With scores of his singles, countless platinum and gold disks and more than five decades worth of recognition as one of pop music's legendary pioneers, Neil Sedaka's impressive track record continues to grow. His compositions have become standards that remain timeless.

It was classical piano study that shaped the musicianship of the young Neil Sedaka. At thirteen, the renowned Arthur Rubinstein voted him one of the finest classical pianists in the New York State high schools. Classical music has always remained a passion for Sedaka, but it was not where he chose to forge his legend.

Introduced by his mother, at the age of thirteen, to a neighbor named Howard Greenfield, the two crafted a songwriting career that is unmatched in the era of popular music.

“For a long period of time, we wrote a song a day,” Sedaka has said. Some songs, unfortunately, never made it out of the house; others managed to make their way around the world.

In the four years alone between 1959 and 1963, they sold over twenty-five million records.

Chart toppers like “Oh Carol,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “Calendar Girl,” “Little Devil,” “Where The Boys Are,” “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” “Next Door to an Angel,” “Stupid Cupid” and “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” have almost become part of our senses - songs that can instantly take us back to specific moments of our lives. These songs made Sedaka one of the original creators of The New York City Sound of the late 1950's and early 1060's - “The Brill Building Days,” glorious years when the Brill Building was the center of the Pop music world. But this was merely the First Act in a career that has not ceased to evolve and entertain.

The 1970's saw a renaissance in Sedaka's creativity the likes of which had previously been unheard of in popular music. Sedaka recorded two releases for Elton John's Rocket Record Label, and both “Sedaka's Back” and “The Hungry Years” became top selling albums. Two number One hits, “Bad Blood,” and the timeless ”Laughter in the Rain” heralded a comeback that also gave rise to the career of Captain and Tennille with the Grammy Award winning Record Of The Year, the worldwide Number One hit, ‘Love Will Keep Us Together.” “Solitaire” and “The Hungry Years” also helped cement his reputation as a continued songwriting force.

A career spanning five decades is a rarity, and also unique is “Should've Never Let You Go,” a Top Ten duet hit recorded with his daughter, Dara. And the Sedaka legacy does not end there. The 1990's has already seen the release of “Timeless - The Very Best of Neil Sedaka,” containing both old and new songs, and sales of over 500,000 copies, earning Neil a Platinum Album.

As the author of more than 1,000 songs, the accolades showered on Neil Sedaka have been numerous - a street named after him in his hometown Brooklyn, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, induction into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, but they all can serve as perfunctory recognition to a truly amazing body of work that continues to grow and never ceases to entertain.

Live performance has always been a hallmark of the Sedaka career, and over forty years of performing has taken him to the most hallowed and respected venues imaginable. London 's Royal Albert Hall has always been a favorite and his appeal in England has only grown over the years. His live performances, frequently with a full orchestra, continue to be enormous draws in Las Vegas , Reno and Atlantic City .

Neil has been married for thirty-four years to his wife, Leba, and they have two children, Dara, who is a recording artist and vocalist for TV and radio commercials, and Marc, who is a successful screenwriter in Los Angeles .

This year found Neil embarking on a marriage of an entirely different sort, a return to the classical roots of his early years - Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Tchailkovsky, just to name a few - with original romantic lyrics composed by Neil himself. The collection is entitled “Classically Sedaka.” He has already performed the songs with several symphonies across America , including The Richmond Symphony, The Jacksonville Symphony, The National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center and most recently Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops. Both the audience and critical response have been phenomenal. Since its release, “Classically Sedaka” has earned him a gold record in Europe .

Clearly Neil Sedaka never ceases to amaze us. He has written an autobiography entitled Laughter In The Rain for Putnam Books, and currently in development is a two-hour TV film in development about his meeting and courting Leba - encompassing the years 1958 through 1962 as well as a Broadway show entitled “Moscow Nights” - a love story that will revolve around the selections from “Classical Sedaka”.

These will no doubt add to his legend - that of a consummate musician, an extraordinary vocalist, and an ageless songwriting giant.