Carole King

"I just sort of try to be a good person; try to write music that lifts people and makes me feel good to sing."

• Born Carole King on Feb. 9, 1942, in Manhattan, New York
   
• At just 17, Carole King married college classmate Gerry Goffin and the pair became a songwriting team, working out of the famed Brill Building. Their first major success was "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," which was recorded by the Shirelles and became the first-ever No. 1 hit by an all-girl group. King and Goffin went on to pen an incredible string of hits, including "The Loco-Motion," "Take Good Care Of My Baby," "One Fine Day," and "Up On The Roof," among others.
   
• As a solo recording artist, King's 1971's chart-topping album, Tapestry, spawned the hits "It's Too Late," "I Feel The Earth Move," and "You've Got A Friend," which was also a No. 1 hit for James Taylor that year.
   
• King won her first four GRAMMYs for 1971, including Record and Song Of The Year and Album Of The Year.
   
• At the 56th GRAMMY Awards, King shared the GRAMMY stage with Sara Bareilles, performing the songs "Beautiful" and "Brave."
   
• In 1970 King and Taylor played some pivotal shows at the Troubadour in Los Angeles that helped establish both of them as significant solo artists. Forty years later, in 2010, King and Taylor restaged those shows as part of a national tour, using the original backing band of Danny Kortchmar on guitar, Russ Kunkel on drums and Leland Sklar on bass. 
• Carole King was honored as the MusiCares Person Of The Year in 2014. The annual gala raises funds for MusiCares, which provides services and resources that cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies for music people.
   
• In 2013 she was honored by the Recording Academy with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004 King and Goffin received a Trustees Award. Three of her works have been inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame: Tapestry, "You've Got A Friend" and "It's Too Late." 
   
• King and Taylor donated $1.5 million of the proceeds of their 2010 concert tour to such environmental advocacy groups as the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Alliance for the Wild Rockies.