Songwriter Gerry Goffin, who penned chart-topping songs with his then-wife Carole King, has died at the age of 75 in Los Angeles

LISBON - He wrote dozens of hits over two decades, including The Loco-Motion, Will You Love Me Tomorrow and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman. He was inducted, along with King, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. In a statement, King said Goffin was her "first love" and had a "profound impact" on her life. 

Gerry Goffin struggled with mental health problems during their marriage and at one point King made a decision to admit him for shock therapy, an experience she talks about in her memoir A Natural Woman.

Born in the New York city borough of Brooklyn in 1939, Goffin married King when he was 20 and she was 17. They had their first hit, Will You Love Me Tomorrow, sung by the Shirelles, shortly afterwards. After their divorce in 1968, Goffin continued writing songs, including a hit for Whitney Houston, Saving All My Love for You, in 1985.

'A dynamic force'

Goffin was behind dozens of top 40 hits during his career and co-wrote seven songs that topped the US charts, including Diana Ross' Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To?). He also co-wrote Up On The Roof, Monkees' track Pleasant Valley Sunday, the Everly Brothers' Crying in the Rain, Bobby Vee's Take Good Care of My Baby, Gladys Knight and the Pips' track I've Got to Use My Imagination and James Taylor's You've Got a Friend. He also hired singer Kelly Clarkson to sing on some of his demos in 1995, before she was on American Idol.

Goffin, whose final album Back Room Blood was released in 1996, was working as an assistant chemist when he met King at Queens College. He told Vanity Fair in 2001: "She was interested in writing rock and roll, and I was interested in writing this Broadway play.