Carole King, original name Carol Joan Klein, (born February 9, 1942, New York, New York, U.S.), American songwriter and singer (alto) who was one of the most prolific female musicians in the history of pop music.
King’s mother was the source of her early music education. While still in high school, King began arranging and composing music, and at age 15 she formed and sang in a vocal quartet called the Cosines. She studied briefly at Queens College before dropping out to marry Gerry Goffin in 1959 (divorced 1968), who abandoned his plans to become a chemist in order to write music with her. Together, Goffin and King began writing songs for Aldon Music in the confines of a cubicle near the Brill Building on Broadway, and they quickly became one of the most successful songwriter duos in the industry. Their first hit, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” (1961; recorded by the Shirelles), became a number one single on the U.S. Hot 100 before King turned 19.
Over the next six years, King and Goffin composed hits with stunning regularity. Their other number one songs were “Take Good Care of My Baby” (1961; Bobby Vee), “The Loco-Motion” (1962; Little Eva), and “Go Away, Little Girl” (1962; Steve Lawrence). Other King and Goffin hits included “Up on the Roof” (1962; the Drifters), “One Fine Day” (1963; the Chiffons), “Don’t Bring Me Down” (1966; the Animals), and “(You Make Me Feel like) A Natural Woman” (1967; Aretha Franklin).
In 1968 King moved to Los Angeles, where she organized the group the City, which released one album (Now That Everything’s Been Said) but never gained commercial success. Thereafter King worked for a time with singer-songwriter James Taylor, playing piano and singing on the album Sweet Baby James (1970) and accompanying him on tour. Taylor’s version of King’s song “You’ve Got a Friend” eventually became a hit in the United States. With his encouragement, King fostered her own ability to perform solo, and her debut album, Writer, was released in 1970.
Not until a year later, however, did King capture national attention in the United States as a solo artist. Her album Tapestry, a collection of catchy melodies and engaging lyrics, held the number one spot on the Billboard album chart for 15 weeks; it remained a best seller for more than 300 weeks. Tapestry also earned King four Grammys; in addition to winning for album of the year, she received the awards for best song (“You’ve Got a Friend”), best single (“It’s Too Late”), and best female vocal performance. Other noteworthy numbers on the album included “I Feel the Earth Move” and “So Far Away.”
King continued to release popular albums. Many were gold records, including Music (1971), Rhymes & Reasons (1972), Fantasy (1973), and Wrap Around Joy (1974). Her marriage to Charles Larkey, the bass player of the City, failed, and in 1977 she married her abusive manager, Rick Evers, who died of a drug overdose less than a year later. King married for a fourth time in 1982 (a marriage that also ended, in 1987) and gradually faded from the music scene, becoming involved in environmental causes in Idaho, where she made her home.
King’s musical career sparked back to life in 2007 when she reunited with Taylor for a performance at the Troubadour, a famed West Hollywood venue then celebrating its 50th anniversary. Following the release of a Live at the Troubadour CD and DVD in 2010, King and Taylor embarked on a Troubadour Reunion world tour. The reunion also prompted a 2011 feature-length documentary made for public television’s American Masters series, Troubadours: Carole King/James Taylor & The Rise of the Singer-Songwriter. Taking advantage of her resurgent popularity, King in 2011 released a holiday album, A Holiday Carole, produced by her daughter Louise Goffin. King’s memoir, A Natural Woman, was published in 2012. Two years later, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, a look at her career as a singer-songwriter, began a lengthy run on Broadway, and it opened in London’s West End in 2015. King performed all the songs, in order, from her album Tapestry in London’s Hyde Park in 2016, and the CD/DVD Tapestry: Live at Hyde Park was released the following year.
King was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and in 2002 she received the Johnny Mercer Award for her “history of outstanding creative works.” She and Goffin were awarded the National Academy of Songwriters Lifetime Achievement Award in 1988, and two years later they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2013 she was awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song as well as a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement, and she was named a Kennedy Center honoree in 2015.
