Neil Diamond is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time.
Neil Diamond has had a massively successful music career spanning six decades. In January 2018, Diamond revealed he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
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Who is Neil Diamond?
Neil Leslie Diamond was born on January 24th of 1941 in Brooklyn, New York. he was raised in a Jewish household by merchant parents, although his father later joined the army.
Diamond first became involved in music during his high school years after joining the choir alongside a young Barbara Streisand. After transferring to another high school, Diamond joined the fencing team.
At age 16, Neil Diamond received a guitar as a birthday present. Soon enough, he was writing his own songs and taking guitar lessons. Songwriting soon sparked a passion for poetry, and Diamond often wrote pieces for his high school crushes.
After high school, Diamond attended New York University on a Fencing Scholarship. Alongside future Olympic fencer Herb Cohen, Diamond was part of the NCAA Championship team in 1960.
Although Diamond attended New York University with a pre-med major, he gradually became more and more fascinated with music and continually less so with his schoolwork. Eventually, Neil Diamond dropped out of college when he was just months away from graduating.
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Early Career
During his college years, Neil Diamond had been cutting classes and visiting Tin Pan Alley – an area in New York where various music publishers and songwriters had “set up shop.”
His efforts to get noticed eventually bore fruit, as he was offered a $50 per week songwriting contract by Sunbeam Music Publishing. It was at this point that Neil Diamond dropped out of college and never looked back.
However, once his contract came to an end, Sunbeam didn’t re-hire Diamond. He was forced to pursue a solo career, writing songs and releasing unsuccessful singles in the early 60s.
Although these singles were commercial flops, positive reviews attracted the attention of Columbia Records, who signed him – only to drop him after continued failures.
Neil Diamond health update:
How is Neil Diamond doing? Diamond stopped touring following his January 2018 Parkinson’s diagnosis.
In April 2023, he spoke about the hardship of accepting his illness with CBS News.
When asked about the struggles of giving up touring, the music legend said: “Oh, I still haven’t given it up, yet. It’s very hard , In a sense, I was in denial for the first year or two.
“When the doctor told me what it was, I was just not ready to accept it. I said, ‘Oh, okay. I’ll see you, you know, whenever you wanna see me. But I have work to do, so I’ll see you later.'”
He added: “This is the hand that God’s given me, and I have to make the best of it, and so I am.” Diamond then revealed that he just started to accept it within “the last few weeks”.
He added: “But somehow a calm has moved [into] the hurricane of my life, and things have gotten very quiet, as quiet as this recording studio.
“And I like it. I find that I like myself better. I’m easier on people, I’m easier on myself. And the beat goes on, and it will go on long after I’m gone.”
Diamond also discussed the Broadway show A Beautiful Noise and his experience of performing Sweet Caroline during the musical’s opening night.
The show chronicles Diamond’s life and music. When asked if he got “flashbacks” during the show, the icon responded: “I think constantly, from the minute it started! Like, everything was a flashback!”
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