Neil Sedakas Last Smile Before Passing at 86

He also served as a guest judge on season two of American Idol.

'I think the reason that my music is so special is it was a combination of show music, pop music, evergreen standards and rock. It’s like me and Phil Cody and Carole Sager and Howie Greenfield — we had a combination of all of those styles,' he told The Morning Call in 2019. 

'I saw Stevie Wonder not long ago on television and he was asked, "Who is your inspiration?" And he said, "Neil Sedaka. They used to call me ‘Whitey’ in Detroit because I liked and played Neil Sedaka record."'

Sedaka married wife Leba Strassberg in 1962. Together they welcomed two children: Dara and Marc.

Sedaka grew up with a taxi driver father and his parents struggled to make ends meet.

His mother worked a second job to save up for a piano so her son could practice when in the second grade after his teacher noticed he had talent.

The move paid off: 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.

'Without blowing my own horn, I have the musical training. I studied many, many years,' he told The Morning Call. 'Matter of fact, in 1956, Arthur Rubinstein, the great pianist, chose me [to be] on a radio program, and I won as the best New York City high school pianist. I was 16 years old.' 

He started writing pop songs at age 13 with a poet neighbor. His first hit was 1961's Calendar Girl.

Other early hits were Little Devil, Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen and Next Door to an Angel.

The year 1962 was one of the most successful of Sedaka's career, with Breaking Up Is Hard To Do reaching number one and Next Door to an Angel getting to number five.

'I had to keep pinching myself to believe it,' he told Rolling Stone in 1975 of Breaking Up Is Hard To Do's success, according to the New York Times. 

Sedaka financed the recording, production, and distribution of new CDs and repackaging of his existing catalog of music through his own business, Neil Sedaka Music.

Because of disputes with RCA Records over the ownership of his original hits from the late 1950s and early 1960s, Sedaka in 1991 re-recorded those tunes.

at the beginning of his career due to his management. 

'Having an inadequate manager at the beginning of my career in 1958. I lost a lot of potential money and exposure. My wife Leba later took over and does an excellent job.'