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. 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. Gormé's mother was of Lebanese Jewish descent. His father's cousin, Rachel Gorman (née Cohen), daughter of Isaac Cohen and Calo Cohen (née Sedaca or Sedaka), was married to Morris Gorman (né Garmezano paternal uncle to singer Eydie Gormé). Sedaka's mother, Eleanor (née Appel), was an Ashkenazi Jew of Polish and Russian descent. Sedaka's paternal grandparents came to the United States from Istanbul in 1910. His father, Mordechai "Mac" Sedaka, was a taxi driver of Sephardi Jewish descent from Turkey.
He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983 and continues to perform, mounting mini-concerts on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic.Įarly life: Juilliard and the Brill Building 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). His popularity declined by the mid-1960s, but was revived in the mid-1970s, solidified by the 1975 US Billboard Hot 100 number ones " Laughter in the Rain" and " Bad Blood". 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 "Howie" Greenfield and Phil Cody.Īfter 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). Neil Sedaka ( / s ə ˈ d æ k ə/ born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist.
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