Claim: James Taylor's first compilation album was certified Diamond in 1977.

James Vernon Taylor -LRB- born March 12 , 1948 -RRB- is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist . A five-time Grammy Award winner , he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000 . He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time , having sold more than 100 million records worldwide .   Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the No. 3 single `` Fire and Rain '' and had his first No. 1 hit the following year with `` You 've Got a Friend '' , a recording of Carole King 's classic song . His 1976 Greatest Hits album was certified Diamond and has sold 12 million US copies . Following his 1977 album , JT , he has retained a large audience over the decades . Every album that he released from 1977 to 2007 sold over a million copies . His chart performance had a resurgence during the late 1990s and 2000s , when he recorded some of his most-awarded work -LRB- including Hourglass , October Road , and Covers -RRB- . He achieved his first number one album in the US in 2015 with his recording Before This World .   He is notable for his popular covers of other peoples ' songs , such as `` How Sweet It Is -LRB- To Be Loved By You -RRB- '' and the aforementioned `` You 've Got A Friend '' , as well as originals such as `` Fire and Rain '' .