Taylor Swift officially kicked off the 36th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame festivities with a tribute to Carole King, singing a show-opening cover of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.”
Speaking about King’s blockbuster “Tapestry” album, released 50 years ago, Swift said, “It was a watershed moment for humans in the world with feelings and for cats who have big dreams of one day ending up on iconic album covers.”
King thanked Taylor for carrying the torch for songwriters and called her “my professional granddaughter “
Swift performed the decades-spanning hit in front of a crowd of 12,000 at the ceremony, held at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. The pop superstar was wearing a one-piece black and gold jumpsuit by Sarah Regensburger and Greta Constantine, with boots by Louis Vuitton.
That song holds a special place for the 79-year-old singer-songwriter, also famed for hits like “You’ve Got a Friend” and “It’s Too Late,. “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” was a monster hit for the Shirelles in 1960, when King was only a songwriter and not yet recording artist; she re-recorded it for her solo album “Tapestry,” which after its 1971 release became what was then one of the biggest albums of all time — currently it’s 13-times platinum, and it still holds a record for the most consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard chart for a female artist (15).
Also included as part of the tribute was a video homage including stars like Sara Bareilles and Elton John. In the video, Tom Hanks said “Tapestry” was arguably the greatest music of all time.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety