With a career spanning six decades, Neil Sedaka has been inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, had a street named after him in his home town of Brooklyn, and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

From the 1950s to the 1970s and beyond, he wrote and performed some of the world’s best-known pop songs, including Oh, Carol, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Solitaire and Calendar Girl.

The rise, fall and rise again of a man billed as ‘pop music’s ultimate survivor’ is told in Laughter In The Rain (pictured), a musical featuring his hits.

It’s the story of his rise to fame, from his first hit Oh, Carol, written for his then girlfriend Carole King, to becoming a teenage idol to rival Elvis.

Struggling for almost a decade with the arrival of Brit-rock and The Beatles, Sedaka signed to Elton John’s Rocket label, and made a sensational return to the top of the charts with the single Laughter In The Rain.

* Laughter In The Rain runs at the Alhambra from June 21 to 26. For tickets, ring (01274) 432000.