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03-02-2026, 08:56 PM
Neil Sedaka, the hit-making singer-songwriter whose boyish soprano and bright melodies made him a top act in the early years of rock ‘n’ roll and led to a second run of success in the 1970s, has died.
Sedaka, whose hits included Breaking Up Is Hard to Do and Laughter in the Rain, died Friday at age 86.
“Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka,” his 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.”
No other details of his death were immediately available.
A key member of the Brill Building songwriting factory, Sedaka teamed with lyricist and boyhood neighbour Howard Greenfield on songs that reflected the teen innocence of the post-Elvis/pre-Beatles era of the late 1950s to early 1960s, including Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, Calendar Girl and Oh! Carol, a lament for his high school sweetheart, Carole King.
After a long dry spell, he re-emerged with such smashes as Laughter in the Rain and Bad Blood. The Captain & Tennille’s cover of his Love Will Keep Us Together was a chart-topper in 1975.
Short and dark-haired, with a big smile and high-pitched voice, he was a Juilliard-trained, Brooklyn-born son of a Jewish taxi driver who began performing as a teen and kept at it for decades.
Sedaka still played dozens of concerts a year well into his 80s. He retained the enthusiasm and broad vocal range of his youth and never tired of the standards he had sung hundreds of times.
“Past 70, Pavarotti told me the vocal cords are not what they used to be. I’m very fortunate that my voice has held,” he told the Associated Press in 2012. “It’s nice to be a legend, but it’s better to be a working legend.”
Sedaka’s songs sold millions worldwide and have been covered by a range of performers, from Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra to The 5th Dimension and Nickelback. Sedaka helped propel the career of Connie Francis with Stupid Cupid and Where the Boys Are, the latter for the soundtrack of the movie with the same name. The Captain & Tennille received a best-album Grammy thanks largely to Love Will Keep Us Together and included a nod to Sedaka at the end of the song, when Toni Tennille exclaimed “Sedaka’s back!”
Sedaka grew up in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach neighbourhood, pampered by his grandparents, aunts and mother in a two-bedroom apartment he shared with 11 relatives. He has a street there named in his honour, Neil Sedaka Way.
Sedaka, whose hits included Breaking Up Is Hard to Do and Laughter in the Rain, died Friday at age 86.
“Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka,” his 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.”
No other details of his death were immediately available.
A key member of the Brill Building songwriting factory, Sedaka teamed with lyricist and boyhood neighbour Howard Greenfield on songs that reflected the teen innocence of the post-Elvis/pre-Beatles era of the late 1950s to early 1960s, including Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, Calendar Girl and Oh! Carol, a lament for his high school sweetheart, Carole King.
After a long dry spell, he re-emerged with such smashes as Laughter in the Rain and Bad Blood. The Captain & Tennille’s cover of his Love Will Keep Us Together was a chart-topper in 1975.
Short and dark-haired, with a big smile and high-pitched voice, he was a Juilliard-trained, Brooklyn-born son of a Jewish taxi driver who began performing as a teen and kept at it for decades.
Sedaka still played dozens of concerts a year well into his 80s. He retained the enthusiasm and broad vocal range of his youth and never tired of the standards he had sung hundreds of times.
“Past 70, Pavarotti told me the vocal cords are not what they used to be. I’m very fortunate that my voice has held,” he told the Associated Press in 2012. “It’s nice to be a legend, but it’s better to be a working legend.”
Sedaka’s songs sold millions worldwide and have been covered by a range of performers, from Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra to The 5th Dimension and Nickelback. Sedaka helped propel the career of Connie Francis with Stupid Cupid and Where the Boys Are, the latter for the soundtrack of the movie with the same name. The Captain & Tennille received a best-album Grammy thanks largely to Love Will Keep Us Together and included a nod to Sedaka at the end of the song, when Toni Tennille exclaimed “Sedaka’s back!”
Sedaka grew up in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach neighbourhood, pampered by his grandparents, aunts and mother in a two-bedroom apartment he shared with 11 relatives. He has a street there named in his honour, Neil Sedaka Way.
