61 Quotes by Neil Sedaka

I rode on a plane a couple years ago with Snow Patrol and didn't know who the hell they were. They said they were big fans of mine and were playing Madison Square Garden. And they let me listen to one of their records on their iPod. I started to weep.

I was a teenage idol, but not the one that the girls would put up on their walls, like Fabian and Frankie Avalon. I was more cerebral, like a Roy Orbison or a Buddy Holly. I was one of the few who could write songs.

Much of my music is inspired by what I heard at picnics and weddings and bar mitzvahs.

Andy Warhol was a good friend of mine. We used to go to the Studio 54 nightclub together with the likes of Liza Minnelli, and we'd dance through the night.

My teachers said, 'Always keep a Beethoven sonata under your fingers.' I always have. I still play chamber music, and I always play classical.

Tra-la-las and doo-be-do's became a Neil Sedaka trademark. I was the king of the tra-la-las and doo-be-do's in the '50s and '60s. But then when I re-recorded 'Breaking Up,' I started with a verse instead of the doo-be-do's!

I'm not afraid of poking fun at myself.

I worked at Mar-a-Lago for Trump, for some parties, and he seemed nice enough - but I don't think he's presidential. I think he's incompetent; I disagree with his policies, and I'm nervous as an American.

I was from very poor people: 11 of us in a two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. I wanted the large houses, the cars, jets, and yacht.