Neil Sedaka. Credit line: mpi04 / AP / Profimedia
Neil Sedaka, the American singer and songwriter behind dozens of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, including “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” “Oh Carol,” died on Friday at the age of 86, his family announced, the BBC reports.
“Our family is devastated by the passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather,” the singer's 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 man who will be deeply missed,” the family added.
His family did not disclose the cause of death.
Who was Neil Sedaka
Born in 1939 in Brooklyn, New York, Sedaka was a child piano prodigy, earning a scholarship to the prestigious Juilliard School at just nine years old. Short and dark-haired, with a broad smile and a high-pitched voice, he was the son of a Jewish taxi driver.
A key member of the Brill Building songwriting house, Sedaka collaborated with lyricist and childhood neighbor Howard Greenfield on songs that reflected the innocence of adolescence in the post-Elvis/pre-Beatles era of the late 1950s and early 1960s, including “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” “Calendar Girl” and “Oh! Carol,” a lament for his high school sweetheart, Carole King.
After hits in the early 1960s, he later returned to the Billboard Top 10 in 1975 after writing the song “Love Will Keep Us Together” for the duet Captain & Tennille. He also recorded several albums for Elton John's label in the 1970s.
Sedaka, a five-time Grammy Award nominee, has also composed hits for other famous musicians in his six-decade career, including Connie Francis (“Stupid Cupid”), Captain & Tennille (“Love Will Keep Us Together”), and ABBA, for whom he wrote the English lyrics to “Ring Ring.”
Although commercial success waned in the 1980s, Neil Sedaka continued to perform and remain active in the industry into his 80s. He retained the enthusiasm and wide vocal range of his youth and never tired of the standards he had sung hundreds of times.
