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Neil Sedaka: Biography, Facts and Career

Who is Neil Sedaka? An evergreen, sourced profile: biography, key facts and career.

By the Pop Culture Files editorial team4 min read✓ Fact-checked
Neil Sedaka
AVRO via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

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 co-wrote over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard Greenfield and Phil Cody. After a short-lived tenure as a founding member of the doo-wop 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 mid-1960s, but was revived in the mid-1970s, solidified by the 1975 U.S. 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). He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983 and continued to perform, including in a series of mini-concerts on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, until his death.

Quick facts about Neil Sedaka

  • Full name: Neil Sedaka
  • Born: 1939-03-13
  • Nationality: United States
  • Known as: Musician
  • Wikidata ID: Q312743

Profile compiled from public Wikipedia and Wikidata data. Details can change over time.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Neil Sedaka?

Neil Sedaka (; March 13, 1939 – February 27, 2026) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist.

What nationality is Neil Sedaka?

Neil Sedaka is United States.

When was Neil Sedaka born?

Neil Sedaka was born on 1939-03-13.

Sources

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