She began making music at a very young age when her mother began teaching her some basic piano skills at age 3. By her teenage years, she was writing music and even formed a band in high school.
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King wrote her first number 1 hit "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" at the age of 17 for the Shirelles with her first husband Gerry Goffin.
They would go on to write some classic songs, including "Take Good Care Of My Baby" (Bobby Vee, 1961), "The Loco-Motion" (Little Eva, 1962), "Up On The Roof" (The Drifters, 1962), "Chains" (The Cookies, 1962; The Beatles, 1963), "One Fine Day" (The Chiffons, 1963), "Hey Girl" (Freddie Scott, 1963), "I'm Into Something Good" (Herman's Hermits, 1964), "Just Once In My Life" (with Phil Spector for The Righteous Brothers, 1965), and "Don't Bring Me Down" (The Animals, 1966).
She made her solo debut in 1960, but it was the 1971 solo album Tapestry that took her to the pinnacle. Tapestry spawned four GRAMMY Awards including Record, Song, and Album Of The Year as well as Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female honors.
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Her career is celebrated on Broadway in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which opened on January 12, 2014. The show won a GRAMMY for Best Musical Theater Album and two Tony awards.
To learn more about Carole King, visit her website at www.caroleking.com. To learn about the musical, visit beautifulonbroadway.com.
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