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Carly Simon is a musical legend. Her family has always been famous in its own way; one of her older sisters was a singer as well, and he father was one of the co-founders Simon and Schuster publishing company. Because of her father's job, her family was relatively well-off. She was born in the mid-40's as the youngest child of an upper-class New York family.
In the 60's, Carly began singing as a duo, with sister Lucy. In 1964, "Winkin' Blinkin' and Nod" hit the charts, their first hit. Lucy went onto write the music for the Broadway show, "The Secret Garden." Carly went on to pursue a solo career.
Her first solo album was self-titled, and was released in 1971. On this album was her first solo hit, "That's the Way I've Always Heard it Should Be," an anti-marriage song co-written with Jacob Brackman. This song reached the top ten, and was written only a year before she married her first husband, James Taylor (they had two children, Sarah and Benjamin, and divorced in 1983). Her second husband is Jim Hart, who she's still married to.
Her second album, Anticipation, was released in November of the same year. It went gold in two years, and contained the Top 40 title hit. Also that year, she won a Grammy for Best New Artist. Her third album, also gold, No Secrets (released in 1973), was produced by Richard Perry. It contained a number-one hit, "You're So Vain," which is probably her best known song. After the song's release, people speculated about the subject of the song's lyrics. Some pointed to Mick Jagger, who was a backup singer in the song. A second single on the album, "The Right Thing to Do," made the Top 40.
Her fourth album, "Top Ten Hotcakes" came out in 1974. It contained a gold Top Ten remake of the Inez and Charlie Foxx song "Mockingbird," sung with James Taylor. It also contained the Top Ten hit, "Haven't Got Time for Pain."
"Playing Possum" came out in 1975, containing the Top 40 hit "Attitude Dancing," followed by "Another Passenger" in 1976. This album did not do nearly as well as the others.
However, in 1977, Simon sang "Nobody Does It Better," the theme song for the James Bond movie "The Spy Who Loved Me." This resulted in a Top Ten hit, sending her soaring again. Her seventh album, "Boys in the Trees," released in 1978, was also a smash hit. It contained the Top Ten single "You Belong to Me," as well as "Devoted to You," sung with James Taylor.
As the same time she was releasing these albums, Simon was appearing in concert frequently. However, in late 1980, she collapsed on stage of exhaustion and her concert appearances have been rare since then.
Her career in the U.S. began to decline when Hello Big Man (1983) and Spoiled Girl (1985) were poor sellers. However, the movie-related hits "Coming Around Again" (1986) and "Let the River Run" (1988) sent her popularity soaring once more.
In 1990, Simon released both My Romance and Have You Seen Me Lately? six months apart. The latter is an album of entirely original song (in addition to singing, she does compose her own music and write her own lyrics from time to time). In 1992, she scored the film This is My Life.
Over the years, Simon has released many other albums, with her "last" original one in 1994. In 1998, she had a breast cancer scare. She was diagnosed with stage-one breast cancer and underwent surgery for the removal of the tumor, as well as chemotherapy, as a precaution. Though most people lose their hair when they undergo chemotherapy, Simon was lucky and did not (her famous mane is still intact). Overall, Simon only spent one night in the hospital.
Simon has since recovered from her cancer and has not has a relapse (so far as the public knows; but of course stage-one cancer is relatively easy to cure). After her cancer, in 2000, she released "The Bedroom Tapes," her first new release in six years. In the years between releases, she put out collections of her songs, such as "Clouds in My Coffee," the boxed set. There were many other similar items released.
As her cancer, as well as the see-sawing charts prove, Carly Simon is a very strong person. She has persevered though tough times and has made a career few people could even dream of matching or topping. Her music has been played throughout the country under many different circumstances, inspiring people of all ages and races. She has shown courage and perseverance like few artists can really show. Unlike many of her peers, she did not undergo so much public ridicule and bouts with drugs, alcohol, and other such behaviors. She held her head high and did what she was born to do. She is an idol for her generation.
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