Neil Sedaka has died at the age of 86.
The legendary singer first shot to stardom with hits like Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, Calendar Girl and Oh! Carol.
“Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka,” the Sedaka family said in a statement to People.
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Singer Neil Sedaka, who has died, in 2014. (Getty)
“A true rock and roll legend, an inspiration to millions, but most importantly, at least to those of us who were lucky enough to know him, an incredible human being who will be deeply missed.”
The Grammy-nominated star was taken to hospital in an ambulance yesterday, before passing away.
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American journalist and former editor of Billboard magazine, Fred Bronson paid tribute to his “dear friend” in a tweet, saying Sedaka “made the world a better place.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1939, Sedaka was a music prodigy.
He attended the Juilliard School of Music’s preparatory division for children before moving from classical training to pop songwriting as a teenager.
“My parents told me that when I was an infant, I wouldn’t eat until the radio was playing music,” he said in his 2014 BBC documentary, Neil Sedaka: King of Song.
The star’s teenage career began behind the scenes. Alongside lyricist Howard Greenfield, Sedaka penned hits for other artists before breaking through as a performer in his own right in the late 1950s.
Sedaka was mentored by pianist Arthur Rubinstein, who voted him the best New York high school pianist at age 16. (Peter Kevin Solness/Fairfax Medi)
Neil Sedaka at the Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards ceremony in 2003. (Getty)
Moving into pop music, Sedaka scored a string of successful songs, including Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, which he famously re-recorded in a slower arrangement in the 1970s, becoming one of the few artists to have two distinct versions of the same song reach the US Top 10.
After the initial wave of teen idol fame waned, Sedaka reinvented himself as a songwriter and producer.
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In 1962, the singer married Carole Klein, divorcing in 1973. He married Leba Strassberg just one year later, with whom he remained until his death
He later staged a major comeback in the mid-1970s with hits such as Laughter in the Rain and Bad Blood, which featured uncredited backing vocals by Elton John. Notably, the latter song topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975.
Neil Sedaka and his second wife, Leba Strassberg. (Getty)
“First, his songs have clever lyrics and wonderfully infectious tunes,” The New York Times wrote in 1976.
“Second, his melodies have just enough soft‐rock and rhythm and blues underpinnings to avoid bonelessness. Third, he leavens the cheeriness with sentimentality more innocent than crass. Fourth, he has [a] remarkable voice — a sweetly mellow, evocative high tenor that shades imperceptibly into falsetto.”
Sedaka was an original member of The Tokens, a Brooklyn-based vocal group formed in 1956. (Nine)
Throughout his career, Sedaka sold millions of records worldwide, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978 and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983. He was recognised for helping shape the sound of early rock and pop.
Sedaka is survived by his wife, Leba, their two children, daughter Dara and son Marc and grandchildren.
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