Neil Diamond Caricature

Neil Diamond Caricature, illustrated here in Los Angeles in the fall of 1972 after the release of his “Hot August Night” Live album, age 31, with his 1967 Martin 00-21 slope shouldered acoustic.

Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actor. With 38 songs in the Top 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts, Diamond has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time.

Growing up in Brooklyn, NY he attended Erasmus Hall High School and was a member of the Freshman Chorus and Choral Club, along with classmate Barbra Streisand. For his 16th birthday, he received his first guitar after seeing Pete Seeger perform, and began to write songs.

During his senior year in college, Sunbeam Music Publishing offered him a 16-week job writing songs for $50 a week, and he dropped out of college to accept it, ten credits short of graduating.
During those years, he was able to sell only about one song a week, barely enough to survive on. Among them were “Cherry, Cherry” and “Solitary Man”. “Solitary Man” was the first record Diamond recorded under his own name that made the charts.

Becoming an established songwriter, success followed with “I’m a Believer”, “A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You”, “Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)”, and “Love to Love”, all performed by the Monkees.
“I’m a Believer” became a gold record within two days of its release, and stayed at the top of the charts for seven weeks, making it the Popular Music Song of the Year in 1966.

He began to open up for artists such as Herman’s Hermits and The Who. “Solitary Man”, became his first true hit as a solo artist. Diamond later followed with “Cherry, Cherry” and “Kentucky Woman”.

In 1969, he moved to Los Angeles and recorded his album, “Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show” which gave him his breakthrough. In 1971, Diamond played 7 sold-out concerts at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles.

Again back at the Greek Theater, his performance of August 24, 1972, was recorded and released as the live double album “Hot August Night”. This made him a super-star.

Diamond toured throughout the 1980’s, 1990’s, the 2000’s; in January 2018, Diamond announced that he would immediately retire from touring due to having been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Greatest Hits: “I’m A Believer”, “Cherry Cherry”, “Solitary Man”, “Kentucky Woman”, “Shilo”, “Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show”, “Sweet Caroline”, “Holly Holy”, “Cracklin’ Rosie”, “Song Sung Blue”, “I Am… I Said”, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”, “Heartlight” and “America”.

Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.