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Ramblings of a retiree in France
I’m still focussing my attention on artists that I’d like to have seen perform live. Many of those I’ve chosen are sadly no longer with us. Others, like today’s artist, are still with us but not touring to any great extent.
Carole King (1942 – ) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of all time, King is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of 20th century in the US, having written or co-written 118 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 – pretty amazing! King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK, making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1962 and 2005.
King’s major success began in the 1960s when she and her first husband, Gerry Goffin, wrote more than two dozen chart hits, many of which have become standards, for numerous artists. She has continued writing for other artists since then. King’s success as a performer in her own right did not come until the 1970s, when she sang 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 US album chart for 15 weeks in 1971 and remained on the charts for more than six years. This was the first album I ever bought.
King has made 25 solo albums and her record sales are estimated at more than 75 million copies worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a performer and songwriter. She is the recipient of the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the first woman to be so honoured.She is also a 2015 Kennedy Centre Honoree.
Carole published her memoir, A Natural Woman, in 2012, which debuted on The New York Times best-seller list at number six and prompted Vanity Fair to say,:
America is having a Carole King moment.
In 2014, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical opened on Broadway. Audiences were amazed by her deep musical catalogue, and captivated by her life story. The show became the hit of the season and won a GRAMMY® for Best Musical Theater Album and two Tony® awards. The musical continues to tour across America. In 2015, it made its international debut at London’s West End, where it garnered two Olivier Awards, and after wrapping up in London, toured throughout the UK.
In January 2014, Carole was honoured as MusiCares Person Of The Year and a special gala was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in which several of today’s most popular artists, including Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys, and Kacey Musgraves, performed many of her classics. To end the night, Carole herself came out to perform “Home Again”, “Jazzman”, and “Sweet Seasons”/”Hey Girl” with James Taylor; after all these years, she proved that she could still captivate an entire audience.
The following year, PBS premiered American Masters – Carole King: Natural Woman, a documentary about her life and work.
On 3 July, 2016, Carole returned to the UK stage for the first time in 27 years to perform Tapestry in full at a sold-out performance at London’s Hyde Park during the BST Festival. In 2019, she performed at the national A Capitol Fourth concert in Washington DC and at the Global Citizen Festival in New York’s Central Park, and presented the Artist of the Decade Award to Taylor Swift at the American Music Awards.
In 2021, Carole wrote a new song, Here I Am (Singing My Way Home) with Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Hartman, for Hudson’s star turn as Aretha Franklin in the biopic ‘Respect.’ The film also includes Hudson’s bravura performance of the Goffin/King song (You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman, the 1967 hit credited as cementing Franklin’s status as a superstar.
In addition to her continuously evolving musical career, Carole, who has lived on an Idaho ranch since the early 1980s, is actively involved with environmental organisations in support of wilderness preservation.
View from the Back 
Sheree, I also really enjoy Carole King. She is a remarkable songwriter and artist.
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Very true
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Carole King has always been one of my favorites, both as a performer and songwriter. Such a treasure.
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Oh, absolutely
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Great picks to start the morning with Sheree!!❤️
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Thanks Cindy
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indeed! 💞
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I knew very little about her but went to the musical here in Dublin a few years ago. Like the audiences you mention above, I was astonished at her catalogue – I’d no idea…
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It’s astonishing
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I never tire of CK’s Tapestry stuff. Brilliant album – always sounds fresh
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I think so too
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A rousing concert for first thing in the morning. I prefer Carole herself
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Good to know
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I’ll have to see the show, everyone raves about it!
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Let me know if you do
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I love Carol King! She’s one of my all time faves! 🙂
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Good to hear that Lisa
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Tapestry: One of the top 2 lyrical albums of my listening lifetime.
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Thanks Doug
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