Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1945 in New York City) is an American musician who emerged as one of the leading lights of the early 1970s singer-songwriter boom.

Simon's major breakthrough was 1972's "No Secrets". The album spawned several successful singles, including Simon's biggest hit, "You're So Vain". Simon continued to produce sucessful albums though the 70s and early 80s, moving into film scores after she was dropped by her record label in 1985.

"You're So Vain" is a sarcastic profile of a self-absorbed lover. The song was a number-one hit (it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in early 1973, and also spent two weeks at the top of the Adult Contemporary chart, her first #1 song on either chart), and spawned what many fans consider to be the biggest musical mystery of the era. There has been much debate over who exactly the song is about. Popular guesses on the subject include Mick Jagger (who sang backing vocals on the song), Cat Stevens, Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, unfaithful fiancé William Donaldson, and Simon's ex-husband, James Taylor. Later "clues" given by Carly Simon herself have all but excluded Stevens, Kristofferson and Donaldson from that list.

Carly Simon is also a member of the elite group of artists who have performed the main title song for a James Bond film. "Nobody Does It Better" was a worldwide hit in 1977, it being the theme song of "The Spy Who Loved Me".