Neil Diamond
Encyclopedia
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter
with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present.
As of 2001, Diamond had sold over 115 million records worldwide including 48 million in the United States
alone. He is considered to be the third most successful Adult Contemporary artist ever on the Billboard chart behind Barbra Streisand
and Elton John
. His songs have been covered internationally by countless performers of all musical genres
.
Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 2011. Additionally, he received the Sammy Cahn
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. He has eight number one hit singles with "Cracklin Rosie," "Song Sung Blue
," "Desiree," "You Don't Bring Me Flowers
," "Love On The Rocks
," "America," "Yesterday's Songs" and "Heartlight."
Diamond continues to record and release new material and maintains an extensive touring schedule as well.
and Polish immigrants. His father, Akeeba Diamond, was a dry-goods merchant. Diamond grew up in several homes in Brooklyn
, attending Abraham Lincoln High School.
At Lincoln, the school from which he received his high school diploma, he was a member of the fencing team. He later attended NYU on a fencing scholarship, specializing in saber, and was a member of the 1960 NCAA men's championship team; into his adult life he maintained his swordsmanship skills and continued to warm up with fencing exercises before his concerts. In a live interview with TV talk show host Larry King
, Diamond explained his decision to study medicine by pointing out: "I actually wanted to be a laboratory biologist. I wanted to study. And I really wanted to find a cure for cancer. My grandmother had died of cancer. And I was always very good at the sciences. And I thought I would go and try and discover the cure for cancer." However, during his senior year in NYU, a music publishing company made him an offer he could not refuse: an offer to write songs for $50 a week. This started him on the road to stardom.
label as a solo performer. Columbia Records released the single "At Night" b/w "Clown Town" in July, 1963. Billboard gave an excellent review to "Clown Town" in their July 13, 1963, issue, predicting it would be a hit. Despite a tour of radio stations, the single failed to make the music charts. However, sales and Top 40 airplay were disappointing, and Columbia dropped Diamond from the label shortly there after. Neil Diamond was back to writing songs on an upright piano above the Birdland Club in New York City.
Diamond spent his early career as a songwriter in the Brill Building
. His first success as a songwriter came in November, 1965, with "Sunday and Me", a Top 20 hit for Jay and the Americans
on the Billboard Charts
. Greater success as a writer followed with "I'm a Believer
", "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
", "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)", and "Love to Love," all by the Monkees. There is a popular misconception that Diamond wrote and composed these songs specifically for the made-for-TV quartet. In reality, Diamond had written and recorded these songs for himself, but the cover versions were released before his own. The unintended, but happy, consequence was that Diamond began to gain fame not only as a singer and performer, but also as a songwriter. "I'm a Believer" was the Popular Music Song of the Year in 1966. Other notable artists who recorded early Neil Diamond songs were Elvis Presley
, who interpreted “Sweet Caroline” as well as “And The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind”; Mark Lindsay
, former lead singer for Paul Revere & the Raiders
, who covered "And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind"; the English hard-rock band Deep Purple
, which interpreted “Kentucky Woman”; Lulu
, who covered “The Boat That I Row”, and Cliff Richard
, who released versions of “I’ll Come Running”, “Solitary Man”, "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
", “I Got The Feelin’ (Oh No No)”, and “Just Another Guy.”
In 1966 Diamond signed a deal with Bert Berns
's Bang Records
, then a subsidiary of Atlantic Records. His first release on that label, "Solitary Man", became his first hit. Prior to the release of "Solitary Man," Neil had considered using a stage name; he came up with two possibilities, "Noah Kaminsky" and "Eice Charry." But when asked by Bang Records which name he should use, Noah, Eice, or Neil, he thought of his grandmother, who died prior to the release of "Solitary Man". Thus he told Bang, "...go with Neil Diamond and I'll figure it out later". Diamond later followed with "Cherry, Cherry
", "Kentucky Woman
", "Thank the Lord for the Night Time", "Do It", and others. Diamond's Bang recordings were produced by legendary Brill Building songwriters Jeff Barry
and Ellie Greenwich
, both of whom can be heard singing background on many of the tracks.
His first concerts saw him as a "special guest" of, or opening for, everyone from Herman's Hermits
to, on one occasion, The Who
, which he confirmed on an installment of VH1's
documentary series program Behind The Music
.
Diamond began to feel restricted by Bang Records, wanting to record more ambitious, introspective music. Finding a loophole in his contract, Diamond tried to sign with a new label, but the result was a series of lawsuits that coincided with a dip in his professional success. Diamond eventually triumphed in court, and secured ownership of his Bang-era master recordings in 1977.
, whose label at the time was Uni
(after MCA's parent company, Universal Pictures
), he moved to Los Angeles in 1970. His sound mellowed, with such songs as "Sweet Caroline
", a US hit in 1969, "Holly Holy
", "'Cracklin' Rosie
" and "Song Sung Blue
", the last two reaching No. 1 on the Hot 100. "Sweet Caroline" was Diamond's first major hit after his slump. Diamond admitted in 2007 that he had written "Sweet Caroline" for Caroline Kennedy
after seeing her on the cover of Life
Magazine in an equestrian riding outfit. It took him just one hour, in a Memphis hotel, to write and compose it. The 1971 release "I Am...I Said
" was a Top 5 hit in both the US and UK, and was his most intensely personal effort to date, taking upwards of four months to complete.
In 1972, Diamond played 10 sold-out concerts at the Greek Theatre
in Los Angeles. The August 24 performance was recorded and released as the live double album Hot August Night
(the title being the opening words of Diamond's song "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show"). That fall, he appeared over 20 consecutive nights at the Winter Garden Theater in New York City; the small (approximately 1,600-seat) Broadway venue provided an intimate concert setting not common at the time. Reportedly, every performance was a sellout.
Hot August Night demonstrates Diamond's skills as a performer and showman, as he reinvigorated his back catalogue of hits with new energy. Many consider it his best work; critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine calls Hot August Night “the ultimate Neil Diamond record ... [which] shows Diamond the icon in full glory.”
The album has become a classic. It was remastered in 2000 with three additional selections: “Walk on Water”, “Kentucky Woman” and “Stones”. In Australia, the album spent a remarkable 29 weeks at No. 1; in 2006, it was voted #16 in a poll of favourite albums of all time in Australia. Also, Diamond's final concert of his 1976 Australian Tour (The "Thank You Australia" Concert) was broadcast to 36 television outlets nationwide on March 6 and remains the country's most-watched music event. It also set a record for the largest attendance at the Sydney Sports Ground. The 1977 concert Love At The Greek
, a return to the Greek Theatre, includes a version of "Song Sung Blue" with duets with Helen Reddy
and Henry Winkler
, a.k.a. Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli of Happy Days
.
In 1973, Diamond hopped labels again, returning to the Columbia Records
for a lucrative million-dollar-advance-per-album contract. His first project, released as a solo album, was the soundtrack to Hall Bartlett
's film version of Jonathan Livingston Seagull
. The film received hostile reviews and did poorly at the box office. The album grossed more than the film did. Richard Bach
, author of the best-selling source story, disowned the film. Both Bach and Diamond sued the film’s producer. Diamond felt the film butchered his score. Despite the shortcomings of the film, the soundtrack was a success, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard albums chart. Diamond would also garner a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture
. From there, Diamond would often include a Jonathan Livingston Seagull suite in his live performances, as he did in his 1977 "Love at The Greek" concert. In 1974, Diamond released the album Serenade, from which "Longfellow Serenade
" and "I've Been This Way Before" were issued as singles. The latter had been intended for the Jonathan Livingston Seagull score, but was completed too late for inclusion.
In 1976, he released Beautiful Noise, produced by Robbie Robertson
of The Band
. On Thanksgiving night, 1976, Neil made an appearance at The Band's farewell concert, The Last Waltz
, performing "Dry Your Eyes", which he had written with Robertson, and which had appeared on Beautiful Noise. He also joined the rest of the performers onstage at the end in a rendition of Bob Dylan
's "I Shall Be Released
".
In 1977, Diamond released I'm Glad You're Here With Me Tonight
, including "You Don't Bring Me Flowers
," for which he composed the music and collaborated with Alan Bergman
and Marilyn Bergman
on lyrics. Barbara Streisand covered the song on her Songbird
album, and later, a Diamond-Streisand duet, spurred by the success of radio mash-ups, was recorded. That version hit No. 1 in 1978, his third song to top the Hot 100. His last 1970s album was September Morn
, which included a new version of I'm a Believer
. It and Red Red Wine
are his best-known original songs made more famous by other artists.
In February 1979, the uptempo "Forever in Blue Jeans," co-written with his guitarist, Richard Bennett, was released as a single from You Don't Bring Me Flowers, Diamond's album from the previous year.
According to Cotton Incorporated, "Neil Diamond might have been right when he named his 1979 #1 hit 'Forever in Blue Jeans:' 81% of women are planning their next jeans purchase to be some shade of blue." The song has been used to promote the sale of blue jeans, most notably via Will Ferrell, impersonating Neil Diamond singing, for The Gap. Ironically, Diamond himself had performed in radio ads for H.I.S. brand jeans in the 1960s, more than a decade before he and Bennett jointly wrote and composed, and he originated, the selection.
classic, The Jazz Singer
, opposite Laurence Olivier
and Lucie Arnaz
. Though the movie was not a hit, the soundtrack spawned three Top 10 singles, "Love on the Rocks", "Hello Again" and "America
". For his role in the film, Diamond became the first-ever winner of a Worst Actor Razzie Award, even though he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
for the same role.
Another Top 10 selection, "Heartlight
", was inspired by the blockbuster 1982 movie E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
. Though the film's title character is never mentioned in the lyrics, Universal Pictures
, which had released E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
and was the parent company of the Uni Records
label, by then referred to as the MCA Records
label, for which Diamond had recorded for years, briefly threatened legal action against both Diamond and Columbia Records.
Diamond’s record sales slumped somewhat in the 1980s and 1990s, his last single to make the Billboard’s Pop Singles chart coming in 1986. However, his concert tours continued to be big draws. Billboard Magazine ranked Diamond as the most profitable solo performer of 1986. In January 1987, Diamond sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl
. His "America
" became the theme song for the Michael Dukakis
1988 presidential campaign. That same year, UB40’s reggae interpretation of Diamond’s ballad Red Red Wine
would top the Billboard’s Pop Singles chart and, like the Monkees' version of “I’m a Believer”, become better known than Diamond’s original version.
special. In 1993, Diamond opened the Mark of the Quad Cities (now the iWireless Center) with two shows on May 27 and 28 to a crowd of 27,000-plus.
The 1990s and 2000s saw a resurgence in Diamond’s popularity. “Sweet Caroline
” became a popular sing-along at sporting events, starting with Boston College
football
and basketball
games. Most notably it is the theme song for Red Sox Nation
, the fans of the Boston Red Sox
, although Diamond noted that he has been a lifelong fan of the Brooklyn
/Los Angeles Dodgers
. The song is also played during the 8th inning of every New York Mets
home game and at Washington Nationals
home games. The New York Rangers
have also adapted it as their own, and play it when they are winning at the end of the 3rd period. The Pitt Panthers football
team also plays it after the third quarter of all home games, with the crowd cheering, "Let's go Pitt". The Carolina Panthers
play it at the end of each home game when they win. Urge Overkill
recorded a version of Diamond’s “Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
" for Quentin Tarantino
’s Pulp Fiction
, released in 1994. In 2000, Johnny Cash
recorded the album Solitary Man, which included that Diamond classic. Smash Mouth
covered Diamond’s “I’m a Believer” for their 2001 self-titled album. In the 2001 comedy film Saving Silverman
, the main characters play in a Neil Diamond cover band
, and Diamond made an extended cameo appearance as himself. During this period, Will Ferrell
did a recurring Diamond impersonation on Saturday Night Live
, with Diamond himself appearing alongside Ferrell on Ferrell's final show as a "Not Ready For Prime Time Player" in May 2002. “America” was used in promotional ads for the 2002 Winter Olympics
. The Finnish band HIM covered “Solitary Man” on their album, And Love Said No: The Greatest Hits.
Diamond has always had a somewhat polarizing effect, best exemplified by the 1991 film What About Bob?
There the protagonist posits, "There are two types of people in the world: those who like Neil Diamond and those who don't". The character of Bob attributes the failure of his marriage to his fiancee's fondness for Diamond. Another example of this love/hate relationship: the Becker
episode "It had to be Ew" is largely devoted to ridiculing Diamond and his fans.
Diamond continues to tour and record. 12 Songs
, produced by Rick Rubin
, was released on November 8, 2005, in two editions: a standard 12-song release, and a special edition with two bonus tracks, including one featuring backing vocals by Brian Wilson
. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard chart, and has received generally positive reviews; Earliwine describes the album as "inarguably Neil Diamond's best set of songs in a long, long time". 12 Songs also became noteworthy as one of the last albums to be pressed and released by Sony BMG with the infamous Extended Copy Protection
software embedded in the disc. (See the 2005 Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal
.)
On December 31, 2005 Diamond appeared on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
2006.
In 2007, Diamond was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame
.
In December 2007, a 2008 UK tour was announced, calling at Manchester
on June 7 and 8, Birmingham
on June 10 and 11, and London on June 21, 23 and 24. A month later, further UK dates were added, including Hampden Park
in Glasgow on the 5th of June, Rose Bowl
, Southampton on the 17th of June, and the Millennium Stadium
in Cardiff on the 19th of June.
In 2008, Neil Diamond was gracious enough to help out film maker Greg Kohs, by giving him permission to use his songs in the movie Song Sung Blue. Kohs, a director from Philadelphia, had met a popular Milwaukee duo Lightning & Thunder that included Mike Sardina who did a Neil Diamond impersonation, and his wife Claire. He followed then for 8 years and produced a film, "Song Sung Blue," but Kohs needed permission to use Diamond's songs. According to Jim Stingl, the movie was sent to the singer in January 2008, "highly recommended by Eddie Vedder, who became a highlight of Lightning & Thunder's story when he invited them onstage with Pearl Jam at Summerfest to sing 'Forever in Blue Jeans' together." Diamond's representative (and current fiancee) Katie McNeil reported at the time that Vedder had said of the film, "You should know this is a cool thing. You should check it out." Diamond gave the movie his blessing. The singer is quoted as saying, "I'm honored to have my songs be part of this love story" on the film's website. Thought Mike Sardina had passed away in 2006, Diamond invited Claire and her family to be his front-row guests at his show in Milwaukee, and he asked to meet her personally, where he told Claire that he was moved by the film.
On March 19, 2008, it was announced on the TV show American Idol
that Diamond would be a guest mentor to the remaining Idol contestants who would be singing Diamond songs broadcasts of April 29 and 30, 2008. On April 8, 2008, Diamond made a surprise announcement in a big-screen broadcast at Fenway Park, that he would be appearing there "live in concert" on August 23, 2008 as part of his World Tour. The announcement, which marked the first official confirmation of any 2008 concert dates in the US, came during the traditional eighth-inning sing-along of his "Sweet Caroline," which has become an anthem for Boston fans.
On April 28, 2008, Diamond appeared on the roof of the Jimmy Kimmel
building to sing "Sweet Caroline" after Kimmel was jokingly arrested trying to sing the song. This was followed on April 30, 2008, with an appearance on American Idol when he sang "Pretty Amazing Grace" from his new album, Home Before Dark
. On May 2, 2008, Sirius Satellite Radio started Neil Diamond Radio.
Diamond's album Home Before Dark
was released on May 6, 2008. On May 15, 2008, the Billboard Hot 200 listed the album at No. 1. This marked the first chart-topping album of Diamond's storied career. On May 18, 2008, "Home Before Dark" also entered the UK charts at No. 1, his second British No. 1 album, after hitting the summit in 1992 with a compilation album. His 2008 tour was the most successful of any of his previous tours since 1966.
On August 25, 2008, Diamond performed at Ohio State University while suffering from laryngitis. The result disappointed him as well as his fans and on August 26 he offered refunds to anyone who applied by September 5.
Diamond was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year
on February 6, 2009, two nights prior to the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.
According to posts on Neil's Twitter page, he is currently working on a new album, his third with Rick Rubin. He says he plans to play electric guitar on the album, a first for him. In 2009, Diamond stated that he prefers Gibson and Martin acoustic guitars and confirmed that recently he had been playing Gibson electric guitars.
Long-loved in Boston, Diamond was invited to sing at the July 4 holiday celebration.
Through his Diamond Music Company, Diamond now belongs to that small group of performers whose names are listed as copyright owners on their recordings.
In August 2008, Neil Diamond allowed cameras to record his entire four-night run at New York's Madison Square Garden and released it in the United States on August 14, 2009, on DVD, one year to the day of the first concert. 'Hot August Night/NYC
' debuted at No. 2 on the charts and is exclusively available at Wal-Mart and has sold out at many locations all over the country. Also on the same day the DVD was released, CBS (the former parent of his label, Columbia Records) aired an edited version of the DVD, which won the ratings hour with 13 million viewers. The next day, the sales of the DVD surged and prompted Sony to order more copies to meet the high demand.
On October 13, 2009, he released A Cherry Cherry Christmas
, his third album of holiday music.
On September 28, 2010, Diamond was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
On November 2, 2010, he released the album 'Dreams', a collection of 14 interpretations of his favorite songs by other artists from the rock era.
On December 14, 2010, it was leaked by numerous sites that Diamond had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with Alice Cooper, Darlene Love, Dr. John, and Tom Waits. The induction ceremony will be March 14, 2011 at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City.
On December 20, 2010, Diamond made an appearance on NBC
's 'The Sing-Off
', performing "Ain't No Sunshine" along with the A Cappella groups featured on the show.
On May 27, 2011, he appeared on Irish Television in a live recording in front of a celebrity audience.
In November 2011, he will be appearing at the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors
gala to accept the honor.
On November 24, 2011, he appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, riding on a replica Mt. Rushmore float singing a shorten versions of "America" and "Sweet Caroline" to promote tourism for the state of South Dakota.
"The Very Best of Neil Diamond," a compliation CD of Neil's 23 studio recordings from the Bang, UNI/MCA, & Columbia catalogs will be released on December 6, 2011 on the Columbia/Legacy label.
In 1979 Diamond had a tumor
surgically removed from his spine and underwent a long rehabilitation process just prior to beginning principal photography for his 1980 film The Jazz Singer. Diamond still suffers from chronic, and often severe, back pain.
Diamond is known for wearing colorful beaded shirts in concert. Diamond has said that this was originally done out of necessity, so everyone in the audience could see him without the aid of binoculars. The Bill Whitten-designed and made shirts cost approximately US$5,000 each. Whitten designed and made the shirts for Diamond from the 1970s until 2007.
On September 7, 2011, Diamond announced his engagement to 41 year old Katie McNeil in a message on Twitter: "Good news coming from sunny LA/ and you're the first I want to tell/ Katie & I just got engaged/ and I hope you wish us well."
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present.
As of 2001, Diamond had sold over 115 million records worldwide including 48 million in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alone. He is considered to be the third most successful Adult Contemporary artist ever on the Billboard chart behind Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
and Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
. His songs have been covered internationally by countless performers of all musical genres
Music genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
.
Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...
in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in 2011. Additionally, he received the Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. He has eight number one hit singles with "Cracklin Rosie," "Song Sung Blue
Song Sung Blue
"Song Sung Blue" is a 1972 song written and recorded by Neil Diamond. The song was released off his album, Moods and later appeared on many of Diamond's live and compilation albums....
," "Desiree," "You Don't Bring Me Flowers
You Don't Bring Me Flowers
"You Don't Bring Me Flowers" is a song that hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978. It is a song about two lovers who have drifted apart while they "go through the motions" and heartache of life together....
," "Love On The Rocks
Love on the Rocks
Love on the Rocks may refer to:*"Love on the Rocks", a 1980 song by Neil Diamond from The Jazz Singer soundtrack*"Love on the Rocks", a 2008 single by Sara Bareilles, from her 2007 album Little Voice...
," "America," "Yesterday's Songs" and "Heartlight."
Diamond continues to record and release new material and maintains an extensive touring schedule as well.
Early life and career
Neil Diamond was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family descended from RussianRussians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
and Polish immigrants. His father, Akeeba Diamond, was a dry-goods merchant. Diamond grew up in several homes in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, attending Abraham Lincoln High School.
At Lincoln, the school from which he received his high school diploma, he was a member of the fencing team. He later attended NYU on a fencing scholarship, specializing in saber, and was a member of the 1960 NCAA men's championship team; into his adult life he maintained his swordsmanship skills and continued to warm up with fencing exercises before his concerts. In a live interview with TV talk show host Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
, Diamond explained his decision to study medicine by pointing out: "I actually wanted to be a laboratory biologist. I wanted to study. And I really wanted to find a cure for cancer. My grandmother had died of cancer. And I was always very good at the sciences. And I thought I would go and try and discover the cure for cancer." However, during his senior year in NYU, a music publishing company made him an offer he could not refuse: an offer to write songs for $50 a week. This started him on the road to stardom.
1960s
Diamond’s first recording contract was billed as "Neil and Jack", an Everly Brothers-type duo comprising Diamond and high school friend Jack Packer *(Jack Parker). They recorded two unsuccessful singles, "You Are My Love At Last" b/w "What Will I Do" and "I'm Afraid" b/w "Till You've Tried Love", both released in 1962. Later in 1962, Diamond signed with the Columbia RecordsColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
label as a solo performer. Columbia Records released the single "At Night" b/w "Clown Town" in July, 1963. Billboard gave an excellent review to "Clown Town" in their July 13, 1963, issue, predicting it would be a hit. Despite a tour of radio stations, the single failed to make the music charts. However, sales and Top 40 airplay were disappointing, and Columbia dropped Diamond from the label shortly there after. Neil Diamond was back to writing songs on an upright piano above the Birdland Club in New York City.
Diamond spent his early career as a songwriter in the Brill Building
Brill Building
The Brill Building is an office building located at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and further uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood...
. His first success as a songwriter came in November, 1965, with "Sunday and Me", a Top 20 hit for Jay and the Americans
Jay and the Americans
Jay and the Americans was a pop music group popular in the 1960s. Their initial lineup consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane , Kenny Vance and Sandy Deanne , though their greatest success on the charts came after Traynor had been replaced as lead singer by Jay Black.-Early years:They were...
on the Billboard Charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
. Greater success as a writer followed with "I'm a Believer
I'm a Believer
"I'm a Believer" is a song composed by Neil Diamond and recorded by The Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending December 31, 1966 and remained there for seven weeks,...
", "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
"A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" is a song by Neil Diamond that was released by The Monkees in 1967 . Davy Jones sang the lead vocal . It went to #1 in the US Cashbox charts and #2 on the Billboard charts...
", "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)", and "Love to Love," all by the Monkees. There is a popular misconception that Diamond wrote and composed these songs specifically for the made-for-TV quartet. In reality, Diamond had written and recorded these songs for himself, but the cover versions were released before his own. The unintended, but happy, consequence was that Diamond began to gain fame not only as a singer and performer, but also as a songwriter. "I'm a Believer" was the Popular Music Song of the Year in 1966. Other notable artists who recorded early Neil Diamond songs were Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, who interpreted “Sweet Caroline” as well as “And The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind”; Mark Lindsay
Mark Lindsay
Mark Lindsay is an American musician, best known as the singer for the group Paul Revere & the Raiders.-Biography:Lindsay was born in Eugene, Oregon and was the second of eight children...
, former lead singer for Paul Revere & the Raiders
Paul Revere & the Raiders
Paul Revere & the Raiders is an American rock band that saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s with hits such as "Kicks" , "Hungry" , "Him Or Me - What's It Gonna Be?" and the 1971 No...
, who covered "And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind"; the English hard-rock band Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
, which interpreted “Kentucky Woman”; Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
, who covered “The Boat That I Row”, and Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
, who released versions of “I’ll Come Running”, “Solitary Man”, "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
"Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" is a song written by Neil Diamond, whose recording of it on Bang Records reached #10 on the U.S. pop singles chart in 1967. The song garnered a second life span when it appeared on the 1994 Pulp Fiction soundtrack, performed by rock band Urge Overkill...
", “I Got The Feelin’ (Oh No No)”, and “Just Another Guy.”
In 1966 Diamond signed a deal with Bert Berns
Bert Berns
Bertrand Russell Berns , most commonly known as Bert Berns as well as Bert Russell and Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s...
's Bang Records
Bang Records
Bang Records was created by Bert Berns in 1965 together with his partners from Atlantic Records: Ahmet Ertegün, Nesuhi Ertegün and Jerry Wexler...
, then a subsidiary of Atlantic Records. His first release on that label, "Solitary Man", became his first hit. Prior to the release of "Solitary Man," Neil had considered using a stage name; he came up with two possibilities, "Noah Kaminsky" and "Eice Charry." But when asked by Bang Records which name he should use, Noah, Eice, or Neil, he thought of his grandmother, who died prior to the release of "Solitary Man". Thus he told Bang, "...go with Neil Diamond and I'll figure it out later". Diamond later followed with "Cherry, Cherry
Cherry, Cherry
"Cherry, Cherry" is a song written, composed, and recorded by Neil Diamond. The song was arranged by Artie Butler and produced by Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich. It was issued as a 45 single in 1966 and became Diamond's first big hit, reaching #6 on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart, in October 1966,...
", "Kentucky Woman
Kentucky Woman
"Kentucky Woman" is a 1967 song written and originally recorded by Neil Diamond. Another well-known version is the 1968 recording by Deep Purple....
", "Thank the Lord for the Night Time", "Do It", and others. Diamond's Bang recordings were produced by legendary Brill Building songwriters Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer.-Early career:...
and Ellie Greenwich
Ellie Greenwich
Eleanor Louise "Ellie" Greenwich was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Be My Baby", "Christmas ", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Leader of the Pack", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", and "River Deep, Mountain High", among many others...
, both of whom can be heard singing background on many of the tracks.
His first concerts saw him as a "special guest" of, or opening for, everyone from Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...
to, on one occasion, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, which he confirmed on an installment of VH1's
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
documentary series program Behind The Music
Behind the Music
Behind the Music is a television series on VH1. It originally ran from 1997 to 2006, before it was stopped and only aired new episodes sporadically. The series places its generality on documentation of musical artists or groups who are interviewed and profiled, and discuss how their careers became...
.
Diamond began to feel restricted by Bang Records, wanting to record more ambitious, introspective music. Finding a loophole in his contract, Diamond tried to sign with a new label, but the result was a series of lawsuits that coincided with a dip in his professional success. Diamond eventually triumphed in court, and secured ownership of his Bang-era master recordings in 1977.
1970s
After Diamond had signed a deal with MCA RecordsMCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
, whose label at the time was Uni
Uni Records
Uni Records was a record label owned by MCA Inc. The brand, which long featured a distinct UNi logo, was established in 1966 by MCA executive Ned Tanen and developed by music industry veteran Russ Regan...
(after MCA's parent company, Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
), he moved to Los Angeles in 1970. His sound mellowed, with such songs as "Sweet Caroline
Sweet Caroline
"Sweet Caroline" is a pop song written and performed by Neil Diamond and officially released on September 16, 1969, as a single. It was later released on December 9, 1972 as a part of Diamond's Hot August Night album. There are three distinct mixes of this song...
", a US hit in 1969, "Holly Holy
Holly Holy
"Holly Holy" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond. Released as a single in October 1969, it was quite successful as the follow-on to "Sweet Caroline", reaching number 6 on the U.S. pop singles chart by December...
", "'Cracklin' Rosie
Cracklin' Rosie
"Cracklin' Rosie" is a 1970 song written and performed by Neil Diamond in 1970, from his album Tap Root Manuscript. This was Neil Diamond's first American #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1970, and his third to sell a million copies. It become Diamond's breakthrough single on the UK...
" and "Song Sung Blue
Song Sung Blue
"Song Sung Blue" is a 1972 song written and recorded by Neil Diamond. The song was released off his album, Moods and later appeared on many of Diamond's live and compilation albums....
", the last two reaching No. 1 on the Hot 100. "Sweet Caroline" was Diamond's first major hit after his slump. Diamond admitted in 2007 that he had written "Sweet Caroline" for Caroline Kennedy
Caroline Kennedy
Caroline Bouvier Kennedy is an American author and attorney. She is a member of the influential Kennedy family and the only surviving child of U.S. President John F...
after seeing her on the cover of Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
Magazine in an equestrian riding outfit. It took him just one hour, in a Memphis hotel, to write and compose it. The 1971 release "I Am...I Said
I Am...I Said
"I Am...I Said" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond. Released as a single in March 1971, it was quite successful, at first slowly climbing the charts, then more quickly rising to number 4 on the U.S. pop singles chart by May 1971...
" was a Top 5 hit in both the US and UK, and was his most intensely personal effort to date, taking upwards of four months to complete.
In 1972, Diamond played 10 sold-out concerts at the Greek Theatre
Greek Theatre (Los Angeles)
The Greek Theatre is a 5,700-seat amphitheater, located at Griffith Park, in Los Angeles, California. It was built in 1929, opening on September 29 of that year...
in Los Angeles. The August 24 performance was recorded and released as the live double album Hot August Night
Hot August Night
Hot August Night is a 1972 live double album by Neil Diamond. The album is a recording of a Diamond concert on Thursday August 24, 1972, one of ten sold out concerts that Diamond performed that month at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles...
(the title being the opening words of Diamond's song "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show"). That fall, he appeared over 20 consecutive nights at the Winter Garden Theater in New York City; the small (approximately 1,600-seat) Broadway venue provided an intimate concert setting not common at the time. Reportedly, every performance was a sellout.
Hot August Night demonstrates Diamond's skills as a performer and showman, as he reinvigorated his back catalogue of hits with new energy. Many consider it his best work; critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine calls Hot August Night “the ultimate Neil Diamond record ... [which] shows Diamond the icon in full glory.”
The album has become a classic. It was remastered in 2000 with three additional selections: “Walk on Water”, “Kentucky Woman” and “Stones”. In Australia, the album spent a remarkable 29 weeks at No. 1; in 2006, it was voted #16 in a poll of favourite albums of all time in Australia. Also, Diamond's final concert of his 1976 Australian Tour (The "Thank You Australia" Concert) was broadcast to 36 television outlets nationwide on March 6 and remains the country's most-watched music event. It also set a record for the largest attendance at the Sydney Sports Ground. The 1977 concert Love At The Greek
Love at the Greek
Love at the Greek is a live double album by Neil Diamond which was released in 1977. It was Diamond's second live album recorded from a concert at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles, and Neil's second album produced by Robbie Robertson of The Band...
, a return to the Greek Theatre, includes a version of "Song Sung Blue" with duets with Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
and Henry Winkler
Henry Winkler
Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE is an American actor, director, producer, and author.Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days...
, a.k.a. Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli of Happy Days
Happy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
.
In 1973, Diamond hopped labels again, returning to the Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
for a lucrative million-dollar-advance-per-album contract. His first project, released as a solo album, was the soundtrack to Hall Bartlett
Hall Bartlett
Hall Bartlett was an American film producer, director, and screen writer.-Early life:Born in Kansas City, Missouri, he graduated from Yale University Phi Beta Kappa, and was a Rhodes Scholar nominee...
's film version of Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Jonathan Livingston Seagull (album)
In 1973 Neil Diamond recorded the soundtrack to the film Jonathan Livingston Seagull on Columbia Records. The album grossed more than the film itself...
. The film received hostile reviews and did poorly at the box office. The album grossed more than the film did. Richard Bach
Richard Bach
Richard David Bach is an American writer. He is widely known as the author of the hugely popular 1970s best-sellers Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, and others. His books espouse his philosophy that our apparent physical limits and mortality are merely...
, author of the best-selling source story, disowned the film. Both Bach and Diamond sued the film’s producer. Diamond felt the film butchered his score. Despite the shortcomings of the film, the soundtrack was a success, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard albums chart. Diamond would also garner a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture
Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
The Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media has been awarded since 1960. Until 2001 the award was presented to the composer of the music alone. From 2001 to 2006, the producer and engineers shared in this award...
. From there, Diamond would often include a Jonathan Livingston Seagull suite in his live performances, as he did in his 1977 "Love at The Greek" concert. In 1974, Diamond released the album Serenade, from which "Longfellow Serenade
Longfellow Serenade
"Longfellow Serenade" is the title of a 1974 song by the American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond. The song was written by Diamond, produced by Tom Catalano and was included on Diamond's album Serenade....
" and "I've Been This Way Before" were issued as singles. The latter had been intended for the Jonathan Livingston Seagull score, but was completed too late for inclusion.
In 1976, he released Beautiful Noise, produced by Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson, OC; is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his membership as the guitarist and primary songwriter within The Band. He was ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...
of The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
. On Thanksgiving night, 1976, Neil made an appearance at The Band's farewell concert, The Last Waltz
The Last Waltz
The Last Waltz was a concert by the rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco...
, performing "Dry Your Eyes", which he had written with Robertson, and which had appeared on Beautiful Noise. He also joined the rest of the performers onstage at the end in a rendition of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's "I Shall Be Released
I Shall Be Released
"I Shall Be Released" is a 1967 song written by Bob Dylan.The Band played it on their debut album, Music from Big Pink , with Richard Manuel singing lead vocals, and Rick Danko and Levon Helm harmonizing in the chorus...
".
In 1977, Diamond released I'm Glad You're Here With Me Tonight
I'm Glad You're Here With Me Tonight
I'm Glad You're Here With Me Tonight is a Neil Diamond album released by Columbia Records in 1977. It includes a solo version of the song "You Don't Bring Me Flowers"...
, including "You Don't Bring Me Flowers
You Don't Bring Me Flowers
"You Don't Bring Me Flowers" is a song that hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978. It is a song about two lovers who have drifted apart while they "go through the motions" and heartache of life together....
," for which he composed the music and collaborated with Alan Bergman
Alan Bergman
Alan Bergman is an American lyricist and songwriter.-Life & career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a director of children's television shows...
and Marilyn Bergman
Marilyn Bergman
Marilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University...
on lyrics. Barbara Streisand covered the song on her Songbird
Songbird (Barbra Streisand album)
Songbird is a studio album by Barbra Streisand, released in 1978. The album includes Streisand's solo version of "You Don't Bring Me Flowers". She also subsequently recorded this song as a duet with Neil Diamond and this version topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two non-consecutive weeks in...
album, and later, a Diamond-Streisand duet, spurred by the success of radio mash-ups, was recorded. That version hit No. 1 in 1978, his third song to top the Hot 100. His last 1970s album was September Morn
September Morn (album)
September Morn is an album by Neil Diamond released in 1979 as an update of Neil Diamond's 1960s roots, with a disco version of the Motown classic "Dancing in the Street" and a remake of "I'm a Believer".- Track listing :-Personnel:...
, which included a new version of I'm a Believer
I'm a Believer
"I'm a Believer" is a song composed by Neil Diamond and recorded by The Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending December 31, 1966 and remained there for seven weeks,...
. It and Red Red Wine
Red Red Wine
"Red Red Wine" is a song written and originally recorded by Neil Diamond. It has been covered by Tony Tribe, Jimmy James & the Vagabonds, and more famously by British reggae group UB40, whose version topped the U.S. and UK singles charts...
are his best-known original songs made more famous by other artists.
In February 1979, the uptempo "Forever in Blue Jeans," co-written with his guitarist, Richard Bennett, was released as a single from You Don't Bring Me Flowers, Diamond's album from the previous year.
According to Cotton Incorporated, "Neil Diamond might have been right when he named his 1979 #1 hit 'Forever in Blue Jeans:' 81% of women are planning their next jeans purchase to be some shade of blue." The song has been used to promote the sale of blue jeans, most notably via Will Ferrell, impersonating Neil Diamond singing, for The Gap. Ironically, Diamond himself had performed in radio ads for H.I.S. brand jeans in the 1960s, more than a decade before he and Bennett jointly wrote and composed, and he originated, the selection.
1980s
A planned film version of "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" to star Diamond and Streisand fell through when Diamond instead starred in a 1980 remake of the Al JolsonAl Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
classic, The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer (1980 film)
The Jazz Singer is a 1980 American musical remake of the 1927 classic The Jazz Singer. It starred Neil Diamond, Sir Laurence Olivier, and Lucie Arnaz and was co-directed by Richard Fleischer and Sidney J...
, opposite Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
and Lucie Arnaz
Lucie Arnaz
Lucie Désirée Arnaz is an American actress, singer, dancer and producer. She is the daughter of actors Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and is the sister of actor Desi Arnaz, Jr..- Early life :...
. Though the movie was not a hit, the soundtrack spawned three Top 10 singles, "Love on the Rocks", "Hello Again" and "America
America (Neil Diamond song)
"America" is the name of a patriotic song written and originally recorded by Neil Diamond, released in 1980 as part of The Jazz Singer soundtrack album...
". For his role in the film, Diamond became the first-ever winner of a Worst Actor Razzie Award, even though he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for the same role.
Another Top 10 selection, "Heartlight
Heartlight (song)
"Heartlight" is a song written by Neil Diamond, Carole Bayer Sager and her then-husband Burt Bacharach, and recorded by Diamond in 1982. The song is the first track on Diamond's 1982 album, also titled Heartlight, and reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his eighth top 5 hit on...
", was inspired by the blockbuster 1982 movie E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...
. Though the film's title character is never mentioned in the lyrics, Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
, which had released E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...
and was the parent company of the Uni Records
Uni Records
Uni Records was a record label owned by MCA Inc. The brand, which long featured a distinct UNi logo, was established in 1966 by MCA executive Ned Tanen and developed by music industry veteran Russ Regan...
label, by then referred to as the MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
label, for which Diamond had recorded for years, briefly threatened legal action against both Diamond and Columbia Records.
Diamond’s record sales slumped somewhat in the 1980s and 1990s, his last single to make the Billboard’s Pop Singles chart coming in 1986. However, his concert tours continued to be big draws. Billboard Magazine ranked Diamond as the most profitable solo performer of 1986. In January 1987, Diamond sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl
Super Bowl XXI
Super Bowl XXI was an American football game played on January 25, 1987 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1986 regular season. The National Football Conference champion New York Giants won their first Super Bowl by defeating...
. His "America
America (Neil Diamond song)
"America" is the name of a patriotic song written and originally recorded by Neil Diamond, released in 1980 as part of The Jazz Singer soundtrack album...
" became the theme song for the Michael Dukakis
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
1988 presidential campaign. That same year, UB40’s reggae interpretation of Diamond’s ballad Red Red Wine
Red Red Wine
"Red Red Wine" is a song written and originally recorded by Neil Diamond. It has been covered by Tony Tribe, Jimmy James & the Vagabonds, and more famously by British reggae group UB40, whose version topped the U.S. and UK singles charts...
would top the Billboard’s Pop Singles chart and, like the Monkees' version of “I’m a Believer”, become better known than Diamond’s original version.
1990s to present
During the 1990s Diamond would produce six studio albums. He would cover many classics from the movies and from famous Brill Building-era songwriters. He also released two Christmas albums, the first peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard’s Album chart. Keeping his songwriting skills honed, Diamond also recorded two albums of mostly new material during this period. In 1992, he performed for President George H.W. Bush's final Christmas in Washington NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
special. In 1993, Diamond opened the Mark of the Quad Cities (now the iWireless Center) with two shows on May 27 and 28 to a crowd of 27,000-plus.
The 1990s and 2000s saw a resurgence in Diamond’s popularity. “Sweet Caroline
Sweet Caroline
"Sweet Caroline" is a pop song written and performed by Neil Diamond and officially released on September 16, 1969, as a single. It was later released on December 9, 1972 as a part of Diamond's Hot August Night album. There are three distinct mixes of this song...
” became a popular sing-along at sporting events, starting with Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
football
Boston College Eagles football
The Boston College Eagles football team is the collegiate football program of Boston College. The team is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, a Division I Bowl Subdivision league governed by the NCAA. Within the ACC, the Eagles are one of six teams in the Atlantic Division...
and basketball
Boston College Eagles men's basketball
The Boston College Eagles are a Division I college basketball program that represents Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA. The team has competed in the ACC since 2005, having previously played in the Big East. Home games have been played at the Conte Forum since 1988, having previously been played...
games. Most notably it is the theme song for Red Sox Nation
Red Sox Nation
Red Sox Nation refers to the fans of the Boston Red Sox. The phrase "Red Sox Nation" was first coined by Boston Globe feature writer Nathan Cobb in an October 20, 1986, article about split allegiances among fans in Connecticut during the 1986 World Series between the Red Sox and the New York...
, the fans of the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
, although Diamond noted that he has been a lifelong fan of the Brooklyn
History of the Brooklyn Dodgers
-Early Brooklyn baseball:Brooklyn was home to numerous baseball clubs in the mid-1850s. Eight of 16 participants in the first convention were from Brooklyn, including the Atlantic, Eckford, and Excelsior clubs that combined to dominate play for most of the 1860s...
/Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
. The song is also played during the 8th inning of every New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
home game and at Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
home games. The New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
have also adapted it as their own, and play it when they are winning at the end of the 3rd period. The Pitt Panthers football
Pittsburgh Panthers football
Pittsburgh Panthers football is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport at the university, Pitt football has played at the highest level of American college football...
team also plays it after the third quarter of all home games, with the crowd cheering, "Let's go Pitt". The Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...
play it at the end of each home game when they win. Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill is an alternative rock band, formed in Chicago, United States, consisting of Nash Kato , and Eddie "King" Roeser . Their cover of Neil Diamond's song "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" appeared prominently in the movie Pulp Fiction, and became a hit in 1994...
recorded a version of Diamond’s “Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
"Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" is a song written by Neil Diamond, whose recording of it on Bang Records reached #10 on the U.S. pop singles chart in 1967. The song garnered a second life span when it appeared on the 1994 Pulp Fiction soundtrack, performed by rock band Urge Overkill...
" for Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
’s Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...
, released in 1994. In 2000, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
recorded the album Solitary Man, which included that Diamond classic. Smash Mouth
Smash Mouth
Smash Mouth is an American rock band from San Jose, California. The band was formed in 1994, and was originally composed of Steve Harwell, Greg Camp, Paul De Lisle and Kevin Coleman as lead vocals, guitar, bass and drums respectively...
covered Diamond’s “I’m a Believer” for their 2001 self-titled album. In the 2001 comedy film Saving Silverman
Saving Silverman
Saving Silverman is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan. It stars Jason Biggs, Steve Zahn, Jack Black and Amanda Peet. Neil Diamond has a cameo role playing himself...
, the main characters play in a Neil Diamond cover band
Cover band
A cover band , is a band that plays mostly or exclusively cover songs. New or unknown bands often find the cover band format marketable for smaller gigs, and these bands may be known as a wedding band, party band and function band. A band whose covers consist mainly of songs that were chart hits is...
, and Diamond made an extended cameo appearance as himself. During this period, Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell
John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the late 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega...
did a recurring Diamond impersonation on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, with Diamond himself appearing alongside Ferrell on Ferrell's final show as a "Not Ready For Prime Time Player" in May 2002. “America” was used in promotional ads for the 2002 Winter Olympics
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
. The Finnish band HIM covered “Solitary Man” on their album, And Love Said No: The Greatest Hits.
Diamond has always had a somewhat polarizing effect, best exemplified by the 1991 film What About Bob?
What About Bob?
What About Bob? is a 1991 comedy film directed by Frank Oz, and starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss. Murray plays Bob Wiley, a multiphobic psychiatric patient who follows his successful and egotistical psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin on vacation...
There the protagonist posits, "There are two types of people in the world: those who like Neil Diamond and those who don't". The character of Bob attributes the failure of his marriage to his fiancee's fondness for Diamond. Another example of this love/hate relationship: the Becker
Becker (TV series)
Becker is an American television sitcom that ran from 1998 to 2004 on CBS. Set in the New York City borough of The Bronx, the show starred Ted Danson as John Becker, a misanthropic doctor who operates a small practice and is constantly annoyed by his patients, co-workers, friends, and practically...
episode "It had to be Ew" is largely devoted to ridiculing Diamond and his fans.
Diamond continues to tour and record. 12 Songs
12 Songs (Neil Diamond album)
12 Songs is a 2005 album by Neil Diamond. It was his first album of all-original, all-new material since 2001's Three Chord Opera. It was produced by Rick Rubin and is often erroneously cited as the first Diamond album since the Bang Records era to feature the artist playing guitar.The working...
, produced by Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
, was released on November 8, 2005, in two editions: a standard 12-song release, and a special edition with two bonus tracks, including one featuring backing vocals by Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard chart, and has received generally positive reviews; Earliwine describes the album as "inarguably Neil Diamond's best set of songs in a long, long time". 12 Songs also became noteworthy as one of the last albums to be pressed and released by Sony BMG with the infamous Extended Copy Protection
Extended Copy Protection
Extended Copy Protection is a software package developed by the British company First 4 Internet, and sold as a copy protection or digital rights management scheme for Compact Discs...
software embedded in the disc. (See the 2005 Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal
2005 Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal
The Sony BMG CD copy protection rootkit scandal concerns the copy protection measures included by Sony BMG on Compact Discs in 2005. Sony BMG included the Extended Copy Protection and MediaMax CD-3 software on music CDs. XCP was put on 52 titles and MediaMax was put on 50 titles...
.)
On December 31, 2005 Diamond appeared on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest is a television program that airs every New Year's Eve on ABC. It has been hosted by Dick Clark since its first airing on Sunday, December 31, 1972. Ryan Seacrest has been the program's co-host since the December 31, 2005 telecast...
2006.
In 2007, Diamond was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame
Long Island Music Hall of Fame
The Long Island Music Hall of Fame is an organization whose office is located in Port Jefferson, New York. It was incorporated in July 2005 under the New York State Board of Regents as a non profit organization and holds a provisional charter to operate as a museum in the state of New York...
.
In December 2007, a 2008 UK tour was announced, calling at Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
on June 7 and 8, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
on June 10 and 11, and London on June 21, 23 and 24. A month later, further UK dates were added, including Hampden Park
Hampden Park
Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The 52,063 capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland...
in Glasgow on the 5th of June, Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl, Hampshire
The Rose Bowl is an English cricket ground used for county, One Day International and Test Matches. It is situated at West End, Hampshire, near Southampton, and is home to Hampshire Cricket. The design of the venue is set into an amphitheatre creating a bowl, hence the name...
, Southampton on the 17th of June, and the Millennium Stadium
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...
in Cardiff on the 19th of June.
In 2008, Neil Diamond was gracious enough to help out film maker Greg Kohs, by giving him permission to use his songs in the movie Song Sung Blue. Kohs, a director from Philadelphia, had met a popular Milwaukee duo Lightning & Thunder that included Mike Sardina who did a Neil Diamond impersonation, and his wife Claire. He followed then for 8 years and produced a film, "Song Sung Blue," but Kohs needed permission to use Diamond's songs. According to Jim Stingl, the movie was sent to the singer in January 2008, "highly recommended by Eddie Vedder, who became a highlight of Lightning & Thunder's story when he invited them onstage with Pearl Jam at Summerfest to sing 'Forever in Blue Jeans' together." Diamond's representative (and current fiancee) Katie McNeil reported at the time that Vedder had said of the film, "You should know this is a cool thing. You should check it out." Diamond gave the movie his blessing. The singer is quoted as saying, "I'm honored to have my songs be part of this love story" on the film's website. Thought Mike Sardina had passed away in 2006, Diamond invited Claire and her family to be his front-row guests at his show in Milwaukee, and he asked to meet her personally, where he told Claire that he was moved by the film.
On March 19, 2008, it was announced on the TV show American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
that Diamond would be a guest mentor to the remaining Idol contestants who would be singing Diamond songs broadcasts of April 29 and 30, 2008. On April 8, 2008, Diamond made a surprise announcement in a big-screen broadcast at Fenway Park, that he would be appearing there "live in concert" on August 23, 2008 as part of his World Tour. The announcement, which marked the first official confirmation of any 2008 concert dates in the US, came during the traditional eighth-inning sing-along of his "Sweet Caroline," which has become an anthem for Boston fans.
On April 28, 2008, Diamond appeared on the roof of the Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel
James Christian "Jimmy" Kimmel is an American television host and comedian. He is the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, a late-night talk show that airs on ABC. Prior to that, Kimmel was best known as the co-host of Comedy Central's The Man Show and Win Ben Stein's Money...
building to sing "Sweet Caroline" after Kimmel was jokingly arrested trying to sing the song. This was followed on April 30, 2008, with an appearance on American Idol when he sang "Pretty Amazing Grace" from his new album, Home Before Dark
Home Before Dark
Home Before Dark is a studio album released by American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond in 2008. It became his first U.S. number-one album ever on the Billboard 200 chart, with sales of over 146,000 copies in its first week. It has also reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. As of June 28, 2008,...
. On May 2, 2008, Sirius Satellite Radio started Neil Diamond Radio.
Diamond's album Home Before Dark
Home Before Dark
Home Before Dark is a studio album released by American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond in 2008. It became his first U.S. number-one album ever on the Billboard 200 chart, with sales of over 146,000 copies in its first week. It has also reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. As of June 28, 2008,...
was released on May 6, 2008. On May 15, 2008, the Billboard Hot 200 listed the album at No. 1. This marked the first chart-topping album of Diamond's storied career. On May 18, 2008, "Home Before Dark" also entered the UK charts at No. 1, his second British No. 1 album, after hitting the summit in 1992 with a compilation album. His 2008 tour was the most successful of any of his previous tours since 1966.
On August 25, 2008, Diamond performed at Ohio State University while suffering from laryngitis. The result disappointed him as well as his fans and on August 26 he offered refunds to anyone who applied by September 5.
Diamond was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year
MusiCares Person of the Year
The MusiCares Person of the Year is an award presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the same organization that distributes the Grammy Awards, to commend musicians for their artistic achievement in the music industry and dedication to philanthropy...
on February 6, 2009, two nights prior to the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.
According to posts on Neil's Twitter page, he is currently working on a new album, his third with Rick Rubin. He says he plans to play electric guitar on the album, a first for him. In 2009, Diamond stated that he prefers Gibson and Martin acoustic guitars and confirmed that recently he had been playing Gibson electric guitars.
Long-loved in Boston, Diamond was invited to sing at the July 4 holiday celebration.
Through his Diamond Music Company, Diamond now belongs to that small group of performers whose names are listed as copyright owners on their recordings.
In August 2008, Neil Diamond allowed cameras to record his entire four-night run at New York's Madison Square Garden and released it in the United States on August 14, 2009, on DVD, one year to the day of the first concert. 'Hot August Night/NYC
Hot August Night/NYC
Hot August Night/NYC is a DVD release from Neil Diamond released on August 14, 2009. The DVD features songs from Diamond's four shows at Madison Square Garden during his 2008 tour. An accompanying 2-CD album was released at the same time....
' debuted at No. 2 on the charts and is exclusively available at Wal-Mart and has sold out at many locations all over the country. Also on the same day the DVD was released, CBS (the former parent of his label, Columbia Records) aired an edited version of the DVD, which won the ratings hour with 13 million viewers. The next day, the sales of the DVD surged and prompted Sony to order more copies to meet the high demand.
On October 13, 2009, he released A Cherry Cherry Christmas
A Cherry Cherry Christmas
- Promotion :A was also released for the song "The Chanukah Song".- External links :* *...
, his third album of holiday music.
On September 28, 2010, Diamond was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
On November 2, 2010, he released the album 'Dreams', a collection of 14 interpretations of his favorite songs by other artists from the rock era.
On December 14, 2010, it was leaked by numerous sites that Diamond had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with Alice Cooper, Darlene Love, Dr. John, and Tom Waits. The induction ceremony will be March 14, 2011 at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City.
On December 20, 2010, Diamond made an appearance on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's 'The Sing-Off
The Sing-Off
The Sing-Off is an American television singing competition featuring a cappella groups. It premiered on NBC on December 14, 2009, and is produced by Sony Pictures Television....
', performing "Ain't No Sunshine" along with the A Cappella groups featured on the show.
On May 27, 2011, he appeared on Irish Television in a live recording in front of a celebrity audience.
In November 2011, he will be appearing at the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors
Kennedy Center Honors
The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The Honors have been presented annually since 1978 in Washington, D.C., during gala weekend-long events which culminate in a performance for—and...
gala to accept the honor.
On November 24, 2011, he appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, riding on a replica Mt. Rushmore float singing a shorten versions of "America" and "Sweet Caroline" to promote tourism for the state of South Dakota.
"The Very Best of Neil Diamond," a compliation CD of Neil's 23 studio recordings from the Bang, UNI/MCA, & Columbia catalogs will be released on December 6, 2011 on the Columbia/Legacy label.
Personal life
Diamond married his high school sweetheart, school teacher Jaye "Posey" Posner, in 1963. They had two daughters, Marjorie and Elyn, before they divorced in 1969. In December 1969, Diamond married Marcia Murphey, a production assistant; they also had two children, both sons, Jesse and Micah. Diamond's second marriage ended in 1995. Diamond was in a relationship with Australian Rachel Farley, whom he met while she handled marketing during his 1996 Australian tour, until 2008. The album Home Before Dark is largely based on Farley's struggles with severe chronic pain from a back injury she suffered (very similar to Diamond's own in 1979), surgery and ongoing recovery. Diamond said that "She had back surgery and it wasn’t going well. She was in extreme pain for a year and the surgery did not really work. If anything, it made it worse. And I never left her side. I was within 20ft of her for the entire year that I took writing this album."In 1979 Diamond had a tumor
Tumor
A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...
surgically removed from his spine and underwent a long rehabilitation process just prior to beginning principal photography for his 1980 film The Jazz Singer. Diamond still suffers from chronic, and often severe, back pain.
Diamond is known for wearing colorful beaded shirts in concert. Diamond has said that this was originally done out of necessity, so everyone in the audience could see him without the aid of binoculars. The Bill Whitten-designed and made shirts cost approximately US$5,000 each. Whitten designed and made the shirts for Diamond from the 1970s until 2007.
On September 7, 2011, Diamond announced his engagement to 41 year old Katie McNeil in a message on Twitter: "Good news coming from sunny LA/ and you're the first I want to tell/ Katie & I just got engaged/ and I hope you wish us well."