James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
Taylor is also known for his covers, such as “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)” and “Handy Man”, as well as originals such as “Sweet Baby James”. He played the leading role in Monte Hellman’s 1971 film Two-Lane Blacktop.
Taylor married singer Carly Simon in November 1972, in a small ceremony in Simon’s New York apartment. Taylor was 24 and Simon 27; they divorced in 1983.
Their children, Sally and Ben, are also musicians. Taylor married actress Kathryn Walker at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on December 14, 1985. She helped him fight his heroin addiction, but they divorced in 1996.
In 1995, Taylor began dating Caroline “Kim” Smedvig, the director of public relations and marketing for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
They had met when he performed with John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra They were married at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Boston on February 18, 2001. Part of their relationship was worked into the 2002 album October Road, specifically on the songs “On the 4th of July” and “Caroline I See You”.
Following the birth of their twin sons Rufus and Henry in April 2001, they settled in Lenox, Massachusetts. Their son Henry tours as a backing vocalist with his father as of 2021.
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American musician, singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children’s author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits