This former adolescent music sensation is now a devoted grandfather who enjoys spending time with his twin granddaughters.

When Neil Sedaka, then 13 years old, teamed up with then 16-year-old Howard Greenfield, no one could have predicted that the pair would write some of the most memorable songs of all time, including Connie Francis’ Stupid Cupid and Captain & Tenille’s Love Will Keep Us Together.Sedaka once recalled their poor beginnings, saying, “We had a cubicle with a piano and a bench but no window.” “You only got a window room after you had a hit song,” he said,

adding that the two were earning $50 a week. “Every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., we’d write and then play what we’d written to record label executives.” It was difficult, but it was excellent training.” Their window room was released alongside the chart-topping single Oh! Carol.Sedaka and Greenfield collaborated until the mid-1970s.

Unfortunately, Greenfield, an openly gay guy, died of AIDS. Around that time, Sedaka quit the Tokens, a band formed by members of his high school’s band, the Linc-Tones. He achieved this in 1961, the year many believe to be the pinnacle of their success, with the singles The Lion Sleeps Tonight and Tonight I Fell in Love.

He went on to have success as a solo singer, with hits like The Diary and Calendar Girl. Sedaka fell in love with the woman of his dreams, Leba Strassberg, the instant he saw her during a performance at the now-defunct Esther Manor resort in New York’s Catskill Mountains. Her mother was a co-owner of the restaurant, and she despised the prospect of her daughter dating a terrible musician.

But Leba’s mother’s hostility toward the connection paled in comparison to Sedaka’s mother, Eleanor, who made his life a living hell.His mother would ride roller coasters even while pregnant with Sedaka in order to induce miscarriage. She also wanted him to be a classical pianist rather than a pop star. “She quickly changed her mind when I received a royalty cheque for $62,000 for “Stupid Cupid,” Sedaka explained.

“My father was a taxi driver who never made more than $10,000 a year.” Unfortunately, he made a mistake by allowing his mother and her partner to oversee his finances. “My father knew about him and accepted him, so I did after the initial shock.” In a way, I understood it. My parents shared two rooms with nine other relatives; my father was frugal, whereas the other man lavished her with jewelry and furs and chauffeured her around.”

“Only they were living the high life on my money,” he said. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent. I couldn’t even pay my taxes. My wife and I had to start over.” After he fired his mother’s lover and Eleanor nearly overdosed on drugs “because she couldn’t stand seeing her son and her lover at odds,” Sedaka’s wife took over as his manager.

However, just as it appeared like he was about to make it even bigger, The Beatles arrived on the scene and completely overshadowed everyone else, including Sedaka. He continued to write songs for other people and relocated to London with his wife and two children. Sedaka rose to fame once more with the release of Sedaka’s Back, the first of three albums he worked on with Elton John.

In 1983, Sedaka was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His music has made many people happy over the years, and as much as he enjoys bringing joy to his listeners, his family is at the top of his priority list. When asked about his wife, the singer-songwriter responds, “I was born married… If you’re lucky enough to have a friend who does it for you, that’s a wonderful gift.”

He and his wife are grandparents to three children and enjoy their roles as grandparents. “I could have been bigger but I wasn’t controversial enough,” he says of his career. I didn’t do drugs or go to wrecking yards. There were no dramas in my personal life…I had talent and a desire for celebrity, and you can’t say I didn’t receive it.”

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