Neil Sedaka Received a ‘Friends’ Shout-Out That Fans Still Remember After His Death
Neil Sedaka Received a ‘Friends’ Shout-Out That Fans Still Remember After His Death
Erin CrabtreeSat, February 28, 2026 at 12:26 AM UTC
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(George Wilkes/Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
Neil Sedaka was one of many famous name-drops on Friends. Decades later, fans of the iconic TV show are still talking about the shout-out to the late singer.
Sedaka—who died on Friday, February 27, at age 86—was memorably mentioned during the season 2 episode “The One With the Two Parties,” which aired in May 1996. The installment of the NBCsitcom sees Rachel Green’s (Jennifer Aniston) friends throwing her dueling birthday parties amid her parents Leonard (Ron Leibman) and Sandra’s (Marlo Thomas) contentious divorce.
At one point in the episode, Rachel’s then-boyfriend, Ross Geller (David Schwimmer), darts back and forth between Rachel and his sister Monica Geller’s (Courteney Cox) apartment and Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) and Joey Tribbiani’s (Matt LeBlanc) apartment, where Rachel’s mom and dad are unknowingly celebrating her birthday at separate parties. When Sandra spots Ross retrieving Leonard’s glasses to take back to him, she grows suspicious.
“Ross, whose glasses are those?” Sandra asks as Ross emerges from Rachel’s bedroom.
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In an effort to cover up Leonard’s presence at the opposite apartment, Ross claims the frames are his.
“You wear bifocals?” Rachel’s mother retorts, to which Ross replies, “I have a condition apparently that I require two different sets of focals.”
As Rachel approaches, Sandra asks Ross, “Do you know my husband has glasses just like that?” with Rachel chiming in, “Well, those are very popular frames.”
To drive the point home, Ross—now wearing Leonard’s glasses—lands an iconic joke, insisting, “Neil Sedaka wears them.”
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Decades after the moment aired, fans are still talking about Schwimmer’s delivery of the Sedaka reference.
“The way he says ‘Neil Sedaka wears them!’” one person wrote on a Reddit thread in 2022.
Another fan responded, “This is my favorite Ross line of the whole series. Neil Sedaka, like, what an obscure reference. So hilarious!”
In a separate Reddit thread, another viewer applauded the Sedaka joke and the scene that followed, in which Rachel’s father realizes Ross is wearing his glasses.
“The scene with Ross getting caught by Rachel’s dad wearing his glasses and one of his cigs in his mouth is top five funniest scenes of the series,” the fan wrote in 2024. “‘Neil Sedaka wears them!’”
Sedaka’s family confirmed his death on Friday after he was hospitalized earlier that day.
“Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka,” the family said in a statement. “A true rock and roll legend, an inspiration to millions, but most importantly, at least to those of us who were lucky enough to know him, an incredible human being who will be deeply missed.”
Sedaka was known for his solo hits in the 1950s and 1960s, such as “Calendar Girl” and “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” and experienced a career resurgence in the 1970s with “Laughter in the Rain” and “Bad Blood.” He also wrote chart-topping songs made popular by other artists, including Captain & Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together.”
This story was originally published by Parade on Feb 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
