Happy Birthday, Carole King! Iconic Singer/Songwriter Shares Great Throwback Photo to Mark the Occasion

Today, Feb. 9, Carole King celebrates her 80th birthday — and the legendary singer/songwriter found a fantastic way to celebrate on her social media pages.

Here’s a side-by-side photo of Carole enjoying some birthday cake a few years apart:

80. 🎂 pic.twitter.com/Lp6V2CSdrS

— Carole King (@Carole_King) February 9, 2022

In early January, she was part of the excellent new CNN documentary, Carole King & James Taylor: Just Call Out My Name, which focused on the intertwining careers and legacies of both singer/songwriters.

In addition to an abundance of archival footage, the documentary reflects on their first show together at the Troubadour in West Hollywood in 1970, as well as performance footage from their 2010 reunion show at the Troubadour (the live album of that 2010 event hit its 10th anniversary in 2020).

The documentary is currently unavailable to watch, though it will have an HBO Max premiere at some point in the near future, so stay tuned. Here’s a look at the doc:

She let a friend record her song and then they both won Grammys. Watch the documentary #JustCallOutMyName about musical legends @JamesTaylor_com and @Carole_King, Sunday at 9p ET/PT on @CNN pic.twitter.com/zW1Ekw6LNk

— CNN Original Series (@CNNOriginals) December 29, 2021

King has maintained a very active social media presence, sharing motivational messages with her adoring fans and generally being a beacon of warmth and hope amid the harsh realities of life over the past few years.

#Mondayvibes
📷 Kirsten Shultz pic.twitter.com/azoOOUE7OK

— Carole King (@Carole_King) February 7, 2022

Back in September of 2020, during some of the most intense days of the COVID-19 pandemic, she shared an inspirational pep talk on her Instagram page:

“We’re living in a desperately difficult time. In addition to all of us being vulnerable to a little tiny virus, we’re suffering from fear, hateful rhetoric, chaos and uncertainty about food, school, where we’re gonna live — and how we’re gonna live. What keeps me from falling into depression is comparing this time in history to a fire or a hurricane — something big that we can’t control. 

We know what people do after a tornado. Survivors crawl out of the wreckage, look around, pick up the equivalent of a shovel and work together to clear away the debris. After all this, we’re not just going to build back — we are going to get through this time of crisis together, and be motivated to build a new physical societal infrastructure together. 

We’re not going to ask who’s like-minded, who’s white-collar or where they came from, or where they identify on the gender spectrum. We’re going to see the heart and the humanity of the person carrying the other end of something too heavy for us to lift alone. And we’re going to be that person for others.

Now, I’m an elder, so I’m not going to be doing a lot of physical lifting, but I’m trying to do some lifting today. Please don’t give up. It will get better. It will get better.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Carole King (@carole_king)

Thanks for the encouragement, Carole — and happy 80th birthday!