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Neil Sedaka, who went from classical music prodigy to precocious songwriter to teenage idol to pop music fixture in a celebrated career that spanned seven decades, died on Friday in Los Angeles. He was 86.

His son, Marc, said Mr. Sedaka, who lived in West Hollywood, was taken to a hospital earlier Friday and died there. He said the cause was not immediately known.

Mr. Sedaka co-wrote and sang some of the definitive teenage anthems of the late 1950s and early ’60s, hits of the pre-Beatles rock ’n’ roll era that include “Calendar Girl,” “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen” and “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.”

He also co-wrote hits like “Stupid Cupid” and “Where the Boys Are” for Connie Francis and, much later, “Love Will Keep Us Together” for the Captain and Tennille.
Mr. Sedaka intersected in his career with a remarkably diverse array of musicians — the classical pianist Arthur Rubinstein and the violinist Jascha Heifetz as well as Carole King, Elton John and the Captain and Tennille, to name just a few.