Neil Diamond

Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is one of America's most enduring and successful singer-songwriters. As a successful pop music performer, Diamond scored a number of hits worldwide in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. According to David Wild, common themes in Diamond's songs are "a deep sense of isolation and an equal desire for connection. A yearning for home – and at the same time, the allure of greater freedom. The good, the bad and the ugly about a crazy little thing called love."

As of 2001^[update] Diamond has 115 million records sold worldwide, including 48 million records in the U.S. In terms of Billboard chart success, he is the third most successful Adult Contemporary artist ever, ranking behind only Barbra Streisand and Elton John.

Though his record sales declined somewhat after the 1980s, Diamond continues to tour successfully, and maintains a very loyal following. Diamond's songs have been recorded by a vast array of performers from many different musical genres.

Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984, and in 2000 received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award.

Neil Diamond was born in Brooklyn, to a Jewish family descended from Russian and Polish immigrants. His father was a dry-goods merchant. Diamond grew up in several homes in Brooklyn, attending Erasmus Hall and Abraham Lincoln High Schools. At Erasmus Hall, he took part in SING! and sang in the school choir with Barbra Streisand. Neil Diamond attended Surprise Lake Camp as a youth.

Diamond’s first recording contract was billed as "Neil and Jack," an Everly Brothers type duo, where Diamond appeared with a high school friend, Jack Packer. 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 Records label as a solo performer. Columbia Records released the single "At Night" b/w "Clown Town" in July, 1963. Despite a tour of radio stations, the single failed to make the music charts. Billboard Magazine gave an excellent review to "Clown Town" in their July 13, 1963 issue, predicting it would be a hit. Sales were disappointing, and the Columbia Records label dropped Diamond from its roster. Soon after that, Diamond was back to writing songs on an upright piano above the Birdland Club.

Diamond spent his early career as a songwriter in the Brill Building. His first success as a songwriter came in November, 1965 with the song "Sunday and Me," performed by Jay and the Americans, which was a top 20 hit on the Billboard Charts. Greater early 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," recorded and released 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 to release himself, but the cover versions were released before his own. The unintended, but happy, consequence of this 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, also 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.”

Diamond married school teacher Jaye 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. 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.

In 1979 Diamond had a tumor surgically removed from his spine and was wheelchair-bound for three months, and had to use a walker, and then a cane, for a long period until finally overcoming these impediments just prior to beginning principal photography for his 1980 film The Jazz Singer. Diamond still suffers from chronic, and often severe, back pain.

During the 1990s Diamond would produce six studio albums. He would cover many classics from the movies and from the famous Brill Building song writers. He also released two Christmas albums, the first peaking at number eight on the Billboard’s Album chart. Keeping his song writing skills honed, Diamond also recorded two albums of mostly new material during this period. 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 people.

The 1990s and 2000s saw a resurgence in Diamond’s popularity. “Sweet Caroline” became a popular sing-along at sporting events. It started being played at both Boston College football and basketball games. Most notably it is the theme song for Red Sox Nation, despite Diamond’s frequent assertions that he has been a lifelong “Red Sox fan.” The song also gets playing time during the 8th inning of every Mets home game at Shea Stadium, and at the 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 3rd quarter at all their home games, with the crowd cheering "Let's go Pitt". Urge Overkill recorded a memorable 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 himself made an extended cameo appearance as himself. During this period, Will Ferrell did a recurring impersonation of Neil 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. Diamond's song “America” was used in promotional advertisements for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The Finnish band HIM covered “Solitary Man” on their album And Love Said No: The Greatest Hits.

Diamond is known for wearing colourful sequin-adorned shirts in concert. He 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 $5,000.00 (US) each. Whitten designed and made the shirts for Diamond from the 1970s until 2007. He told Jonathon Ross that he had a new designer for his less colourful stage wear for his tour of 2008.

Az 1941. január 24-én Brooklynban született Neil Diamond reneszánszát éli mostanság, láthattuk önmagát alakítani a Nő a baj című filmben, hosszabb szünet után 2001-ben jelent meg új, tisztességesre értékelt lemeze, és még mindig képes megtölteni egy jókora koncerttermet. Igazi entertainer, aki ráadásul maga írja a dalait, mi több karrierjét is mások számára gyártott slágerekkel kezdte a hatvanas évek közepén (többek közt a Monkees, Elvis Presley, Lulu, a Deep Purple adta elő szerzeményeit).
Több mint 30 nagy- és 60 kislemeze között számos nagy sláger akad, elég, ha csak a legutóbb a Smash Mouth által feldolgozott I'm A Believert, a UB40 által is sikerre vitt Red Red Wine-t, vagy a Ponyvaregényben az Urge Overkill átdolgozásban hallható Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soont emeljük ki.