James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling 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 he released from 1977 to 2006 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 (including Hourglass, October Road and Covers). He achieved his first number one album in the US in 2015 with his recording Before This World.