Singer of “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do,” “Laughter In The Rain” also wrote 3 Z Gundam songs
Image via Neil Sedaka’s Facebook page
© Neil Sedaka
The family of prolific singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka announced on Friday that he suddenly died earlier in the day in Los Angeles. He was 86.
Sedaka wrote and sang nine U.S. Top 10 songs, including three that went all the way to the top: “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do,” “Laughter in the Rain,” and “Bad Blood.” He also wrote popular hits for other artists such as Captain & Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together,” and eventually worked on U.S. Top 20 songs in five different decades. He received five Grammy nominations and a star on the Hollywood Hall of Fame, and later entered the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983.
Sedaka was born in Brooklyn on March 13, 1939. He attended the Julliard School of Music, and co-wrote songs for Connie Francis (“Stupid Cupid,” “Where the Boys Are”) before securing his own recording contract.
For the Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam television anime series, he composed the melodies in the first opening theme song “Zeta – Toki o Koete” (Zeta – Transcending Times, originally known as “Better Days Are Coming”), the second opening theme song “Mizu no Hoshi e Ai o Komete” (From an Aqueous Star with Love, from the unreleased song “For Us to Decide”), and the ending theme song “Hoshizora no Believe” (Believe in the Starry Sky, originally known as “Bad and Beautiful”). The Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin: Advent of the Red Comet television broadcast would later use Sugizo and KOM_I’s cover of “Mizu no Hoshi e Ai o Komete.”
Sedaka is survived by his wife Leba Strassberg, two children (including his daughter Dara Sedaka who sang the Queen Millennia Movie’s ending theme song “Angel Queen”), and grandchildren.
Sources: Neil Sedaka’s Facebook page, Variety, Deadline
