Esther Hannaford, Mark Wilson, Olympia and more join forces to celebrate 50 years of Carole King’s masterpiece, ‘Tapestry’
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09.03.2021

Esther Hannaford, Mark Wilson, Olympia and more join forces to celebrate 50 years of Carole King’s masterpiece, ‘Tapestry’

Photo by Liam Neal

The 50th-anniversary tour will present Tapestry complete from start to finish.

50 years ago, Carole King shattered glass ceilings with her second solo album Tapestry.

Released in February of 1971 and laced with masterful songcraft, the record’s collection of soft-rock introspection paired with an iconic album cover that defined a new form of beautiful cemented King’s place as a venerated purveyor of serious rock, proving that women could rule rock’s formerly male-dominated world.

The iconic album was home to timeless classics such as ‘I Feel the Earth Move’, ‘So Far Away’, ‘You’ve Got a Friend’, ‘It’s Too Late’, ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’, ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’, and resided on the Billboard charts for a staggering five years, taking out four Grammy Awards in 1972, including Album of the Year. With its intricate illustrations of love and life, Tapestry went on to be the biggest selling female album of all time with more than 25 million copies sold, before being surpassed by another megastar, Whitney Houston.

Five decades on and King’s songs have become universal standards that span decades, generations, and genres, with Tapestry remaining as one of the most decorated and accomplished albums in history.

An ode to one the most revered and prolific songwriters and emotive performers of the last half of the 20th century, two-time Helpmann Award-winner, Australian singer-actor Esther Hannaford will be celebrating 50 years of Tapestry with a huge national tour, bringing King’s legacy of love, friendship and female empowerment to fans all over the country.

Joined by an all-star band – including Jet bassist Mark Wilson; keyboardists Clio Renner and Louis Macklin; guitarist and vocalist Olivia Bartley (Olympia) and drummer Pete Marin – Esther will deliver Tapestry’s heartfelt messages, ingenuous tone and authentic narratives from start to finish, as well as a selection of Carole King’s hits and songs she wrote for fellow multiplatinum-selling artists.

For Esther, this will be a particularly poignant tour, having previously played the role of a lifetime as the legendary King in ‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’ back in 2018 – a production telling the true story of the singer’s journey from schoolgirl to international superstar.

“After having the experience of playing her in ‘Beautiful’, I feel so grateful to be revisiting these songs,” Esther explains.

“I didn’t think I would get to sing them live again with an audience once we closed. We performed over three hundred shows and I never got sick of singing them, not once.

“There’s and simplicity and honesty to her music, it captures universal human moments and feeling in a way that will never not resonate.”

Kicking off in Newcastle on April 15, Esther will traverse the country, with stops in Queensland, Perth, Sydney and Canberra, among others, before rounding out the tour in May with shows at the Ulumbarra Theatre in Bendigo, Festival Theatre in Adelaide and the Palais Theatre in Melbourne.

A bona fide star, it’s Esther’s statuesque beauty, extraordinary voice, passionate performances and her quirky personality, that promises to leave audiences spellbound as she sings the songs from a record that gave voice to the thoughts and feelings of women across the world.

“I’m looking forward to being with the audience, sharing this music with them, playing with the band and enjoying that interaction after the year we’ve all had,” Esther adds.

“I think it will be very emotional.”

Tickets are on sale now. Victorians will be able to witness the mag at Ulumbarra Theatre in Bendigo on May 11 and the Palais Theatre in Melbourne on May 14 and May 15.

In the meantime, refresh yourself with King’s masterpiece below.