of them with their friends and my idols: the brothers Gibb.

[wilhub]

they wer gr8 pals

[Madelineui51]

beautiful, BEAUTIFUL!!

this is just amazing!!

[dabebe39]

great job! I wonder what Olivia would say if she saw this.  She would probably cry.

[iamaussie]

Thank you for posting. This is amazing

[thedarksideBJ]

It's a great pity that they never recorded together, that really would've been something. Mabey Olivia has a private recording of them both singing together! Thanks for rthe video.