Carole King in awe at historic Rock and Roll Hall of Fame double induction

Carole King was blown away to discover she will be the first person to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as both a performer and a non-performer.

The You've Got a Friend hitmaker was named as part of the Hall of Fame's Class of 2021 on Wednesday, 31 years after she initially joined the prestigious institution as a songwriter, along with her professional partner and ex-husband Gerry Goffin.

The significance of the double honour wasn't lost on King, who took to Twitter to express her awe at the news.

"I wanted to be a songwriter so I could meet all the great artists and they would know who I was," she began. "I thought being inducted into the @rockhall as a songwriter with Gerry Goffin was the pinnacle. Until now. Thank you for ALSO inducting me as an artist. And (thank you) to my fans always."

King was alerted to the groundbreaking achievement via an early morning text message from a friend, and it took her a while to wrap her head around the feat.

"It was a 'wow' moment," she told Billboard. "That rocks. I have nothing better to say than, 'That rocks!'"

The singer-songwriter is planning to attend the October ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio in person, and she's hoping to also return to the stage after taking a step back from performing in 2012.

"I don't know if it would be one song - there's too many people, I wouldn't be able to do a full set anyway - but I could see myself potentially performing," she shared.

King will be saluted alongside Foo Fighters, The Go-Go's, JAY-Z, Todd Rundgren, and Tina Turner in the performers category, while Hall of Fame officials will also fete rap legend LL Cool J, Billy Preston, and Randy Rhoads with awards for musical excellence.

Electronic pioneers Kraftwerk, spoken-word poet Gil Scott-Heron, and bluesman Charley Patton will also be recognised in the early influence award category, while late music impresario Clarence Avant is the recipient of the Ahmet Ertegun award.