Karen Carpenter must be the best female singer I've ever heard. Her voice was so pure and beautiful. I remember reading once that she bumped into John Lennon (almost literally) at some restaurant or showbiz event in the early/mid 70s, possibly in L.A., and John heaped praise on her and told her what a "fabulous voice" he thought she had. Karen was star struck at receiving such compliments from a Beatle and claimed it was one of her proudest moments. Paul McCartney reportedly claimed that she had "The best female voice in the world - melodic, tuneful and distinctive".