Neil Sedaka Biography

Neil Sedaka was born in 1939 in Brooklyn, New York. As a child, he demonstrated a talent for music, and his working-class parents found the resources to purchase a second-hand piano so that he could begin lessons. The sacrifice paid off, and while still very young, Neil Sedaka earned a piano scholarship to the prestigious Julliard School of Music, in their prep division, designed to train young children for future careers as musicians.

Despite his parents desire that he pursue a career in classical music, Neil Sedaka discovered pop music and instead began to move in that direction. As a teenager, he met Howard Greenfield, and the two began to compose together. They crafted songs for Neil Sedaka’s budding music career, and also for dozens of other performers of the time.

Neil Sedaka formed a band with some high school classmates shortly after graduation, and The Tokens enjoyed some hits in the 1950’s: "While I Dream", "I Love My Baby", "Come Back, Joe", "Don't Go", and the smash hit “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” Sedaka branched out with a solo career, and the moderately successful songs "Laura Lee", "Ring-a-Rockin'", and "Oh, Delilah!" earned him the recording contract he’d been hoping for.

A string of albums followed for the next few decades, including: Rock with Sedaka (1959), Circulate (1961), Smile (1965), Oh! Carol (1970), Emergence (1971), Solitaire (1972), Laughter in the Rain (1974), The Hungry Years (1975), Let’s Go Steady Again (1976), Steppin’ Out (1976), Neil Sedaka’s Greatest Hits (1977), and All You Need is the Music (1978.) Featured hits from Sedaka during this time include: “Oh! Carol” (1960), “Calendar Girl” (1961), “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” (1962), and “Laughter in the Rain” (1974.)

Neil Sedaka’s recording contract ended in the mid 1980’s, but he continued with his own music publishing company to continue the re-releases of many of his classic albums as CDs.  In the new millennium, Neil Sedaka re-signed with Razor and Tie Records and released The Definitive Collection in 2007. It became one of the highest-charting albums of Sedaka’s career, entering the charts at number twenty-five. Waking Up is Hard to Do came next in 2009, and featured many of Neil Sedaka’s classic hits with new lyrics, geared toward young children. The Music of My Life followed in 2010, and featured all new material, including the singles “Right or Wrong,” “You,” and “Do You Remember.”

Neil Sedaka continues to perform and record. In 2016, he performed to a sold-out audience in the Florida retirement community known as The Villages. In the year prior, he was featured on Steve Tyrell’s 2015 album That Lovin’ Feeling; the two musicians sang a duet version of “Laughter in the Rain.”