If she had her prime today, she could have had her family, and recorded too. The only reason to tour is for the feedback from the crowd, and ticket sales which make a lot of money for the owners of singers and groups. I mean Managers and radio execs...NO, owners fit better. Her voice could have been recorded at home, and she could have worked on herself which really happens when you are a parent.
Just a theory.
I doubt she would be as big of a success today. There’s actually less money in the music business today that back in the 70’s. Only a very few top artists are making big bucks today. Plus, I don’t see the Carpenters having any hits with their genre of music. Can you imagine Karen Carpenter singing the simplistic and over produced crap that passes as popular music today? Try listening to the Spotify or iTunes Top 50. There’s great production and audio engineering, but the music is uninteresting, barely a key change. Add to that the use of autotune. Karen Carpenter had perfect pitch and a tremendous range. Her voice would be under utilized and under appreciated today. Just my two cents.