BMI Remembers Pop Legend Neil Sedaka

Posted in News on March 2, 2026

BMI was tremendously saddened to learn of the passing of legendary pop singer/songwriter Neil Sedaka, who died Friday at the age of 86. A veteran of the Brill Building generation of prolific songwriters in the early ‘60s along with Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill, Sedaka was a world-renowned artist whose remarkable career spanned six decades.

Brooklyn-born Sedaka distinguished himself as a musically gifted teen who earned a piano scholarship to Juilliard. While studying classical piano, he became smitten by the burgeoning pop sounds of the late ‘50s. Shortly afterwards, Sedaka formed a creative partnership with fellow pop fan and aspiring songwriter Howard Greenfield and the duo joined the ranks of Brill Building composers.

After briefly singing with doo-wop group, The Tokens, Sedaka signed with RCA Victor Records, initially writing songs with Greenfield for other artists before Sedaka started recording them for his own solo career. During this prolific period, the pair penned songs like “The Diary,” “I Go Ape,” “Crying My Heart Out for You,” “Oh! Carol,” “One Way Ticket,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “You Mean Everything to Me,” “Run, Samson, Run,” “Calendar Girl,” “Little Devil,” “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen” and his signature song, “Breaking Up is Hard to Do.” Additionally, Sedaka and Greenfield also wrote songs for artist Connie Francis, including “Stupid Cupid” and “Where the Boys Are.”

Sedaka enjoyed further success in the ‘70s, with chart-topping, era-defining hit singles like “Laughing in the Rain” and “Bad Blood.” During this time, his song “Solitaire” became a hit for The Carpenters, while The Captain & Tennille had their biggest hit with Sedaka’s “Love Will Keep Us Together” in 1975.

During the course of his career, Sedaka earned five GRAMMY nominations and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983. He won 21 BMI Awards, and he was the first artist to receive six BMI Awards in one year, in 1975, for having 400,000+ airplays per song. That same year, he won the BMI Award for Most Performed Song of the Year for “Love Will Keep Us Together.”

Neil Sedaka will be deeply missed by his friends, fans and family at BMI.

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