One of the most successful songwriters in American history, she wrote or co-wrote pop hits appearing on the Billboard Hot over the latter half of the 20th century. King's major success began in the s 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 s, 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 U. King has made 25 solo albums, the most successful being Tapestry , which held the record for most weeks at No.
Her record sales were estimated at more than 75 million copies worldwide. She has been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a performer and songwriter. Klein, a firefighter. They married in during the last years of the Great Depression. King's mother had learned to play piano as a child and, after buying a piano, would sometimes practice. When King developed an insatiable curiosity about music from the time she was about three, her mother began teaching her basic piano skills without giving her actual lessons.
I enjoyed making my father happy and getting the notes right. King wanted to learn as much as possible: "My mother never forced me to practice. She didn't have to. I wanted so much to master the popular songs that poured out of the radio. King began kindergarten when she was four, and after her first year, she was promoted directly to second grade, showing an exceptional facility with words and numbers. King attended Queens College , where she met Gerry Goffin , who was to become her songwriting partner.
When she was 17, they married in a Jewish ceremony on Long Island in August after King became pregnant with her first daughter, Louise. Neil Sedaka , who had dated King when he was still in high school, [ 28 ] had a hit in with " Oh! Carol ". Goffin took the tune and wrote the playful response, "Oh! Neil", which King recorded and released as a single the same year. In the s, with King composing the music and Goffin writing the lyrics, the two wrote a string of classic songs for a variety of artists.
