Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

Neil Diamond (born Neil Leslie Diamond on January
24, 1941) is an American singer/songwriter who had
a number of hits in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s,
and who maintains a very loyal following with
popular live performances to this day. 

Diamond was born and raised in Brooklyn, attending
high school with Barbra Streisand (and singing
with her in the school choir).   He learned to
play guitar after receiving one as a gift on his
16th birthday.

He spent his early career as a writer in the Brill
Building, and had an early success writing the
song "I'm a Believer" for The Monkees.

When he first auditioned to record, his producers
wanted him to change his name so it would be less
ethnized.  The names Eice Cherry and Noah Kaminsky
were pondered, but, at the last moment Neil
decided to keep his real name stating that "How
would I explain to my Grandmother about changing
my name."

Neil married Jaye Posner and they had two
children, Marjorie and Elyn.  They eventually
divorced.

He signed a deal with Bang Records|Bang! Records,
and had a string of singles as the primary
performer, including "Kentucky Woman", "Cherry,
Cherry", and "Solitary Man".

He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1970, and
signed a deal with MCA Records (then called Uni
Records).  His sound mellowed, with such songs as
"Sweet Caroline" and "Song Sung Blue". "Sweet
Caroline" has since become a rallying cry of Red
Sox Nation, however unlikely this may seem.  Neil
married Marcia Murphey, whom he had met while
doing a television appearance.  They had two sons,
Jesse Michael Diamond born in 1970 and Micah
Diamond, born February 14, 1978.  Neil and Marcia
divorced in 1995.

In 1973, Diamond hopped labels again, this time to
Columbia Records, where he recorded the soundtrack
to Jonathan Livingston Seagull.  In 1974, he
released the album Serenade (songs: "Longfellow
Serenade", "I've Been This Way Before").  In 1976,
he released Beautiful Noise, produced by The
Band's Robbie Robertson.  

In 1977, he released an album I'm Glad You're Here
With Me Tonight, which included the track "You
Don't Bring Me Flowers".  The song was covered by
Barbra Streisand on her album Songbird, which led
one disc jockey to combine the two in a virtual
duet.  The popularity of the virtual duet
motivated Diamond and Streisand to record the real
thing, which became a very large hit in 1978.  A
movie version of the song (starring Diamond and
Streisand) was planned, but plans fell through
when Diamond starred in a remake of the Al Jolson
classic The Jazz Singer in 1980, opposite Sir
Laurence Olivier and Lucie Arnaz.   Though the
movie was not a blockbuster hit at the box office,
the soundtrack was a hugely successful album,
spawning the singles "America", "Love On The
Rocks", and "Hello Again".  This would be the apex
of his recording career.

In 2000, he was awarded the Sammy Cahn Lifetime
Achievement Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Today, Diamond continues to tour, and still
releases new studio and live compilation box sets
of his greatest hits, and most recently recorded
an album of movie songs.  Members of his family
now perform in his back-up band. He is currently
recording a new album with producer Rick Rubin
that is expected to be released on July 26, 2005. 

As of May 2005 he has sold 120 million records
worldwide (Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/arts/music/22lel
a.html NY Times)
,including 50 million records in US (Source:
http://www.riaa.com/gp/bestsellers/topartists.asp
RIAA).


==External links==
*http://neildiamond.com/  Neil's official site
*http://www.tickets4concerts.com/event/587.html 
Neil Diamond Tickets
*http://groups.yahoo.com/group/neildiamondreams/ 
A fun Neil Diamond club
*http://www.whizzo.ca/diamond/bn_home.html Neil
Diamond's Beautiful Noise Internet Mailing List
*http://www.NeilDiamondFanClub.info/ Neil Diamond