Carole King
Lyricist, Pop | 2008Born Carole Klein in 1942 in Brooklyn, New York, legendary songwriter Carole King began playing piano at the age of four. Since writing her first No. 1 hit “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” for the Shirelles with then-husband Gerry Goffin at the tender age of 17, King has arguably become the most celebrated and iconic singer/songwriters of all time. She and Goffin went on to write hits such as “Take Good Care Of My Baby” (Bobby Vee, 1961), “The Loco-Motion” (Little Eva, 1962), “Up On The Roof” (The Drifters, 1962), and “One Fine Day” (The Chiffons, 1963). To date, more than 400 of her compositions have been recorded by more than 1,000 artists, resulting in 100 hit singles. In 1960, King made her solo debut with a song called “Baby Sittin’”; two years later, her demo of “It Might As Well Rain Until September” made the Top 25 in the United States, climbing all the way to No. 3 on the British chart. King’s 1971 solo album, Tapestry, earned four Grammy Awards, a first for a female writer/artist. King was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987 (she later received the Johnny Mercer Award) and the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, among many other honors. King also became the first woman to be awarded The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, and on Jan. 12, 2014, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical opened on Broadway and won two Tony Awards.