Neil Sedaka
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Biography
A New Yorker descended from Turkish Jewish immigrants, singer-songwriter and pianist Neil Sedaka was born on March 13, 1939. He won a scholarship to study piano at Juilliard School of Music's Preparatory Division for Children. At 13 he teamed up with a 16-year-old neighbour Howard Greenfield, launching one of pop's most successful and enduring songwriting partnerships. They wrote the Connie Francis hit "Stupid Cupid", among others for Jimmy Clanton, LaVern Baker, and Clyde McPhatter. In 1958, he ventured into performing by chance and achieved great success. Neil Sedaka went on to become a star himself with infectious teen hits like "Oh Carol" (about his then girlfriend, Carole King, 1959), "Calendar Girl" (1960), "Little Devil" and "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" (both 1961) and "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (1962). These singles made Neil Sedaka an early pop idol but, although the hits declined with the advent of the beat boom later in the 1960s, his career revived in the 1970s after Elton John signed him to his Rocket label and he had major hits with "Solitaire", "Laughter in the Rain" and "Bad Blood"; while also writing "Love Will Keep Us Together", a Number 1 for Captain and Tennille. Later Neil Sedaka wrote the Tony Christie hit "Is This the Way to Amarillo" to revive interest in his work; thus cementing his status as pop royalty and continuing his career with collaborations and occasional tours and albums. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983, Neil Sedaka's legacy is secured with a repertoire of over 500 songs, making him one of the giants of international pop music. Returning in 2007, he continued to record and perform in concert, as evidenced by The Show Goes On: Live at the Royal Albert Hall (2012), followed by studio recordings The Real Neil (2012) and I Do It for Applause (2016). On February 27, 2026, Neil Sedaka died at the age of 86.
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Albums
Top Tracks
- Track Popularity
- Laughter In The Rain
- Bad Blood
- Breaking up Is Hard to Do
- Oh! Carol
- Calendar Girl
- Lunch Will Keep Us Together
- Next Door to an Angel
- King of Clowns
- The Diary
- Stairway to Heaven
- Run Samson Run
- Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen
- Sweet Little You
- What Am I Gonna Do
- Gone With The Morning
- You Mean Everything to Me
- I Go Ape
- Little Devil
- Waiting
- Going Nowhere
- Fantasy Impromptu
- The Leaving Game
- Amarillo
- Alone at Last
