Carly Simon

Biography

Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 top 40 U.S. hits include "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" (No. 10), "Anticipation" (No. 13), "The Right Thing to Do" (No. 17), "Haven't Got Time for the Pain" (No. 14), "You Belong to Me" (No. 6), "Coming Around Again" (No. 18), and her four Gold-certified singles "You're So Vain" (No. 1), "Mockingbird" (No. 5, a duet with James Taylor), "Nobody Does It Better" (No. 2) from the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, and "Jesse" (No. 11). She has authored two memoirs and five children's books.

In 1963, Simon began performing with her sister Lucy Simon in the Simon Sisters. Their debut album, Meet the Simon Sisters, featured the song "Winkin', Blinkin' and Nod", based on the poem by Eugene Field and put to music by Lucy. The song became a minor hit and reached No. 73 on the Billboard Hot 100. The duo would release two more albums: Cuddlebug (1966) and The Simon Sisters Sing for Children (1969). After Lucy left the group, Carly found great success as a solo artist with her 1971 self-titled debut album, which won her the Grammy Award for Best New Artist and spawned her first top 10 single "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be", which earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Simon's second album, Anticipation, followed later that year and became an even greater success; it spawned the successful singles "Anticipation" and "Legend in Your Own Time", earned her another Grammy nomination, and became her first album to be certified Gold by the RIAA.

Simon achieved international fame with her third album, No Secrets (1972), which sat at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for five weeks and was certified Platinum. The album spawned the worldwide hit "You're So Vain", which sat at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, and earned Simon three Grammy nominations, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The second single "The Right Thing to Do", as well as its B-side "We Have No Secrets", were also successful. Her fourth album, Hotcakes (1974), soon followed and became an instant success; it reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200, went Gold within two weeks of release, and spawned the hit singles "Mockingbird" and "Haven't Got Time for the Pain". In 1975, Simon's fifth album, Playing Possum, and the compilation, The Best of Carly Simon, both appeared; the former hit the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart and spawned the hit single "Attitude Dancing" (No. 21), and the latter eventually went 3× Platinum, becoming Simon's best-selling release.

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