Unknown author · Public domain

Half of one of pop music's most productive songwriting partnerships, he wrote lyrics to more than 114 Billboard Hot 100 hits with his first wife, Carole King, including "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "The Loco-Motion," and "Take Good Care of My Baby." After their marriage and collaboration ended, he kept writing hits with other composers, among them "Saving All My Love for You," and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside King in 1990.