In what would be his last public sighting, the iconic\u00a0singer-songwriter smiled and waved while heading for dinner at\u00a0Craig\u2019s restaurant in\u00a0Los Angeles<\/span>\u00a0on February 25.<\/p>\n He was said to be \u2018in good spirits\u2019 according to photographers who captured his last outing.<\/p>\n Sedaka was a loyal patron of the eatery, often seen stopping by for a bite to eat.<\/p>\n The famed 1960s and 1970s\u00a0singer died on Friday<\/span>\u00a0after he was rushed to the hospital.\u00a0Sedaka\u2019s family confirmed the news in a statement obtained by The Daily Mail.<\/p>\n \u2018Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka,\u2019 they said.<\/p>\n Neil Sedaka was pictured smiling while heading to grab dinner at Craig\u2019s restaurant in Los Angeles on February 25, just two days before his death at the age of 86<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018A 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.\u2019<\/p>\n Sedaka was taken to the hospital in an ambulance after he woke up Friday morning feeling unwell according to\u00a0TMZ.<\/p>\n The velvet-voiced Grammy-nominated Sedaka got his start in the 1950s with the band The Tokens.<\/p>\n He is best known for the catchy 1960s tune Breaking Up Is Hard To Do which he recorded after he became a solo artist.<\/p>\n The Brighton Beach, New York native also sang Oh! Carol and Calendar Girl which skyrocketed on the charts.<\/p>\n He had two big hits in the 1970s with the beloved singles Laughter In The Rain and Bad Blood, the former of which helped revitalize his career.<\/p>\n \u2018It revived my career for a bunch of people who had never heard of me,\u2019 he\u00a0previously said of the track.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sedaka was nominated for five Grammy awards throughout his career and was inducted\u00a0into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983.<\/p>\n The star is a prolific songwriter who has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists.<\/p>\n Sedaka was a loyal patron of the eatery, often seen stopping by for a bite to eat; Pictured outside the restaurant in 2022<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The famed 1960s and 1970s singer died on Friday after he was taken to the hospital in an ambulance; Seen in the 1970s<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sedaka, pictured 1960, is the voice behind Breaking Up Is Hard To Do and Laughter In The Rain<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He was nominated for five Grammy awards throughout his career and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983; Seen in 1964<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Some of the top songs Sedaka wrote for other stars include Stupid Cupid for Connie Francis, Is This the Way To Amarillo for Tony Christie and Love Will Keep Us Together for Captain & Tennille.<\/p>\n He also served as a guest judge on season two of American Idol.<\/p>\n \u2018I think the reason that my music is so special is it was a combination of show music, pop music, evergreen standards and rock. It\u2019s\u00a0like me and Phil Cody and Carole Sager and Howie Greenfield \u2014 we had a combination of all of those styles,\u2019 he told\u00a0The Morning Call\u00a0in 2019.<\/p>\n \u2018I saw Stevie Wonder not long ago on television and he was asked, \u201cWho is your inspiration?\u201d And he said, \u201cNeil Sedaka. They used to call me \u2018Whitey\u2019 in Detroit because I liked and played Neil Sedaka record.\u201d\u2018<\/p>\n Sedaka married wife\u00a0Leba Strassberg in 1962. Together they welcomed two children: Dara and Marc.<\/p>\n Sedaka grew up with a taxi driver father and his parents struggled to make ends meet.<\/p>\n His mother worked\u00a0a 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.<\/p>\n The move paid off: In 1947, he auditioned successfully for a piano scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music\u2019s Preparatory Division for Children, which he attended on Saturdays.<\/p>\n \u2018Without blowing my own horn, I have the musical training. I studied many, many years,\u2019 he told The Morning Call. \u2018Matter 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\u00a0City high school pianist. I was 16 years old.\u2019<\/p>\n He started writing pop songs at age 13 with a poet neighbor. His first hit was 1961\u2019s Calendar Girl.<\/p>\n The star pictured during the Men\u2019s Singles Quarterfinal match between Andrey Rublev and Frances Tiafoe of the United States on Day Ten of the 2022 US Open<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sedaka, wife Leba Strassberg, daughter Dara Sedaka and son Marc Sedaka at the Sweet 16 Party for Dara Sedaka in NYC in 1979<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Other early hits were Little Devil, Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen and Next Door to an Angel.<\/p>\n The year 1962 was one of the most successful of Sedaka\u2019s career, with Breaking Up Is Hard To Do reaching number one and Next Door to an Angel getting to number five.<\/p>\n \u2018I had to keep pinching myself to believe it,\u2019 he told Rolling Stone in 1975 of Breaking Up Is Hard To Do\u2019s success, according\u00a0to the\u00a0New York Times.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Sedaka has said he lost opportunities\u00a0<\/span>at the beginning of his career due to his management.<\/p>\n \u2018Having 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\u00a0does an excellent job.\u2019<\/p>\n Neil Sedaka was pictured grabbing dinner just two days before his death at the age of 86. In what would be his last public sighting, the iconic\u00a0singer-songwriter… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7770,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7768\/revisions\/7770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Neil](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2026\/02\/28\/02\/106744009-15600625-Neil_Sedaka_was_pictured_smiling_while_heading_to_grab_dinner_at-a-1_1772247163525.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Sedaka](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2026\/02\/28\/02\/106744011-15600625-Sedaka_was_a_loyal_patron_of_the_eatery_often_seen_stopping_by_f-a-2_1772247163745.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2026\/02\/27\/21\/106738063-15600313-TMZ_has_claimed_the_crooner_woke_up_not_feeling_well_so_paramedi-a-1_1772229529281.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Sedaka,](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2026\/02\/28\/02\/106741947-15600625-Sedaka_pictured_1960_is_the_voice_behind_Breaking_Up_Is_Hard_To_-a-4_1772247163926.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"He](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2026\/02\/28\/02\/106738051-15600625-He_was_nominated_for_five_Grammy_awards_throughout_his_career_an-a-3_1772247163895.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2026\/02\/28\/02\/106738057-15600625-The_star_pictured_during_the_Men_s_Singles_Quarterfinal_match_be-a-5_1772247164034.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Sedaka,](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2026\/02\/27\/23\/106738053-15600313-Sedaka_wife_Leba_Strassberg_daughter_Dara_Sedaka_and_son_Marc_Se-a-2_1772233554819.jpg\")
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