Carole King, formerly Carol Joan Klein, was born in 1942 and throughout the years would leave her mark behind as a renowned singer-songwriter.

She’s written many famous albums and has won awards like a multitude of Grammys, the Gerschwin prize, and the Kennedy Center Honor. Throughout her time, she has become one of the most iconic singer-songwriters of all time.

The twist? A large fraction of her fame is behind the shadows. 

Don’t get me wrong, Carole King is widely regarded as a musical artist.

Even today, Carole King is still well roaming. Her album Tapestry just resurfacing again as a top 10 bestseller back in early February after the release of the documentary Just Call Out My Name where she and James Taylor perform Just Call Out My Name as well as other Carole King classics.

The track You Got a Friend on Tapestry won her a Grammy. I have listened to Tapestry and personally I believe it deserves the hype now, and definitely deserved it in its prime during the 1970s. Contemporary artists like Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette are similar to the vibe of Carole King’s music.  However, Tapestry definitely is not Carole King’s only album, she also has charting hits like Wrap Around Joy, Writer, Rhymes and reasons (which is a personal favorite of mine), and even newer releases like Love Makes the World. 

But, Carole King didn’t only write her songs. She was also a co-writer on hundreds of songs, many of which led to become very popular. There are hundreds of songs, written by Carole King, that I am willing to bet you didn’t know weren’t written by their singing artist.

Carole King built foundations of fame for numerous artists, writing many songs that became billboard hits during their primes. She wrote hits like He Hit Me (And it Felt Like a Kiss) by the Crystals which came to be a largely known song and would inspire many other works of art.

Another prime example is Chains by the Beatles, a song featured on the Please Please Me album that was written for the band by Carole King. She also wrote Crying in the Rain from that album. She also wrote for artist Aretha Franklin, (You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman is a song written by Carole King, and then performed and popularized by Aretha Franklin. Carole King is also the co-writer of hundreds of other classic hits that are still listened to today. 

Carole King speaks on just how she does it, “Sometimes I get a lyric, and the lyric, you know, comes off the page, and goes into my brain and comes out with a melody. Other times, I may create a melody first.”

This is just simply a reflection of her everlasting musical genius. ‘What will Carole King do next?’ you may be thinking. Well, Carole King admirably chose raising a family over her career and is now focusing on her family.