This weekend, Carly Simon, a well-known and loved musician, turns 80. This is a big deal.
Carly was born on June 25, 1943, to civil rights leader Andrea Heinemann Simon and Simon & Schuster co-founder Richard L. Simon. Since her early days singing with her late sister Lucy Simon, Carly has had a lot of success.
In her work, she has won two Grammys, reached the top of the charts, and released the famous song “You’re So Vain.”
As Carly gets ready to celebrate another trip around the sun, DailyMail.com looks back at her life, from when she was young and performed with her sister to who inspired her song “You’re So Vain.”
EARLY START
The future music star got her start with Lucy as The Simon Sisters, a folk duo that put out a few records before Simon went on to have a very successful solo career.
FORGING HER OWN WAY
As a solo artist, her first few records went straight to the top of the charts and were praised by critics. In 1972, she won the Grammy for Best New Artist.
But it was her famous song “You’re So Vain” from 1971 that made her a part of music history.
You’re so arrogant about SUCCESS and the man who made it happen.
People were interested in who Carly was talking about in her song about a cocky man, which was at the top of the charts. The song was written about three men, but no one knew who they were for a long time. Carly finally revealed that her ex-husband Warren Beatty was one of the men who inspired the song.
In 2015, she told People magazine, “I know for sure that the second verse is Warren.”
When asked if Warren knew the line was about him, she said, “Well, Warren thinks it’s all about him!”
Simon doesn’t think she will ever say who the other two lines are about, or ‘at least not until they know it’s about them.’
SUCCESSFUL JOB
In 1974, the song “You’re So Vain” was up for several Grammys, including “Record of the Year” and “Song of the Year.”
Even though the song didn’t win any Grammys that year, fans still like it a lot.
In her long career, the famous star has been nominated for 15 Grammys and won two: Best New Artist “of the Year and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television” for “Let the River Run” in 1990.
MARRIAGES AND FAMILY LIFE
Carly has been married twice and has been tied to a number of famous men, including Jack Nicholson and Cat Stevens.
She was married to folk singer James Taylor, and their children, Sally and Ben Taylor, also became musicians. She married James Hart a few years after she split up with James.
Their marriage lasted 20 years, and Hart wrote about it in his book Lucky Jim, which came out in 2017.
TRAGEDY
Simon lost both of her sisters, Lucy and Joanna, to cancer in October 2022.
The New York Times said that the brothers died one day after each other.
Like Simon, both of her sisters were good at music.
Lucy was a famous Broadway composer, and Joanna was a famous opera singer who became a PBS reporter.
FAMOUS FRIENDS
Simon knows both the Clintons and Jackie Kennedy, who died in 2004.
Simon became friends with Jackie after she asked him to play at Caroline Kennedy’s wedding in 1986.
Carly and Jackie liked to laugh and talk about boys with each other, just like schoolgirls do. They both loved one boy in particular: Mike Nichols, who is now the husband of Diane Sawyer and a film and theater director, producer, actor, and director. Carly’s ex-husband James wrote about this in his book.
STILL AN ICON
Carly hasn’t let time slow her down, that’s for sure.
She loves talking with her fans on social media, and earlier this year, she put out her second live record, Live at Grand Central.
She was even put in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year.