When All of America Sang Along With Him – Then Forgot Him, Then Remembered Again
I still remember the first time I heard the name Neil Sedaka. Not from a music history book, but from melodies so familiar they felt like they had existed long before I was born. Gentle, crystal-clear songs that seemed to be telling your own story. That was Sedaka’s secret.
He once said:
“A hit song usually makes the listener feel like it’s their own life.”
Neil Sedaka was born in Brooklyn, New York. From a very young age, his talent was impossible to ignore. At just nine years old, he received a scholarship to the preparatory division of Juilliard, a school known for training some of the finest musical talents. Sedaka often called himself a “musical prodigy,” and in truth, it wasn’t an exaggeration.
At thirteen, his life took a decisive turn when he met Howard Greenfield, a boy who lived in the same apartment building. One wrote the music, the other wrote the lyrics. Together, they soon began creating songs that captivated teenage America.
One of them was “Oh! Carol.”
The story behind the song is just as charming. Sedaka once dated a young woman named Carole King. He later joked that the relationship lasted “about two minutes,” but it left enough of an impression for him to write the famous song.
By the early 1960s, Sedaka was nearly dominating the airwaves. His teenage pop hits appeared one after another. In 1962, he scored a number-one hit. At one point, while driving in his car, he turned on the radio and heard “Oh! Carol” playing simultaneously on three different stations.
A superstar had arrived.
But music never stands still. And in 1963, a band from England appeared.
Their name was The Beatles.
The new wave of rock suddenly made Sedaka’s bright, cheerful pop sound outdated. In what felt like an instant, a star at the peak of his fame became “a voice from the past” at just twenty-four years old.
For thirteen years, his name nearly disappeared from the charts. No hits. No airplay. Hardly anyone mentioned him.
Then one evening in England, at a party, Sedaka met a rising young musician: Elton John.
Elton told him something simple:
“You know, I can make you a star again.”
In 1974, Elton John’s record label released the album “Sedaka’s Back.” And just like the title promised, he truly returned. The song “Laughter in the Rain” quickly climbed to the top of the charts, ending more than a decade of silence.
One of the songs he wrote even became an even bigger hit when it was recorded by Captain & Tennille.
His income jumped from $50,000 a year to $6 million in just a single year.
Sedaka’s career had entered its second act.
In 1976, he did something rare: he re-recorded a slower ballad version of “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.” And the song… climbed the charts all over again.
One song. Two hit versions.
Last Friday, after 70 years of making music, Neil Sedaka passed away at the age of 86.
But for him, songwriting was never just a profession. He once described it as something almost spiritual.
“Sometimes you feel chosen. You have to sit very still, because the song seems to be writing itself. It comes through your throat, through your fingers.”
A mysterious, beautiful feeling.
And perhaps that’s why those melodies are still here with us.