Carole King: The Same Chart, Three Different Names

Carole King had already written hits for other singers for a decade before she ever charted one herself.

By 1971 that had flipped completely.

Billboard's year-end Hot 100 for that single year carries her name three separate times.

Once as the performer behind the biggest single of her career.

Twice more as the songwriter behind hits credited to two other artists entirely.

Most write-ups treat 1971 as the year Carole King became a star.

This one follows the year she was already three people on the same chart.

Carole King seated at a piano in a black and white Ode Records publicity photo from 1971

Carole King, Ode/A&M Records publicity photo, Cash Box magazine, May 1971.

Image credit: Ode/A&M Records, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Songwriting Marriage That Started It All

Two Teenagers Writing Hits for Other Singers

Carole King married songwriter Gerry Goffin in 1959, when both were still teenagers.

The pair wrote together at Aldon Music, the publishing company operating out of New York's Brill Building.

Goffin and King placed hit after hit with other performing artists through the 1960s.

The Shirelles took their song "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" to number one in 1961.

Little Eva turned their song "The Loco-Motion" into a number one hit in 1962.

Aretha Franklin later built one of her own signature records around their song "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman."

King's own name rarely appeared on a record label as the performer.

The Marriage Ends, a New Chapter Begins

Carole King and Gerry Goffin divorced in 1968.

She kept writing, but the songwriting partnership that had defined her twenties was over.

She moved toward Los Angeles and the loose, folk-leaning singer-songwriter scene growing there.

Her first true solo album, "Writer," followed in 1970.

It sold modestly and drew little outside attention.

Nobody outside her immediate circle expected what came next.

Carole King Steps From Songwriter to Solo Star

The Album That Changed Everything

Carole King released her second solo album on February 10, 1971, on Ode Records.

Producer Lou Adler recorded it with a small, unfussy band built around her own piano playing.

The record traded the Brill Building's polished arrangements for something plainer and more direct.

It became the best-selling album of the entire decade.

It spent fifteen consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard 200.

It stayed on that chart for more than six years altogether, a run that still stands as a Billboard record for a female artist.

Five Weeks at Number One on the Hot 100

The album's double A-side single, "It's Too Late" backed with "I Feel the Earth Move," carried Carole King to the top of the singles chart too.

It held the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for five straight weeks in June and July 1971.

Billboard's year-end recap for 1971 ranked the single third for the entire calendar year.

Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" tied the Osmonds and Carole King for the second-most weeks at number one that year.

Only two acts spent more weeks on top of the Hot 100 in 1971 than she did.

The Same Year, Two More Names on the Same Chart

Carole King's own hit wasn't the only place her writing showed up on Billboard's 1971 year-end list.

Donny Osmond took the song "Go Away Little Girl" to number one that same year.

Carole King co-wrote it with Gerry Goffin, years earlier, back in their Brill Building partnership.

Osmond's version landed at rank seven on the 1971 year-end chart, four spots above her own single.

James Taylor's recording of "You've Got a Friend" reached rank seventeen on that same year-end list.

Carole King wrote that song alone and recorded her own version for her own album.

Taylor's take reached stores as a single first.

His recording won the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, the following year.

Three separate credits, three separate artist names, one single year-end chart.

No other songwriter of the decade opened a year-end list quite like that.

Four Grammys in One Night She Wasn't There For

The Grammy Awards ceremony on March 14, 1972, belonged to Carole King almost entirely.

She won Album of the Year for her breakthrough record.

She won Record of the Year for "It's Too Late."

She won Song of the Year for "You've Got a Friend," the songwriting prize, separate from James Taylor's own performance win for the same song.

She also won Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female.

Four trophies in one night was a record at the time.

She became the first woman to win Song of the Year.

She became the first solo female artist to win Record of the Year.

She wasn't in the room for any of it.

She stayed home that night with her newborn baby instead of attending the ceremony.

Carole King's Real 1970s Chart Record

Billboard's own weekly and year-end data confirm exactly how deep Carole King's 1971 run went.

"It's Too Late / I Feel the Earth Move": five weeks at number one on the Hot 100, June to July 1971.
1971 year-end Hot 100: ranked third for the full calendar year.
"Go Away Little Girl" (Donny Osmond, written with Gerry Goffin): number one in 1971, ranked seventh year-end.
"You've Got a Friend" (James Taylor, written solo): number one in 1971, ranked seventeenth year-end.
Album chart run: fifteen consecutive weeks at number one, more than six years total on the Billboard 200.
Grammy Awards, March 1972: four wins, including Album, Record, and Song of the Year.

She went on to chart with "Jazzman" and "Nightingale" later in the decade, extending a run few 70s songwriters ever matched.

Across her full songwriting career she wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that reached the Billboard Hot 100.

See how her 1971 run stacks up against other acts of the decade with the Random Artist Picker.

Or test what you know about the era with the 70s Music Trivia Quiz.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Carole King's most famous song from the 1970s?

Carole King's best known 1970s song is the double A-side single "It's Too Late / I Feel the Earth Move."

It spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1971.

Billboard's own year-end chart ranked it third for the whole year.

Both songs came from her 1971 album, produced by Lou Adler.

It remains her most identifiable song.

Did Carole King write songs for other artists in the 1970s?

Yes, Carole King wrote or co-wrote hits recorded by other artists during the same years she was charting under her own name.

Donny Osmond took her song "Go Away Little Girl," co-written with Gerry Goffin, to number one in 1971.

James Taylor's version of her song "You've Got a Friend" reached number one that same year.

Both songs appeared on the same 1971 Billboard year-end chart as her own hit.

How many Grammy Awards did Carole King win for her 1971 album?

Carole King won four Grammy Awards on March 14, 1972: Album of the Year, Record of the Year for "It's Too Late," Song of the Year for "You've Got a Friend," and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female.

She was the first woman to win Song of the Year, and the first solo female to win Record of the Year.

She skipped the ceremony to stay home with her newborn baby.

Was Carole King married to her songwriting partner Gerry Goffin?

Yes, Carole King married Gerry Goffin in 1959 when both were teenagers.

The pair wrote songs together throughout the 1960s at the Brill Building's Aldon Music, placing hits with other performing artists.

They divorced in 1968, several years before her own performing career took off.

She continued writing and recording afterward, moving toward the solo career that defined her 1970s output.

How long did Carole King's 1971 album stay on the charts?

Carole King's 1971 album stayed on the Billboard 200 for more than six years after its February 1971 release.

It spent fifteen consecutive weeks at number one on that same chart.

That run made it one of the best-selling and longest-charting albums of the entire decade.

It also helped launch the early-70s singer-songwriter movement alongside records like James Taylor's Sweet Baby James.