미 싱어송라이터 닐 세다카 86세로 서거Neil Sedaka, 'Breaking Up Is Hard to Do' Singer, Dead

[정승남세기영어교육연구회장]

Neil Sedaka, 'Breaking Up Is Hard to Do' Singer, Dead at 86

미 싱어송라이터 닐 세다카 86세로 서거

"오! 캐럴" 등 60~70년대 풍미한 노래 다수 작곡

80대 들어서도 매년 수십 차례 공연 왕성한 활동

A prolific songwriter, he composed hit songs by the Carpenters, Captain & Tennille, ABBA and many more

다작의 작곡가인 그는 카펜터스, 캡틴 앤 테닐, ABBA 등의 히트곡을 작곡했습니다

Victoria Edel, Sarah Michaud

https://youtu.be/j9OZTlJPEbI?si=HX7UgP3N27pAO6YN

Sat, February 28, 2026 at 6:57 AM GMT+9 Yahoo

Neil Sedaka in December 1982.

Credit: Kevin Solness/Fairfax Media via Getty

Neil Sedaka has died at the age of 86. Sedaka first enjoyed success in the 1950s and 1960s with hits like "Oh! Carol,” "Calendar Girl” and "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen.” He had a career revival in the 1970s, and was also a prolific songwriter, composing hits for other performers, like “Stupid Cupid” and “Love Will Keep Us Together.”

"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. "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."

Sedaka was taken to the hospital Friday morning and died later in the day. TMZ was first to report the news.

Sedaka was in Brooklyn in 1939. Growing up in Brighton Beach, he learned to play piano after a music teacher noticed his talent and wrote a note to his parents urging them to buy a piano. He was part of Juilliard's children’s prep program.

“[I was] not accepted socially in Brooklyn,” he told PEOPLE in 1975. “I was very little, wore braces and glasses and did not play baseball. I thought that the way to get invited to parties would be to write and sing pop music.”

Neil Sedaka in 1955.

Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty

At 13, he met lyricist Howard Greenfield, who was three years his senior, and they teamed up to write songs together. After graduating from high school, Sedaka formed a band called The Linc-Tones that had some success, but he ultimately left the group.

He and Greenfield kept writing songs at the legendary Brill Building, while Sedaka also pursued a solo career. Singer Connie Francis released their song “Stupid Cupid” in 1958, and it became one of her first hits. Sedaka also released his first solo single, "The Diary,” inspired by Francis, that year.

Neil Sedaka in 1968.

Credit: GAB Archive/Redferns

A bigger hit was his 1959 song "Oh! Carol" — the title was a reference to songwriter Carole King, whom he’d dated in high school. He continued to enjoy chart success in the early 1960s with songs like "Stairway to Heaven,” “Calendar Girl,” "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen” and “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do," which hit No. 1 and became his signature song.

Sedaka and Greenfield wrote more songs for Francis, including "Fallin'" and “Where the Boys Are.” They also wrote hits for Jimmy Clanton, including "Another Sleepless Night" and "What Am I Gonna Do?”

Neil Sedaka in 1973.

Credit: David Redfern/Redferns

“I have a theory that there are three kinds of songwriting,” Sedaka told Billboard in 2010. “The emotional is when you go through some trauma and get it out on the page. The intellectual writing is when you have a tune in your head spinning around for many years and you almost rewrite it. And the last is spiritual writing, which is something that comes from a higher power that kind of writes itself and you’re channeling.”

However, in the mid 1960s, The Beatles brought the British Invasion to the U.S. and pushed the music of Sedaka and his contemporaries off the charts. But even though he had less success as a singer during the back half of the decade, he kept writing songs for others, including The Monkees and The 5th Dimension.

Neil Sedaka in London in 1976.

Credit: David Redfern/Redferns/Getty

Of his career low, he told CBS in 2012, "The creative mind is still working, and it's a drive. You have to prove yourself each time. You have to raise the level of Neil Sedaka. You have to top yourself."

After the failure of his 1971 album Emergence, Sedaka moved to the UK. His 1973 album The Tra-La Days Are Over contained “Love Will Keep Us Together,” which would become a No. 1 hit for Captain & Tennille two years later. Sedaka also cowrote the song "Ring Ring" for ABBA, and it became the band's first global hit and the title song of their 1973 debut album.

Neil Sedaka in London in April 1992.

Credit: Ian Dickson/Redferns

Sedaka also connected with Elton John, who was a major fan. He signed Sedaka to his label Rocket Record Company, Limited and they plotted a U.S. comeback. “He absolutely re-invented my career,” Sedaka told Forward in 2012.

They released Sedaka's Back in 1974, composed of songs from his albums that had been released only in the U.K. He hit No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 again with "Laughter in the Rain" in 1974. His song “Bad Blood” also hit No. 1 the next year, and he brought a slowed-down remake of his earlier hit "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" into the Top 10.

Neil Sedaka in New York City in October 2005.

Credit: Evan Agostini/Getty

Overall, Sedaka released more than 25 studio albums. He was a five-time Grammy nominee, and in 1983 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978, and a street in Brighton Beach was renamed “Neil Sedaka Way” in his honor. The singer-songwriter continued to perform into his later years, often posting videos on his Instagram.

Of his long-lasting career, he told Syracuse.com in 2011, “I work very hard for it. It’s more than luck. I think it’s really trying to fit into the culture of the time. You try to be as contemporary as you can. I can’t change the voice.”

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WGHP Greensboro

Legendary singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka dies at 86, family says: ‘True rock and roll legend’

Dolan Reynolds

Sat, February 28, 2026 at 7:18 AM GMT+9 Yahoo

NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 25: Neil Sedaka during the Champions For Change Gala at The Plaza Hotel on October 25, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Gonzalo Marroquin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Singers Olivia Newton-John and Neil Sedaka performing in a BBC television studio, circa 1971. (Photo by Warwick Bedford/Radio Times via Getty Images)

American singer-songwriter and pianist, Neil Sedaka, playing the piano and singing into a microphone during a live concert performance, circa 1973. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images)

Neil Sedaka performing on stage at Royal Albert Hall, London, 01 April 1992. (Photo by Ian Dickson/Redferns)

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 06: Singer Neil Sedaka performs onstage at Saban Theatre on April 05, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 18: Neil Sedaka performs live on stage at the Royal Albert Hall on September 18, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Robin Little/Redferns)

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ – AUGUST 11: Neil Sedaka performs at State Theater on August 11, 2017 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. (Photo by Bobby Bank/Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 18: Neil Sedaka performs live on stage at the Royal Albert Hall on September 18, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Robin Little/Redferns)

Neil Sedaka, U.S. pianist and singer-songwriter, holding his hands in the air to greet the audience during a live concert performance at the New Victoria Theatre in London, England, Great Britain, circa 1976. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 25: Neil Sedaka during the Champions For Change Gala at The Plaza Hotel on October 25, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Gonzalo Marroquin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

(WGHP) — Legendary singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka has died at 86, according to his family.

He is most known for the hits “Calendar Girl,” “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” “Laughter in the Rain” and “Bad Blood” with Elton John.

His family posted the following statement on social media:

Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka. 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.

He was nominated for five Grammys over the 60 years he worked as a musician. He was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978 and inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983.

Sedaka was born in Brooklyn in 1939 and died in Los Angeles on Friday.

He had three No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and nine in the Top 10 from the early-’60s to mid-’70s.

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미 싱어송라이터 닐 세다카 86세로 서거

강영진 기자2026. 2. 28. 10:16 뉴시스

"오! 캐럴" 등 60~70년대 풍미한 노래 다수 작곡

80대 들어서도 매년 수십 차례 공연 왕성한 활동

[AP/뉴시스]27일(현지시각) 뉴욕 자택에서 서거한 미국의 전설적 싱어송라이터 닐 세다카의 2012년 모습. 2026.2.28.

[뉴욕=AP/뉴시스] 강영진 기자 = 1960~70년대 큰 인기를 끌었고 최근까지도 왕성한 공연활동을 펴온 미국의 싱어송라이터 닐 세다카가 27일(현지시각) 86세로 서거했다.

세다카의 가족은 성명에서 그의 서거 소식을 전했다.

세다카는 "헤어지기는 정말 어려워(Breaking Up Is Hard to Do)" "빗속의 웃음(Laughter in the Rain)" “오! 캐럴(Oh! Carol)” 등 수많은 히트콕을 남겼다.

세다카는 비틀스 이전인 1950년대 후반과 1960년대 초반 10대의 감성을 담은 곡들을 발표했다. "해피 버스데이 스위트 식스틴(Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen)" "캘린더 걸(Calendar Girl)", 고등학교 시절 연인이었던 캐럴 킹을 그리는 "오! 캐럴(Oh! Carol)" 등이 대표적이다.

긴 침체기를 거친 후, 1970년대 복귀한 그는 "래프터 인 더 레인"과 "배드 블러드(Bad Blood)" 같은 대히트곡들을 잇달아 발표했다.

작은 체구에 검은 머리, 환한 미소와 높은 음성의 목소리를 가진 그는 유대인 택시 운전사의 아들로 브루클린에서 태어나 줄리아드에서 교육받았으며, 십 대 때 공연을 시작해 수십 년 동안 활동을 지속했다.

세다카는 80대에 접어들어서도 매년 수십 차례의 콘서트를 열었다.

세다카의 노래들은 전 세계적으로 수백만 장이 팔렸으며 엘비스 프레슬리와 프랭크 시나트라 등 유명 가수들이 불렀다.

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