Neil Diamond
What are some of Neil Diamond’s most famous songs?
How did Neil Diamond’s career begin?
What inspired Neil Diamond to write “Sweet Caroline”?
When did Neil Diamond retire from performing?
What honors has Neil Diamond received for his music?
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Neil Diamond (born January 24, 1941, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.) is an American singer-songwriter known for his charismatic performance style and prolific songwriting career that produced such radio-friendly hits as “Solitary Man” (1966), “Sweet Caroline” (1969), “Song Sung Blue” (1972), and many others. He began his career writing pop songs for other musicians and then launched a solo recording career that spanned more than five decades. Diagnosed with Parkinson disease in 2018, he retired from performing but continued to record music.
From Brooklyn to the Brill Building
“Songwriting gives me the greatest joy, the greatest sense of accomplishment, the sense that my life does have some purpose.…It’s what I am.” —Neil Diamond, 1976
Diamond’s parents, Akeeba and Rose (née Rapoport) Diamond, owned and managed a series of dry goods stores, and his family moved often when Neil was young. Although they briefly lived in Wyoming while his father served in the military, Diamond mainly grew up in Brooklyn. Diamond’s interest in music began at age 16, when he obtained his first guitar as a birthday gift. His inspiration for learning the instrument and for writing songs was a performance by folk singer-songwriter Pete Seeger at a summer camp in upstate New York, where the teenage Diamond was a camper.
After graduating from high school, Diamond attended New York University with the intention of entering medical school. However, he left college during his final year to take a job as a staff songwriter for the Sunbeam Music Company. His tenure at Sunbeam was short, and he became one of a stable of songwriters who worked out of New York City’s famed Brill Building.
Songwriting superstar
In 1965 Diamond signed a recording contract with Bang Records, and one year later his debut album, The Feel of Neil, was released. Shortly thereafter he wrote the song “I’m a Believer” (1966), recorded and made famous by the Monkees. In 1967 Diamond signed a new recording contract with Uni Records, with whom he recorded such hits as “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show” (1969), “Cracklin’ Rosie” (1970; his first record to reach number one on the pop charts), and “I Am…I Said” (1971), the last of which earned him his first Grammy Award nomination.
One of his best-known songs from this era, “Sweet Caroline,” was inspired by a photograph of nine-year-old Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of Pres. John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy. In 2007 Diamond performed the song for her 50th birthday and revealed for the first time that it was named for her. Recalling the photograph of the young Kennedy with her pony, Diamond said, “It was such an innocent, wonderful picture, I immediately felt there was a song in there.”
After leaving Uni for Columbia Records, Diamond recorded the soundtrack for the film Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973), which earned him a Grammy Award. He went on to release a string of successful albums during the 1970s, including Serenade (1974), Beautiful Noise (1976), Love at the Greek (1977), You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (1978; featuring a chart-topping duet with Barbra Streisand on the title track), and September Morn (1979).
The Jazz Singer and the pop music icon
In 1980 Diamond made his motion picture debut: He starred in a remake of the 1927 Al Jolson film The Jazz Singer, for which he also wrote and performed the soundtrack. Diamond’s acting was panned by many critics, but the movie yielded a top 10 hit with “America,” a song about the immigrant experience.
His notable later albums include Heartlight (1982), Live in America (1994), In My Lifetime (1996), and The Neil Diamond Collection (1999). Having written songs for other musicians early in his career, in the late 20th century Diamond saw many iconic selections from his solo catalog being covered by a new generation of artists, among them reggae band UB40 (“Red Red Wine”), singer-songwriter Chris Isaak (“Solitary Man”), and alternative rockers Urge Overkill (“Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon”; featured on the soundtrack for the 1994 film Pulp Fiction).
In the early 21st century Diamond released, among other albums, The Essential Neil Diamond (2001), Stages (2003), 12 Songs (2005; produced by Rick Rubin), Home Before Dark (2008; another collaboration with Rubin), and Melody Road (2014). He also made a cameo appearance as himself in the film Saving Silverman (2001). In January 2018, following a diagnosis of Parkinson disease, Diamond announced his retirement from touring. The 2025 film Song Sung Blue, which stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as members of a Neil Diamond tribute band, is named for Diamond’s number-one hit of 1972.
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- Neil Leslie Diamond
Honors
Diamond was honored twice by the Songwriters Hall of Fame—first upon his induction in 1984 and later in 2000, when he was presented with the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Diamond also received a Kennedy Center Honor (2011) and a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement (2018). That year the U.S. Library of Congress added “Sweet Caroline” to the National Recording Registry, a list of audio recordings deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”