尼尔·塞达卡（Neil Sedaka）去世，享年86岁，其热门歌曲包括《雨中欢笑》

Neil Sedaka, singer whose hits included “Laughter in the Rain,” dies at 86

Updated on: February 27, 2026 / 5:51 PM EST / CBS/AP

Neil Sedaka, the prominent singer-songwriter whose string of hits in the 1960s and ’70s included “Laughter in the Rain,” “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” and “Calendar Girl,” has died, a representative confirmed to CBS News on Friday. He was 86.

“Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka,” a statement from the family read. “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.”

A cause of death was not immediately available.

Singer Neil Sedaka performs onstage at Saban Theatre on April 5, 2019, in Beverly Hills, California. Scott Dudelson / Getty Images

Sedaka was a Juilliard-trained, Brooklyn-born son of a Jewish taxi driver who began performing as a teen and kept at it for decades. At 9 years old, Sedaka had already begun intensive classical piano training at the Juilliard School.

A key member of the Brill Building songwriting factory, Sedaka teamed with lyricist and boyhood neighbor Howard Greenfield on songs that reflected the teen innocence of the post-Elvis/pre-Beatles era of the late 1950s-early 1960s, including “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” “Calendar Girl” and “Oh! Carol,” a lament for his high school sweetheart, Carole King.

After a long dry spell, he reemerged with such smashes as “Laughter in the Rain” and “Bad Blood.” The Captain & Tennille’s cover of his “Love Will Keep Us Together” was a chart-topper in 1975.

Sedaka told “CBS This Morning” in 2012 that Elton John rediscovered him in the ’70s when he was trying to start his record company.

Of the time between jobs, Sedaka said, “The creative mind is still working and it’s a drive. You have you to prove yourself each time. You have to raise the level of Neil Sedaka. You have to top yourself.”

Singer Neil Sedaka and wife Leba Strassberg attend the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival closing night film premiere of “Jersey Boys” at Premiere House on June 19, 2014. Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Sedaka was nominated for five Grammy awards throughout his career.

He still played dozens of concerts a year well into his 80s. Sedaka retained the enthusiasm and broad vocal range of his youth and never tired of the standards he had sung hundreds of times.

“Past 70, Pavarotti told me the vocal cords are not what they used to be. I’m very fortunate that my voice has held,” he told The Associated Press in 2012. “It’s nice to be a legend, but it’s better to be a working legend.”

Sedaka’s songs sold millions worldwide and have been covered by a range of performers, from Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra to The 5th Dimension and Nickelback.

Sedaka helped propel the career of Connie Francis with “Stupid Cupid” and “Where the Boys Are,” the latter for the soundtrack of the movie with the same name. The Captain & Tennille received a best-album Grammy thanks largely to “Love Will Keep Us Together” and included a nod to Sedaka at the end of the song, when Toni Tennille exclaimed: “Sedaka’s back!”

Sedaka is survived by his wife, Leba Strassberg, whom he married in 1962, and his two children, Dara and Marc.

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