James Taylor (James Vernon Taylor) was born on March 12, 1948 is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in Belmont, Massachusetts.

James Taylor grew up in Carrboro, North Carolina, where his father Isaac M. Taylor was the dean of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine from 1964 to 1971. His family spent summers on Martha's Vineyard.

Taylor's career began in the mid-1960s, but he found his audience in the early 1970s, singing sensitive and gentle acoustic songs. He was part of a wave of singer-songwriters of the time that also included Joni Mitchell, Tom Rush, Cat Stevens, Carole King, John Denver, Jackson Browne as well as Carly Simon, whom Taylor later married.

His 1976 album Greatest Hits was certified diamond and has sold more than 11 million copies.

He has retained a large audience well into the 1990s and early 2000s, when some of his best-selling and most-awarded albums were released.
http://www.jamestaylor.com/