From unlikely beginnings, Neil Diamond built a brilliant 50-year career that included 10 Number 1 hits and more than 130 million records sold. He’s responsible for two of the most memorable songs of all time—“Sweet Caroline” and “I’m a Believer." Those compositions alone ensure that future generations will be singing Neil Diamond songs forever. But there’s more. He’s a member of the Songwriting Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And, right up until the relatively recent end of his live-performing career, he remained one of the top-selling touring acts all around the world. Neil Diamond’s music is timeless. His appeal spans generations. And his legacy lives on.
NEIL DIAMOND
HOW WILL MUSIC HISTORY REMEMBER NEIL DIAMOND • As an unlikely performer with a gift for bringing joy to millions
Neil Diamond didn’t pursue music—it found him BROOKLYN ROADS • As a senior at Abraham Lincoln High, Diamond was more into fencing than music—though not by much. A chance encounter with a folk-singing legend two years earlier had inspired him to start writing his own songs.
Diamond worked years behind the scenes before becoming a success MAGIC IN THE AIR • Diamond poses for a portrait in a New York City hotel room in 1966, the same year The Monkees took his song “I’m a Believer”—which he’d originally envisioned as a country song—all the way to No. 1.
Diamond had a promising recording career with a hot label—but the deal was not to his liking THE BIG BANG YEARS • Diamond poses for photographers outside a club at which he is performing in 1967, one year after he’d signed with Bang Records. The glum look on his face summarizes his eventual feeling toward the company.
Diamond relocated to California and became one of music’s most dependable stars ON THE MOVE • Diamond onstage in Berlin in the 1970s (left). His albums of the era might have been receiving mixed reviews, but there was no doubt that he was one of the supreme live performers in pop music.
Diamond’s star continued to ascend until he took a break WALKING AWAY • In the fall of 1972, Diamond began a hiatus that lasted nearly four years. He worked on albums, but did not play live shows. In June 1974, cameras caught him at an ACLU tribute to actor Henry Fonda in Beverly Hills.
After four years, Diamond picked up where he left off—wowing crowds around the world THE RETURN • Shown here performing in Birmingham, England, in July 1984, Diamond began that summer by playing 18 shows spanning four European countries over a one-month span.
10 of Neil Diamond’s most crowd-pleasing hits DIAMOND’S GREATEST • A big reason that Diamond (onstage in Birmingham, England, in 1984) was such an electrifying live performer was that he had the songbook to back up his stage show.
It’s not a stretch to say that Diamond had been underappreciated even in his heyday THE LEGACY • Diamond singing at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, on March 22, 2005, just a few years after the renewed popularity of “Sweet Caroline” had introduced him to a new generation of fans.
Neil Diamond
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