James Taylor

Taylor has been married three times. He married singer-songwriter Carly Simon in November 1972 in a private ceremony in Manhattan. The high-profile union produced two children, Sarah Maria "Sally" Taylor and Benjamin Simon "Ben" Taylor, both of whom pursued careers in music. Taylor and Simon frequently collaborated musically, recording hit duets such as "Mockingbird" and "Devoted to You". The couple separated in 1981 and finalized their divorce in 1983.

In December 1985, Taylor married actress Kathryn Walker at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. Walker supported Taylor through his efforts to overcome a long-standing heroin addiction, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1996.

Taylor began dating Caroline "Kim" Smedvig, director of public relations and marketing for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in 1995 after they met during a performance with composer John Williams and the Boston Pops. They were married in Boston in February 2001 and had twin sons, Rufus and Henry, in April 2001. The couple settled in Lenox, Massachusetts, and their relationship inspired several songs on Taylor's 2002 album October Road, including "Caroline I See You" and "On the 4th of July".

James Vernon Taylor was born at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, the son of Isaac M. Taylor, a resident physician, and Gertrude Woodard, an aspiring opera singer. In 1951, the family relocated to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where his father joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Growing up in the rural Morgan Creek area, Taylor initially studied cello before picking up the guitar at age twelve. He developed a distinctive fingerpicking style influenced by cello technique and hymns.

During summer trips to Martha's Vineyard, Taylor formed a close musical friendship with guitarist Danny Kortchmar. After attending Milton Academy and struggling with severe depression, Taylor committed himself to McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, for nine months in late 1965. Following his discharge, he moved to New York City to form the band The Flying Machine with Kortchmar, Joel O'Brien, and Zachary Wiesner. The group played Greenwich Village venues before disbanding amid Taylor's deepening heroin habit.

Funded by a family inheritance, Taylor moved to London in late 1967. Kortchmar connected him with Peter Asher, the head of artists and repertoire for the Beatles' newly launched Apple Records. Asher arranged an audition with Paul McCartney and George Harrison, making Taylor the first non-British artist signed to the label. Recorded at Trident Studios in 1968, his self-titled debut featured guest appearances from McCartney and Harrison on "Carolina in My Mind". The opening line of Taylor's song "Something in the Way She Moves" inspired Harrison to write the Beatles classic "Something".

After signing with Warner Bros. Records in late 1969, Taylor recorded Sweet Baby James in California with producer Peter Asher and pianist Carole King. Released in February 1970, the album became a commercial breakthrough behind the hit single "Fire and Rain", which chronicled his struggles with addiction, mental health facilities, and the suicide of a close friend. The album reached number three on the Billboard charts and earned Taylor critical acclaim as a leading voice of contemporary folk rock.

Taylor cemented his stardom in 1971 with Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon, which featured his first number-one single, a cover of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend" with backing vocals by Joni Mitchell. The recording earned Taylor his first Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male. That same year, Taylor made his feature acting debut as The Driver in Monte Hellman's road movie Two-Lane Blacktop.

Throughout the mid-1970s, Taylor released a string of successful albums including Gorilla (1975), featuring his hit version of Marvin Gaye's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)", and In the Pocket (1976), highlighted by the enduring ballad "Shower the People". In late 1976, Warner Bros. issued his Greatest Hits compilation, which eventually achieved Diamond status in the United States and became the best-selling record of his career.

Taylor signed with Columbia Records in 1977 and promptly released JT, which earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year and produced the hit cover "Handy Man", winning him another Grammy Award. Subsequent releases such as Flag (1979) and Dad Loves His Work (1981), featuring the hit duet "Her Town Too" with JD Souther, maintained his commercial momentum.

By the early 1980s, personal crises had brought Taylor close to retirement. Following the end of his marriage to Carly Simon and the drug-related deaths of friends John Belushi and Dennis Wilson, Taylor successfully stopped methadone maintenance and overcame heroin addiction in late 1983. In January 1985, an energizing performance before 300,000 fans at the inaugural Rock in Rio festival in Brazil revitalized his enthusiasm for music, directly inspiring the song "Only a Dream in Rio" on his 1985 album That's Why I'm Here.

Taylor experienced an artistic and critical renaissance in 1997 with Hourglass, an introspective album addressing family loss and personal turmoil that won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Album. He followed with October Road in 2002 and the 2008 release Covers. In 2010, Taylor reunited with Carole King for the Troubadour Reunion Tour, a global arena tour that drew over 700,000 attendees.

In June 2015, Taylor achieved his first number-one album on the Billboard 200 chart with Before This World, arriving forty-five years after his chart debut. In 2020, he released American Standard, a collection of traditional pop standards that debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. The release made Taylor the first artist in history to achieve a top ten album in each of six consecutive decades and earned him a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

Taylor's career honors include inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2000, the National Medal of Arts in 2010, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2016.