James Taylor’s full name is James Vernon Taylor, and he is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. James Taylor was born in Belmont, Massachusetts, on March 12, 1948. Taylor grew up in Carrboro, North Carolina, after his father became dean of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Taylor began his musical career on the cello before switching to guitar in 1960.
James Taylor’s second album, Sweet Baby James, marked a turning point in his life after he overcame depression and heroin addiction. He was one of a group of singer-songwriters whose careers defined the term, alongside Jackson Browne, John Denver, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Tom Rush, Carly Simon (to whom he was married at one point), and Cat Stevens. Alex, Hugh, Kate, and Livingston Taylor, as well as his children with Carly Simon, Ben and Sally, have all worked as musicians and recorded albums.
James Taylor has had a string of hit singles over the course of his long career, mostly his own songs but also some covers. “Fire and Rain,” “Carolina in My Mind,” “Country Road,” Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Handy Man,” “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight,” Marvin Gaye’s “How Sweet It Is (to Be Loved by You),” and “Shower the People” were among them. He is best known for his confessional, introspective songs, but he also worked on the children’s album In Harmony 2, which won a Grammy for Best Recording for Children in 1981. In 2007, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for his performance in the film Cars of Randy Newman’s “Our Town.”
James Taylor has three Grammy Awards for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male: “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Handy Man,” and “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” in 1971, 1977, and 2001. In 1998, his album Hourglass won Best Pop Album, and in 2000, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Rufus and Henry Taylor, James Taylor’s twin sons from his third marriage, sang backup in the Grammy MusiCares Person of the Year celebration of Taylor’s achievements in 2006.