Table of Contents
Carole King: Welcome to My Living Room | Full Concert
Search the best Carole King’s sheet music, books, and transcriptions in the Library
Search your favorite sheet music in the Sheet Music Catalog
Community Musicians, building a worldwide Community Music.
Scores
for all instruments: 15,000+
(active and growing),
over 231,000 pages.
All genres and levels: Jazz & Blues, Rock & Pop, Classical & Contemporary, Film & Musicals;
books & biographies; methods, études, play-along tracks (MP3) for Jazz & Rock.
Access & benefits: US$15.99 one-time payment, valid for lifetime, full Library access.
Please, subscribe to our Sheet Music Library.
If you are already a subscriber, please, check our NEW SCORES' page every month for new sheet music. THANK YOU!
Who is Carole King (b. 1942)?
The best Sheet Music download from our Library.
Carole King is not a musician who simply had a hit record. She is an architect of modern pop music, a songwriter who helped shape the sound of a generation before bravely stepping into the spotlight to find her own iconic voice. Her journey from a Brooklyn teenager hawking songs in a Manhattan hit factory to a multiple Grammy-winning solo artist is one of resilience, creative evolution, and an unshakable authenticity that continues to resonate over half a century later.
Please, subscribe to our Sheet Music Library.
If you are already a subscriber, please, check our NEW SCORES' page every month for new sheet music. THANK YOU!
The Brill Building Prodigy: A Hitmaker Behind the Scenes
Born Carol Joan Klein on February 9, 1942, in Manhattan, New York, King’s musical prodigy was evident early on; she was playing piano by age four . By her teens, she had adopted the stage name Carole King and was already breaking into the music business. While attending Queens College, she met Gerry Goffin, and at just 17 years old, she married him. This partnership would become one of the most successful songwriting duos in history .
Setting up shop in the legendary Brill Building, King and Goffin worked in a cubicle with a piano, churning out songs for Don Kirshner's Aldon Music . The system was akin to a nine-to-five job, but the output was anything but ordinary. They composed over two dozen chart hits for a diverse range of artists. In 1961, their song “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” recorded by The Shirelles, became the first No. 1 hit by an all-girl group . This was followed by an incredible string of classics including “The Loco-Motion,” “Take Good Care of My Baby,” “Up on the Roof,” and “One Fine Day” .
Even in these early years, King’s music offered a distinct emotional depth. Her work often spoke to the female experience with a frankness rarely heard in pop music, articulating vulnerability in “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and later expressing earthy sensuality in “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” which became a defining hit for Aretha Franklin . By the end of the 1960s, however, King’s marriage to Goffin had dissolved, closing the chapter on their Brill Building era and leaving King at a personal and professional crossroads .
"Tapestry": The Soundtrack to a Generation's Soul
In search of a new beginning, King moved to Los Angeles’s Laurel Canyon, a hub for a more introspective, folk-rock sound. Encouraged by friend and fellow artist James Taylor to perform her own songs, she began the transition from behind-the-scenes hitmaker to solo artist . Her debut album, Writer (1970), was a modest start, but her second album would change music history .
Released in 1971, Tapestry was a phenomenon. Stylistically, it was a departure from the highly produced Brill Building pop, featuring simpler piano-driven arrangements and King’s warm, honest voice singing deeply personal songs of romance, heartbreak, and female independence . The album struck a universal chord. It wove together new compositions with reimagined versions of her earlier hits, all with an intimate, confessional feel. Songs like the reflective "So Far Away," the empowering "I Feel the Earth Move," and the poignant breakup anthem "It’s Too Late" became ingrained in the popular consciousness . The album also included "You've Got a Friend," which became a No. 1 hit for James Taylor that same year .
The impact was massive. Tapestry spent 15 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the charts for over six years . It has sold over 25 million copies worldwide . At the 1972 Grammy Awards, King swept the major categories, winning Album of the Year, Record of the Year ("It's Too Late"), Song of the Year ("You've Got a Friend"), and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance . With the Song of the Year win, she became the first woman to receive that honor .
A Timeless Influence: The Blueprint for the Singer-Songwriter
Tapestry didn't just sell millions; it helped popularize the entire 1970s singer-songwriter movement . The image of King at the piano, singing her truth, became the blueprint for decades of artists. The album's influence is visible across generations, from Amy Winehouse and Adele to Sara Bareilles, who performed a powerful duet of "Beautiful" and "Brave" with King at the 2014 Grammys .
In 2021, at her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo performer, Taylor Swift—another artist deeply influenced by King’s confessional songwriting—paid tribute, declaring, "I can't remember a time when I didn't know Carole King's music" . This intergenerational respect was also captured in the hit Broadway musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which tells the story of her early life and career and introduced her music to a new, younger audience .
Activism and Legacy: Beyond the Music
King's later career has been marked by continued music-making and passionate activism. She has lived in rural Idaho since the late 1970s, and a deep love for the Northern Rockies ecosystem led her to become a dedicated environmental advocate . She has been working with the Alliance for the Wild Rockies since 1990, lobbying for legislation like the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA) to protect millions of acres of wilderness . In 2010, she reunited with James Taylor for a national Troubadour Reunion tour, donating $1.5 million of the proceeds to various environmental advocacy groups .
Her list of honors is a testament to a singular career. She is a four-time Grammy Award winner, a 2013 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, the first woman to receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, a 2015 Kennedy Center Honoree, and a two-time inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame—first in 1990 as a songwriter with Gerry Goffin, and again in 2021 as a performer . As Billboard magazine once named her the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century, it's clear that Carole King's true legacy lies in how she gave voice to our feelings, crafting songs that feel as much like a conversation with a close friend as they do a piece of history .
The best Sheet Music download from our Library.
Browse in the Library:
Or browse in the categories menus & download the Library Catalog PDF:
