Neil Sedaka biography

Synopsis

Early Years

Famed singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka was born on March 13, 1939, in Brooklyn, New York. By the age of 8, Sedaka was already a piano prodigy. In 1956, he was awarded a scholarship to the Juilliard School in New York City, where he continued to divide his time between pop music and classical studies. In 1952, while playing at a resort in the Catskill Mountains, he was introduced to 16-year-old Howie Greenfield, a young poetry writer. The two began a songwriting career that would continue through the 1980s.

Music Career Takes Off

In 1956, Neil Sedaka formed a high school group called The Tokens. They were discovered by record producer, Morty Craft who issued two Tokens singles that became regional hits. Shortly after, Sedaka went solo, releasing his first single on the Decca label, Snowtime. In 1958, Sedaka penned his first international hit, Stupid Cupid recorded by Connie Francis.

In 1958, Sedaka and Greenfield joined the talent at 1650 Broadway, which included Neil Diamond, Carole King and Paul Simon. Record producer Steve Sholes contracted Sedaka for RCA, where he created such hits as Oh! Carol (written for former girlfriend Carole King), Breaking Up Is Hard To Do and Calendar Girl.

By 1963, after selling some 25 million records, Sedaka was riding the wave of international success. However, Beatlemania had taken hold and record sales progressively dwindled. From 1963 to '65, Sedaka spent his time traveling the world to record his hits in Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese and Hebrew. When his contract with RCA ended, he and Greenfield continued as songsmiths for Don Kirshner's Screen Gems Columbia.

Later Projects: The 1970s - 2000s

In 1970, inspired by Carole King's Tapestry album, Sedaka staged a comeback in London. After producing a few albums with limited commercial success, he released his breakthrough hit Laughter In The Rain. The title track was a huge success in the UK, prompting Elton John to re-launch Sedaka's records in the U.S. on his Rocket label. The result was the hit album Sedaka's Back. The record's success was followed by Sedaka's first Grammy for Love Will Keep Us Together performed by The Captain & Tennille. In the late 1980s, Sedaka was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Throughout the 1990s, Sedaka continued to reinvent himself. In 1991, he recorded Laughter In The Rain, Stupid Cupid and I Go Ape as duets with daughter Dara, the latter as a rap song.

In June 2004, Sedaka was honored by the National Academy of Popular Music and the Songwriters Hall of Fame with a Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes outstanding work in furthering the successes of songwriters.