James Taylor’s Relationships: From Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon to His Wife of Nearly 25 Years
From Joni to Carly to Caroline, Taylor’s love life inspired some of music’s most iconic songs
James Taylor was one of the most iconic singer-songwriters of the ’70s and during the course of a career that’s lasted over 50 years, he’s captured the hearts of countless listeners with hits like “Fire and Rain,” “You’ve Got a Friend” and “Sweet Baby James,” to name just a few. Taylor’s poignant lyrics, mellow vocals and bohemian good looks earned him a large female fanbase, and his personal life has long been a source of fascination.
When Taylor married fellow musician Carly Simon, they became one of music’s reigning It Couples, and his earlier relationship with Joni Mitchell inspired unforgettable songs by both artists. Read on for a look at Taylor’s love life, from these legendary early relationships to his current marriage of almost 25 years.
James Taylor and Joni Mitchell: A short but iconic love story
James Taylor and Joni Mitchell met as rising folk stars in 1970 and dated for a year. While the relationship didn’t last long, it had a major musical impact, as they performed together and Taylor played guitar on her famed 1971 album Blue. A number of songs on the album, including the title track, “This Flight Tonight” and “All I Want,” were inspired by him.
Taylor’s 1971 song “You Can Close Your Eyes” was based on his relationship with Mitchell, and the couple performed the ballad together in concert. The relationship between the two musicians inspired some beautiful songs, but sadly came to an end due to Taylor’s battle with heroin addiction.
In 1972, Mitchell released two songs about their breakup and the ravages of Taylor’s substance abuse, “See You Sometime” and “Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire.” Taylor has said that the songs Mitchell wrote in the wake of their breakup remain so emotionally devastating that he still can’t listen to them.
Speaking of his relationship with Mitchell in a 2020 interview with The Guardian, Taylor said, “We’ve continued to have a friendship and, well, I recently sort of re-engaged with Joni, and that’s been wonderful. She came to a show of mine recently, at the Hollywood Bowl, which was an unusual thing for her to do.”
James Taylor and Carly Simon: The ’70s singer-songwriter power couple
After his breakup with Mitchell, Taylor started seeing another musical contemporary, “You’re So Vain” singer-songwriter Carly Simon. Taylor and Simon married in 1972, and as two of the most popular artists of their day, their relationship received much attention from the media.
The talented couple frequently shared the stage, and in a multilayered moment of confessional songwriting, they performed “You Can Close Your Eyes,” his song for Mitchell, as a duet in 1977.
Taylor and Simon had two hit singles as a duo, “Mockingbird” (1974) and “Devoted to You” (1978), and she provided backing vocals on a number of his songs, including his hit 1975 cover of “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You).” His 1977 song “There We Are” mentions Simon by name, and “You Make It Easy” (1975) and “Her Town Too” (1981) were said to be inspired by her, while Simon’s 1972 song “The Right Thing to Do” was inspired by Taylor.
Taylor and Simon had two children, Sally and Ben, both of whom are now musicians like their parents. Taylor was still struggling with addiction during his marriage, and recalled, “I was very young. And I would be an addict for another 10 years. I mean, you marry an addict, you just have no idea who this person is, and he doesn’t have any idea who he is either. It’s terrible.” He and Simon divorced in 1983. The title of his 1981 album Dad Loves His Work reflected the growing tension in his marriage as Simon told him he wasn’t spending enough time with their kids.
Simon spoke candidly about the difficulties in their marriage in her 2015 memoir, Boys in the Trees, and revealed that she and her ex-husband hadn’t spoken for years, while Taylor hasn’t been as forthcoming about the marriage, saying, “It’s hard to talk about, to tell half of a story like that,” and that when it came to her memoir, “I think she’s been pretty kind to me, and that’s certainly her story to tell.” He also called their marriage “doomed,” and admitted that, looking back, he wasn’t emotionally mature enough to settle down.
James Taylor and Kathryn Walker: The marriage that helped him overcome addiction
Taylor married Kathryn Walker, an actress who appeared in films like Slap Shot (1977) and Neighbors (1981) and won an Emmy for her performance in the historical 1976 miniseries The Adams Chronicles, in 1985. He credited Walker with being a steadying force in his life and helping him finally beat his years of addiction.
During his marriage, Taylor called Walker, “the center of my life,” but the couple divorced in 1995. The divorce informed many of the songs on his 1997 album Hourglass. In 2008, Walker wrote A Stopover in Venice, a novel featuring characters inspired by Taylor, Simon, and his next wife, Caroline Smedvig. When The New York Times asked her what she thought Taylor would think of the book, she quipped, “I think it would make James laugh.”
Who is James Taylor’s wife now? Meet Caroline Smedvig
Taylor began dating Caroline “Kim” Smedvig, a former public relations executive for the Boston Symphony Orchestra who has shared the stage with him, in 1995. They married in 2001 and had twin sons, Henry and Rufus, who were born via surrogate. Henry is now a musician and frequently performs with his dad, while Rufus keeps a low profile.
Taylor wrote the 2002 song “Caroline I See You” about his wife, and the 2015 song “You and I Again” is also inspired by their love. Talking about the latter song, Taylor said, “‘You and I Again’ is basically about that sense that in the first six months that I knew Kim, it felt as though I were encountering her from a former life, as if we had been maybe siblings in a prior existence, or parent and child, or maybe we’d been lovers. But there was piece after piece after piece that we were so in sync. It was so remarkable that I wrote this song about finding someone on the other side of death, in this lifetime.'”
Taylor and Smedvig have been together for 30 years and married for almost 25, and Taylor wrote a touching tribute to her for their 15th anniversary, saying, “Meeting each other and partnering up with my Caroline marks for me the beginning of my adult life. It’s all I ever wanted; the reason for hoisting my flag and putting myself before this world. Our love is where I live and where we raise our boys. I don’t really exist apart from us. And I can’t believe my luck.”
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