March 13

Composer, singer and pianist Neil Sedaka was born on March 13, 1939, in Brooklyn. After high school, he formed a band with some classmates called The Tokens and eventually scored a No. 1 hit with the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (1961). His first domestic Top 10 hit occurred in 1959 with “Oh! Carol!” written for his girlfriend and fellow Brill Building composer, Carole Klein, who became pop star Carole King. In the early 1960s his songs kept charting, including: "Stairway to Heaven" (No. 9, 1960), "Calendar Girl" (No. 4, 1961), "Little Devil" (No. 11, 1961), "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" (No. 6, 1961), his signature song "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (No. 1, 1962), and "Next Door to an Angel" (No. 5, 1962). As a prolific chart-topper, he made numerous appearances on TV programs that included “American Bandstand” and “Shindig!” Unstoppable, he scored another No. 1 hit in 1975 with “Laughter in the Rain.”