Carole King
Everyone has a soundtrack to accompany the phases of their lives. Songwriter and singer Carole King has probably written a number of those tracks: "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", "Like a Natural Woman", "I Feel the Earth Move", "You’ve Got a Friend" - the list goes on. Born Carole Klein in Brooklyn, New York in 1942, King started playing piano and singing as a child. At Queens College she formed collaborations with Paul Simon, Neil Sedaka, and Gerry Goffin, whom she would later marry. Many of her early songs were written at the publishing house of Don Kirshner and Al Nevins at the Brill Building in mid-town Manhattan. Goffin's and King’s first hit single was the 1961 "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow". Throughout the 1960s, King continued to write while attempting to launch her solo career. It was not until her 1971 album Tapestry that King gained widespread recognition as a performer in her own right. King recorded several albums in the 1970s with collaborators such as David Crosby and Graham Nash, as well as James Taylor. During the 1980s King shifted her focus to environmental activism and did not record again until 1989, with the album City Streets. Numerous artists have covered her songs, and in 1995 a tribute album titled Tapestry Revisited came out featuring artists such as Amy Grant, Celine Dion, and Aretha Franklin. Carole King continues to record, tour, and champion a host of political and environmental causes.
