Singer/songwriter Carole King has been selected by Broadcast Music International (BMI) as their Icon for 2012. She will be honored on May 15 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel during the 60th annual BMI Pop Awards.
As a BMI songwriting Icon, Carole King will join a list that includes John Fogerty, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, Brian Wilson, James Brown, Dolly Parton, and others. An all-star lineup will pay tribute to King at the ceremony.
Carole King's songwriting career ignited with Don Kirshner's Aldon Music in the early 60s. With writing partner and then-husband Gerry Goffin, King topped charts with Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, then Take Good Care of My Baby. A flood of hits followed: Loco-Motion, One Fine Day, Pleasant Valley Sunday, Up on the Roof, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, He Hit Me (And it Felt Like a Kiss) and more. When she released Tapestry in 1971, So Far Away, It's Too Late, I Feel the Earth Move and You've Got a Friend (also recorded by James Taylor) earned King four Grammys. To date, more than 400 of King's compositions have been recorded by more than 1,000 artists, resulting in 100 hit singles. She has won 31 BMI songwriting awards and is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.