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{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist
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* [[Pop music|Pop]]
* [[Brill Building (genre)|Brill Building]]
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*[[doo-wop]]
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▲| website = {{URL|neilsedaka.com}}
}}
'''Neil Sedaka''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ə|ˈ|d|æ|k|ə}}; born March 13, 1939)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e72tG80LmsU | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/e72tG80LmsU| archive-date=November 7, 2021 | url-status=live|title=Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show (December 5, 1959) Neil Sedaka "Oh Carol" |date=December 5, 1959 |publisher=NRRArchives |access-date=September 7, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists [[Howard Greenfield|Howard "Howie" Greenfield]] and Phil Cody.
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==Early life: Juilliard and the Brill Building==
Sedaka was born in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York City|New York]]. His father, Mordechai "Mac" Sedaka, was a taxi driver
Sedaka demonstrated musical aptitude in his second-grade choral class and, when his teacher sent a note home suggesting he take piano lessons, his mother took a part-time job in an [[Abraham & Straus]] department store for six months to pay for a second-hand upright. In 1947, he auditioned successfully for a piano scholarship to the [[Juilliard School of Music]]'s Preparatory Division for Children, which he attended on Saturdays. His mother had wanted him to become a classical pianist like his contemporary [[Van Cliburn]], and Sedaka continued to show fondness for (and capacity to play) classical music throughout his life.
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After graduating from [[Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn)|Abraham Lincoln High School]], Sedaka and some of his classmates formed a band called the Linc-Tones. The band had minor regional hits with songs like "While I Dream", "I Love My Baby", "Come Back, Joe", and "Don't Go", before Sedaka launched his solo career and left the group in 1957. The Linc-Tones, later renamed [[the Tokens]] near the end of Sedaka's tenure with the group, went on to have four top-40 hits of their own without Sedaka. Sedaka's first three solo singles, "Laura Lee", "Ring-a-Rockin'", and "Oh, Delilah!" failed to become hits (although "Ring-a-Rockin'" earned him the first of many appearances on [[Dick Clark]]'s ''[[American Bandstand]]''), but they demonstrated his ability to perform as a solo singer, so [[RCA Victor]] signed him to a recording contract.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
His first single for RCA Victor, "[[The Diary (song)|The Diary]]", was inspired by [[Connie Francis]], one of Sedaka and Greenfield's most important clients, while the three were taking a temporary break during their idea-making for a new song. Francis was writing in her diary, Sedaka asked if he could read it, and Connie said no. After [[Little Anthony and the Imperials]] passed on the song, Sedaka recorded it himself, and his debut single hit the Top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 14 in 1958.<ref name=miniconcert71620>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29aIYGAopao| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/29aIYGAopao| archive-date=November 7, 2021 | url-status=live|title=Today's Mini-Concert – 7/16/2020| date=July 16, 2020|access-date=June 14, 2021|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
His second single, a novelty tune titled "[[I Go Ape]]", just missed the Top 40, peaking at No. 42, but it became a more successful single in the United Kingdom with a No. 9. The third single, "[[Crying My Heart Out for You]]", was a commercial failure, missing the Hot 100 entirely, peaking at No. 111 but reaching No. 6 on the pop charts in Italy. RCA Victor had lost money on "I Go Ape" and "Crying My Heart Out For You" and was ready to drop Sedaka from their label; Sedaka feared he was headed for [[one-hit wonder]] status. Sedaka and his manager, [[Al Nevins]], persuaded the RCA executives to give him one more chance.<ref name=miniconcert71620/>
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Sedaka also recorded an album in Yiddish (''[[Brighton Beach Memories – Neil Sedaka Sings Yiddish]]''), several songs in Spanish including "Mi Vecinita" ("Next Door to an Angel"), a handful of songs in German, and one single apiece in Hebrew, Japanese, and Canadian French. His English-language recordings were also quite popular internationally; "One-Way Ticket to the Blues" and "Calendar Girl" reached No. 1 on the Japanese pop charts in 1959 and 1961. He also enjoyed popularity in Latin America for his Spanish-language recordings. Many of these were pressed onto 78 rpm discs.
Sedaka stated in 2020 that he was talked into focusing on the international markets because [[Elvis Presley]], the biggest rock star in America, never toured overseas (largely because of [[Colonel Tom Parker]]'s desire to avoid immigration officials), and because his publishers and managers considered it a much lower risk for a new performer not to face American audiences who knew him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5JH6tCZW1U| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/d5JH6tCZW1U| archive-date=November 7, 2021 | url-status=live|title=Today's Mini-Concert – 9/14/2020 – Dedicated to Howard Greenfield| date=September 14, 2020|access-date=June 14, 2021|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
==Mid-1960s==
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In late 1975, Sedaka's most successful year of his career continued as he earned yet more chart success with the release of his second Rocket Records album, ''[[The Hungry Years]]''. This album was an American edition of Sedaka's British Polydor album ''[[Overnight Success (Neil Sedaka album)|Overnight Success]]''. The first single, "[[Bad Blood (Neil Sedaka song)|Bad Blood]]", hit No. 1 on the Billboard 100 and stayed there for three weeks (October 11, 18 and 25, 1975), was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and was the most commercially successful individual single of his career. Elton John provided uncredited backing vocals for "Bad Blood". Despite their later falling out that resulted in Sedaka moving from Elton's Rocket Records to Elektra, Sedaka has credited John as being responsible for his successful return to the U.S. pop music scene.<ref>"Neil Sedaka: The Music of My Life" – interview with Johnnie Walker for [[BBC Radio 2]], broadcast December 28, 2010</ref> John has stated, "I only appear on the records of people I really know or like."<ref name="elton" />
Another highlight from ''The Hungry Years'' was Sedaka's new version of "[[Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (song)|Breaking Up Is Hard to Do]]". His 1962 original, a No. 1 hit single, was upbeat; the remake was a slow [[ballad]], which Sedaka had arranged for [[Lenny Welch]] five years prior.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PJgeCVWUX8| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/9PJgeCVWUX8| archive-date=November 7, 2021 | url-status=live|title=Today's Mini-Concert – 7/24/2020| date=July 24, 2020|access-date=June 14, 2021|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Sedaka's version hit No. 8 on the Hot 100 in early 1976, making him the only artist to ever record an entirely reinterpreted version of a song where both versions reached the Billboard Top 10. (Welch's version had reached No. 34.) The 1976 ballad version also hit No. 1 on Billboard's [[Adult Contemporary (chart)|Adult Contemporary]] chart.
===''Steppin' Out''===
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On September 11, 2010, Sedaka performed to a TV audience at the Hyde Park, London, venue of the "Proms in the Park" for the BBC.
In early 2011, Sedaka recorded two duets ("Brighton" and "[[The Immigrant (Neil Sedaka song)|The Immigrant]]") with singer Jim Van Slyke for Van Slyke's Neil Sedaka tribute album, ''The Sedaka Sessions''. LML Records released this album in August 2011.<ref>{{cite news|title=Jim Van Slyke Releases New Studio Recording "The Sedaka Sessions" (LML Music) August 9|url=http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/8/prweb8693613.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811091810/http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/8/prweb8693613.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 11, 2011|work=PRWeb|publisher=Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.|access-date=August 24, 2011}}</ref>
In 2010, Sedaka duetted with West End (London) and Broadway theatre legend [[Elaine Paige]], on their cover of "[[Make It With You]]", from Ms. Paige's UK CD release ''[[Elaine Paige and Friends]]''. The track was originally a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 pop charts for the soft-rock group [[Bread (band)|Bread]] in 1970.<ref>Source: Billboard.com/charts. Retrieved August 31, 2016.</ref> In 2014, Sedaka duetted with [[Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)|Engelbert Humperdinck]]. The pair recorded the title song from Sedaka's 1975 album ''[[The Hungry Years]]''. The track is from Engelbert's UK/USA CD release ''Engelbert Calling''.
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On February 1, 2016, Sedaka performed to a sold-out audience in [[The Villages]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Neil Sedaka brings back memories by playing from his rich songbook|date=February 2, 2016|url=http://www.villages-news.com/neil-sedaka-brings-back-memories-by-playing-from-his-rich-songbook/|publisher=Villages-News.com|access-date=February 24, 2016}}</ref> Then, on August 12, 2016, Sedaka released his new acoustic album, ''I Do It for Applause'', which includes 11 new tracks and a bonus of his first symphony that was debuted in Australia in 2008, "Joie de Vivre (Joy of Life)"; the recording features the [[London Philharmonia Orchestra]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://neilsedaka.com/|title=Neil Sedaka|website=Neilsedaka.com|date=April 13, 2013|access-date=June 14, 2021}}</ref>
In April 2020, Sedaka launched a series of free mini-concerts, released through his social media channels, as a method of entertaining his fans during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. Each daily concert features three songs from Sedaka's discography. Sedaka paused the series in December due to contracting COVID-19 himself, but resumed on a reduced schedule January 4, 2021, after recovering with no symptoms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2020/04/17/2007738/rediscovering-neil-sedaka|title=Rediscovering Neil Sedaka|first=Baby A.|last=Gil|website=Philstar.com|access-date=June 14, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0kxMlteS5g| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/j0kxMlteS5g| archive-date=November 7, 2021 | url-status=live|title=Today's Mini-Concert – 1/4/2021| date=January 4, 2021|access-date=June 14, 2021|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
==Personal life==
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Sedaka's nephew, through his marriage to Strassberg, is [[CNN|CNN Politics]] writer [[Harry Enten]].<ref>{{cite tweet|user=ForecasterEnten|first=Harry|last=Enten|number=898372160066121728|date=August 18, 2017|title=@kernals12 Yes, which is what makes it funny imho.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Unorthodox Live With FiveThirtyEight's Harry Enten and 'How to Be a Muslim' Author Haroon Moghul|url=http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/241818/unorthodox-episode-99-fivethirtyeight-harry-enten-haroon-moghul-how-to-be-a-muslim|website=Tablet Magazine|access-date=February 21, 2018|language=en}}</ref>
Sedaka underwent a procedure to remove a benign skin tumor from his nose in March 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw_Y9YK5UyQ| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/rw_Y9YK5UyQ| archive-date=November 7, 2021 | url-status=live|title=Today's Mini-Concert – 3/15/21| date=March 15, 2021|access-date=June 14, 2021|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
==Discography==
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