Neil Sedaka is gone. The legendary singer-songwriter died Friday in Los Angeles at the age of 86. His family confirmed the news to multiple outlets Friday afternoon. A cause of death has not been disclosed.
“Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka,” the family said in a statement. “A true rock and roll legend, an inspiration to millions, but most importantly, at least to those of us who were lucky enough to know him, an incredible human being who will be deeply missed.”
He had been rushed to a hospital earlier that morning after not feeling well. He never came home.
Sedaka’s Songs You Already Know By Heart
Neil Sedaka wrote more than 500 songs. “Oh! Carol.” “Calendar Girl.” “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen.” “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.” All of them charted in the top ten before he turned 25.
He scored three number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and nine top ten singles across his career. In the early 1960s he was one of the biggest names in American pop music.
When the Beatles arrived in 1964 and rewrote the rules, Sedaka stepped back from performing and kept writing. He wrote hits for Frank Sinatra. For Elvis Presley. For Tom Jones. For the Monkees.
He never stopped.
In 1974, Elton John signed him to Rocket Records and introduced him to an audience that had never heard of him.
“Laughter in the Rain” went to number one in 1975. “Bad Blood” went to number one the same year. He also wrote “Love Will Keep Us Together” during this stretch, which Captain and Tennille took to the top of the charts and turned into one of the defining songs of the decade.
Two number ones in a single year. Twenty years into his career.
Sedaka continued recording and touring well into his eighties, still performing for crowds who had loved him for fifty years and younger audiences discovering him for the first time.
The Brooklyn Kid Who Helped Build Pop Music
Neil Sedaka was born on March 13, 1939, in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.
His second-grade teacher noticed something early and recommended piano lessons. A few years later he earned a scholarship to Juilliard. He was part of the same Brooklyn generation that produced Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, and Carole King.
At 13 he met his neighbor Howard Greenfield. The two of them walked into the Brill Building together and helped define what pop music sounded like for an entire era. They wrote more than 500 songs together for some of the biggest names in the business.
Sedaka was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983. He held a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He received five Grammy nominations across a career that spanned seven decades.
He is survived by his wife Leba, whom he married in 1962, their daughter Dara, son Marc, and three grandchildren. In a 2020 interview he said: “The songs will outlive me.”
He was right.
Read this article from Artvoice.
