Neil Sedaka

Neil Sedaka March 13 1939 February 27 2026 was an American singer songwriter and pianist Beginning his music career in 1957 he sold millions of records worldwide and wrote or cowrote over 500 songs for himself and other artists collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard Greenfield and Phil Cody After a shortlived tenure as a founding member of the doowop group the Tokens Sedaka achieved a string of hit singles over the late 1950s and early 1960s including Oh Carol 1959 Calendar Girl 1960 Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen 1961 and Breaking Up Is Hard to Do 1962 His popularity declined by the mid1960s but revived in the mid1970s solidified by the 1975 US Billboard Hot 100 number ones Laughter in the Rain and Bad Blood Sedaka maintained a successful career as a songwriter penning hits for other artists including Stupid Cupid Connie Francis Is This the Way to Amarillo Tony Christie and Love Will Keep Us Together Captain Tennille As a performer he had ten No 1 hits and four as a songwriter He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983 and continued to perform mounting miniconcerts on social media during the COVID19 pandemic Sedaka was hospitalized in Los Angeles after experiencing an undisclosed medical emergency and later died on February 27 2026 aged 86