25/01/2025
Singer, songwriter and musician Neil Diamond was born in Brooklyn, New York, on this day in 1941 (January 24)
Neil Diamond is one of the most beloved entertainers of our lifetime.
He has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time.
He has had no less than ten #1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts: "Cracklin' Rosie", "Song Sung Blue", "Longfellow Serenade", "I've Been This Way Before", "If You Know What I Mean", "Desirée", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", "America", "Yesterday's Songs", and "Heartlight".
Other classic Neil Diamond hits include the likes of “Sweet Caroline”, “Beautiful Noise”, “Forever in Blue Jeans”, “Cherry, Cherry”, and “Shilo”.
He has written songs that have become hits for others like the #1 smash “I’m A Believer” for the Monkees, UB40’s UK #1 “Red Red Wine”, and Urge Overkill’s “Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" from the “Pulp Fiction” soundtrack.
His performance at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles on August 24, 1972, was recorded and released as the live double album “Hot August Night”.
The album became a classic, and in Australia, which at the time had the most Neil Diamond fans per capita of any country, it stayed in the #1 spot for 29 weeks and was in the Top 20 for two years.
His soundtrack to the film “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” won a Golden Globe Award for “Best Original Score” and a Grammy Award for “Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture”.
In January 2018, Diamond announced that he would immediately retire from touring due to having been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
On March 22, 2020, Diamond posted a video to YouTube playing "Sweet Caroline" with slightly modified lyrics ("...washing hands, don't touch me, I won't touch you...") in response to the widespread social distancing measures implemented due to the worldwide pandemic.
Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.
He received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
In 2019, his 1969 signature song "Sweet Caroline" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
“Sweet Caroline” continues to be a favourite at parties, weddings, sporting events, pubs, clubs and karaoke bars around the world.
Without question, Neil Diamond is one of the best.
Click on the link below to watch “Cracklin’ Rosie” with a really interesting back story in the intro:
https://youtu.be/KxwCJsbq9DE