Carole King

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Carole King bigraphy, stories - American singer-songwriter

Carole King : biography

February 9, 1942 –

Carole King (born February 9, 1942) is an American singer and songwriter. Her career began in the 1960s when King, along with her former husband Gerry Goffin, wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists, many of which have become standards and she has continued writing for other artists since then. She had her first number 1hit as a songwriter in 1960 at age 18, with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", which she wrote with Goffin. In 1997, she co-wrote "The Reason", which was a hit for Celine Dion.

Her success as a performer in her own right did not come until the the 1970s, when she would sing her own songs, accompanying herself on the piano, in a series of albums and concerts. After experiencing commercial disappointment with her debut album Writer, King scored her breakthrough with the album Tapestry which topped the U.S. album chart for 15 weeks in 1971 and remained on the charts for more than six years.

In 2000, Joel Whitburn, a Billboard Magazine pop music researcher, named her the most successful female songwriter of 1955–99 because she wrote or co-wrote 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100. December 17, 2000, CarolKing.com In 2005 music historian Stuart Devoy found her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts 1952-2005.guinness book of british hit singles david roberts 2005 isbn 1-904994-10-5

King has made 25 solo albums, the most successful being Tapestry. Her most recent noncompilation album is Live at the Troubadour, a collaboration with James Taylor that reached number 4 on the charts in its first week and has sold over 600,000 copies. July 20, 2010, Anit Music.com[ King Bio at Allmusic.com]

She has won four Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her songwriting. Carole’s album Tapestry held the record for most weeks at #1 by a female artist for more than 20 years until broken by Whitney Houston (for the soundtrack album The Bodyguard), which was itself later topped by Adele (for the album 21 in 2012).

Tributes and covers

An all-star roster of artists paid tribute to King on the 1995 album Tapestry Revisited: A Tribute to Carole King. From the album, Rod Stewart’s version of "So Far Away" and Celine Dion’s cover of "A Natural Woman" were both Adult Contemporary chart hits. Other artists who appeared on the album included Amy Grant ("It’s Too Late"), Richard Marx ("Beautiful"), Aretha Franklin ("You’ve Got a Friend"), Faith Hill ("Where You Lead"), and the Bee Gees ("Will You Love Me Tomorrow?").

Former Monkee Micky Dolenz released King for a Day, a tribute album consisting of songs written or co-written by King, in 2010.Graff, Gary. "." Billboard.com, 3 June 2010. Accessed 21 July 2011. The album includes "Sometime in the Morning", a King-penned song originally recorded by the Monkees in 1967. Dolenz had previously recorded another of King’s Monkees compositions, "Porpoise Song", on his lullaby-themed CD Micky Dolenz Puts You to Sleep.. Allmusic. Accessed 21 July 2011.

Many other cover versions of King’s work have appeared over the years. Most notably, "You’ve Got a Friend" was a smash No.1 hit for James Taylor in 1971 and a top 40 hit for Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway that same year. Isaac Hayes recorded "It’s Too Late" for his No.1 R&B live album Live at the Sahara Tahoe. Barbra Streisand had a top 40 hit in 1972 with "Where You Lead" twice – by itself and as part of a live medley with "Sweet Inspiration". Streisand also covered "No Easy Way Down" in 1971, "Beautiful" and "You’ve Got A Friend" in 1972, and "Being At War With Each Other" in 1974. Helen Reddy covered two Carole King penned tunes: the first was "No Sad Song" in 1971; the second was "I Can’t Hear You No More" in 1976. The Carpenters recorded King’s "It’s Going to Take Some Time" in 1972, and reached number 12 on the Billboard charts. Richard Carpenter produced a version of "You’ve Got A Friend" with then teen singer/actor Scott Grimes in 1989. Martika had a number 25 hit in 1989 with her version of "I Feel the Earth Move", and "It’s Too Late" reappeared on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1995 by Gloria Estefan. Linda Ronstadt recorded a new version of "Oh No Not My Baby" in 1993. Celine Dion also recorded King’s song "The Reason" on her 1997 album Let’s Talk About Love with Carole King singing backup and it became a million-seller and was certified Diamond in France. "Where You Lead" (lyrics by Toni Stern) became the title song of TV show Gilmore Girls. Mandy Moore covered "I Feel the Earth Move" on her 2003 album, Coverage.