Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award

Neil Sedaka

Over the past 45 years, Neil Sedaka’s songwriting and recordings have helped change the face of popular music. With a lengthy list of hit singles, and platinum and gold records, Sedaka is recognized as one of rock and pop music's pioneers. Sedaka and his longtime songwriting partner, the late Howard Greenfield, were among the architects of what came to be known as the "Brill Building Sound" in the late Fifties and early Sixties. Among Sedaka's huge catalogue of compositions are such hits as "Where the Boys Are" and "Stupid Cupid" (both for Connie Francis); "Love Will Keep Us Together" (The Captain & Tennille); and "Solitaire" (The Carpenters, Clay Aiken). Neil Sedaka has also proven to be one of his own best interpreters, having scaled the charts with "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (two different versions); "Stairway to Heaven," "Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen," "Calendar Girl", "Laughter in the Rain," and "Bad Blood." The list of artists who have recorded versions of Sedaka songs ranges from Carole King, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones and The Fifth Dimension to Sheryl Crow, Cher, Abba and the Monkees.