By Neia Balao
11:00am PDT, May 9, 2024
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Join us as we take a look at what some of our favorite older singers looked like at the beginning of their careers… starting with this music star…
Carly Simon, seen here in her 20s in 1971 — months before she won a best new artist Grammy — rose to fame in the 1970s with hit songs including "You're So Vain," "Mockingbird" with future ex-husband James Taylor and the James Bond movie theme tune "Nobody Does It Better."
Keep reading to see more older singers when their careers were young…
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Joni Mitchell — widely regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time — got her start performing in her native Canada in the '60s. She's seen here singing in 1967, three years before she released early hits like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock" and four years before she dropped the acclaimed album "Blue." Joni went on to earn 10 Grammys and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
MORE: See what your favorite country stars looked like at the beginning of their careers
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Good golly, Miss Dolly! Dolly Parton started performing when she was just a girl then worked as a songwriter in her teens. At 21, she released her first studio album, 1967's "Hello, I'm Dolly." Since then, she's enjoyed an enduring career that includes more than 40 top 10 country albums, 11 Grammy Awards and five Academy of Country Music Awards.
MORE: Dolly Parton's life and career in photos
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Barbra Streisand — an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award) winner — hit the music scene as a nightclub singer then became a Broadway theater performer in the early 1960s. She released "The Barbra Streisand Album" in 1963. It went on to win two Grammys including album of the year.
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In 1983, Cyndi Lauper released her debut studio album, "She's So Unusual," which included hit singles "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Time After Time." Two years later, she went on to earn a Grammy for best new artist. In 2013, she won a best original score Tony Award for the Broadway musical "Kinky Boots."
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Goddess of Pop Cher has long been a pillar of female empowerment in the music industry. In the mid-'60s, she gained popularity as one half of the musical duo Sonny & Cher with then-husband Sonny Bono. In 1966, she began her solo career with the release of the single "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)."
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Tony Bennett was just 25 when his first No.1 hit, "Because of You," was released. He's since gone on to win 19 Grammy Awards and two Primetime Emmys.
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Dionne Warwick enjoyed success in 1962 after releasing her first solo single, "Don't Make Me Over." Her debut studio album, "Presenting Dionne Warwick," was released a year later.
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Paul McCartney gained worldwide fame as a member of The Beatles. Recognized for his stellar partnership with the late John Lennon, Paul launched a solo career following the group's disbandment in 1970.
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Before she was a fashion-loving diva, she was a young star from Canada! Celine Dion made her music industry debut in the 1980s with the release of French-language albums. In the '90s, Celine garnered worldwide recognition after releasing a string of high performing English-language albums including 1996's "Falling into You." More than 30 years later, the international sensation has headlined multiple successful Las Vegas residencies where she performs her No. 1 tracks from "The Power of Love" to "My Heart Will Go On."
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1991 marked the release of alternative rock band Nirvana's second studio album, "Nevermind." Following frontman Kurt Cobain's 1994 death, drummer Dave Grohl founded and fronted the Foo Fighters, who've sold upwards of 12 million albums in the United States and earned an impressive 15 Grammys.
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Mariah Carey was barely out of her teens when she released her eponymous debut album in 1990. She soon became an even bigger star thanks to subsequent albums like "Music Box," "Merry Christmas" and "Daydream."
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Of Mary J. Blige's 13 studio albums — the first, "What's the 411?," was released in 1992 — eight have gone multiplatinum. 1994's "My Life" made Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
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We love the Rocketman! Elton John, one of the bestselling musicians of all time, released his debut studio album — "Empty Sky" — in 1969.
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Queen of Country Pop Shania Twain released her self-titled debut studio album in 1993. Three decades later, the Canadian country star has gone on to become one of the bestselling artists ever, releasing smash hits that include "That Don't Impress Me Much," "Man I Feel Like A Woman" and "From This Moment On."
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The Red Hot Chili Peppers formed in Los Angeles in 1983. Frontman Anthony Kiedis (seen here with bassist Flea, left, when they were young) and his bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. With more than 80 million records sold, RHCP is one of the bestselling bands of all time.
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In the 1970s, Lionel Richie recorded music with funk band the Commodores. In the '80s, he earned acclaim as a solo artist. The Grammy winner and future "American Idol" judge released his debut self-titled album in 1982.
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In the early '90s, Lauryn Hill comprised one-third of the acclaimed alternative hip-hop trio the Fugees. Her 1998 debut solo studio album, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," earned 10 Grammy nominations and took home five including album of the year.
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Steven Morrissey — better known simply as Morrissey — came to fame as the lead singer of '80s English rock band The Smiths then launched a successful solo career.
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Queen of Neo Soul Erykah Badu earned fame in the mid-'90s when she opened for artist D'Angelo. In 1997, she released her first album, "Baduizm," which included singles "Appletree" and "Otherside of the Game."
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Bob Dylan hit the music scene in 1962 with the release of his debut self-titled album. The following year, the cultural icon released "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan."
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Madonna — who found fame with the release of her debut studio album in 1983 — grew her fanbase with the releases of albums including 1984's "Like a Virgin," 1986's "True Blue" and 1998's Grammy Award-winning "Ray of Light." Having sold more than 300 million records globally, she's been regarded as the bestselling female artist of all time.
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He'd been playing music long before he made it big, but Willie Nelson made major waves in the country music industry following the release of 1973's "Shotgun Willie." Despite its poor commercial performance, the album was one of the pioneering works of outlaw country — a subgenre of the traditional country music sound.
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In 1992, Brian McKnight released his debut self-titled album that included singles "The Way Love Goes," "Goodbye My Love," "One Last Cry" and "After the Love." His fifth studio album — 1999's "Back at One" — is his most successful release of all time.
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Loretta Lynn — who died in 2022 after enjoying a career that spanned an impressive six decades — released her debut studio album, "Loretta Lynn Sings," in 1963. The album contained singles "I Walked Away from the Wreck," "Success," "World of Forgotten People" and "The Other Woman."
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After finding success in the early '90s as a pop artist, Alanis Morissette's music career took off following the release of 1995's "Jagged Little Pill," which sold upwards of 30 million copies. The album, which marked a stark departure from her previous sound, went on to become a musical of the same name (that garnered 15 Tony Award nominations) in 2017.
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After launching her career as a member of the girl group the Ronettes, Ronnie Spector — who sang lead on their hits including "Be My Baby," "Baby, I Love You" and "The Best Part of Breakin' Up" — launched a solo career in 1964 and released five studio albums. She passed away in 2022.
