Here’s a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction that should have happened years ago. Carole King has been eligible for inclusion since 1986 and has been nominated only once before, in 1989. More than three decades later, she’s finally in.

To be fair, King has been a member of the Hall of Fame as a songwriter — alongside former co-writer/husband Gerry Goffin — since 1990. But she has now earned an additional spot as a performer. This makes King one of only three women inducted into the Hall twice (alongside Stevie Nicks and a woman I will post about next week).

The argument against King’s inclusion is that beyond her smash sophomore album, 1971’s Tapestry, her solo releases haven’t made much of an impact.

That reminds me of a former colleague who argued that Woodward and Bernstein were overrated because they didn’t break any major stories apart from Watergate.

King did land seven solo albums in Billboard’s top ten, three at #1, and has released 20 albums over her five-decade career. She’s far from a one-hit wonder.

But let’s be honest, King’s owes her legendary status in large part to Tapestry, and that is just fine. It is one of the best-selling albums of all time, and one of the most beloved by both fans and critics. Every one of its tracks is a classic.

King and Tapestry influenced countless singer-songwriters, especially women, to write and perform personal songs. For both her actual songs and her impact on the musical landscape, King belongs in the Hall more than most.