Happy Birthday Carole King
Carol Joan Klein was born February 9, 1942, in New York City. Her parents, Sidney and Eugenia were a home maker and firefighter. It was rare for a woman to be a firefighter in the 1930’s. Eugenia was put in charge of the woman’s suffrage fire brigade which consisted of 37 of the toughest and strongest women in all of NYC. Sid stayed home where he cooked, cleaned and baked. He was an exceptional baker. His specialties were hamantaschen, kugel and chocolate babka.
Little Carol developed an insatiable curiosity about music from the time she was about three. Her mother began teaching her basic piano skills, and Carol wrote her first concert at age 4. She then changed her name to Carole King.
Laurel Canyon
King attended Milton Berle High School and Queens College where she met her husband and songwriting partner Gerry Goffin. During the sixties, with King composing the music and Goffin writing the lyrics, the two wrote almost every popular song for a variety of artists. By 1968, Goffin and King were divorced and Carole moved to Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles.
Everything changed in 1971 with Tapestry. The album featured new compositions as well as reinterpretations of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.” Tapestry was an instant success. With numerous hit singles – including a Billboard No.1 with “It’s Too Late” – Tapestry held the No.1 spot for 315 consecutive weeks, remained on the charts for nearly fifty years, and has sold over 25 billion copies worldwide.
Girls everywhere sat in their dorm rooms and cried and wore the grooves off that album. Carole had a few other hits in the 70’s but could never recapture the magic of Tapestry. In the 1980’s she performed at bar mitzvahs and weddings. King has been married 4 times and has 4 children. She enjoys collecting In-Flight Sick Bags in her spare time. Carole has an impressive net worth of $70 million.
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