Happy Birthday to legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor! In 2016, Taylor, along with the Eagles, and Mavis Staples were among those saluted with the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor. 2015 saw James Taylor score his first ever Number One album with his most recent collection, Before This World. Taylor and Bonnie Raitt have will be on the road together throughout the spring and into the summer. In late July, James Taylor will close out the season with a pair of stadium gigs opening for the Eagles in Washington, D.C. and Philly.

James Taylor will forever be remembered for his string of classic hits, including “Fire And Rain,” “Sweet Baby James,” “You’ve Got A Friend,” “Up On The Roof,” “You Can Close Your Eyes,” “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight,” “Handy Man,” “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You),” “Mockingbird,” “Mexico,” “Shower The People” “Her Town Too,” “Your Smiling Face,” and “Carolina In My Mind,” among many more.

Carole King‘s early-’70s singer-songwriter heyday will always be tied to her work with James Taylor due to their early joint tours and recording sessions, which resulted in Taylor’s 1971 chart-topping cover of King’s “You’ve Got A Friend.” King addressed the fact that people are always curious about two performers of the opposite sex collaborating in a tight knit fashion: “First of all, you can ask me about James any time, because I love him (laughs) so much. It’s that real . . . y’know everybody says, ‘Were you a couple? — No. Y’know, ‘Do you ever think about it?’ — No. The first connection was musical.”

James Taylor said that despite the pressures of the music business, he’s never felt any competition with his peers, or himself, when writing or recording new music: “It’s impossible not to sort of think about your position when you’ve finished an album and you’re releasing it, and trying to promote it and announce it and stuff. It’s hard not to think of it in the marketplace. But for me, it’s not a competitive sport, y’know, and you just have to do your best and then let go of the result — and just be thankful to be able to continue.”

Taylor recalled being among one of the first signings to Apple Records as a dream come true: “Well, I was signed by the Beatles in 1968 to their Apple Records label. I was a huge Beatles fan — they had a massive impact on me and what I thought I’d like to write.”

Although James Taylor is rated among the top composers of the singer-songwriter era, he credits his vocal and guitar styles for much of his success: “If you listen to the original of ‘Handy Man,’ or ‘Up On The Roof,’ or ‘Everyday,’ and then listen to my version of it, the arrangement gets redone. I have a vocal style that tends to lay the thing back a little bit in many cases. The other thing is that I have this sort of vocabulary on guitar — kind of preferred chord changes, and I’ll play these songs over years going back to when I was a teenager.”

James Taylor & Bonnie Raitt tour dates (subject to change):
May 8 – Jacksonville, FL – Veterans Memorial Arena
May 9 – Orlando, FL – Amway Center
May 11 – Sunrise, FL – BB&T Center
May 12 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
May 15 – North Charleston, SC – North Charleston Coliseum & Performing Arts Center
May 16 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
May 18 – Greensboro, NC – Greensboro Coliseum Complex
May 19 – Greenville, SC -Bon Secours Wellness Arena
May 21 – St. Louis, MO – Scottrade Center
May 22 – Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
May 25 – Oklahoma City, OK – Chesapeake Energy Arena
May 27 – Denver, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
May 29 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Arena
May 31 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
June 1 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
June 3 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center
June 5 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
June 6 – Seattle, WA – KeyArena at Seattle Center
June 22 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
June 25 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena
June 26 – Indianapolis, IN – Bankers Life Fieldhouse
June 28 – Milwaukee, WI – American Family Insurance Amphitheater
June 30 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center
July 1 – Buffalo, NY – KeyBank Center
July 26 – Washington, DC – Nationals Park (The Eagles with James Taylor)
July 28 – Philadelphia, PA – Citizens Bank Park (The Eagles with James Taylor)