Neil Diamond

Neil Leslie Diamond was born on January 24, 1941 in Brooklyn, NY to Akeeba and Rose Diamond. He attended nine different schools as his father owned a series of dry goods stores in the New York City borough and had to change locations sometimes. At the age of 16, Diamond received a guitar as a gift and became very interested in music after seeing Pete Seeger perform. In 1958 he graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School and enrolled in New York University.

When young, Diamond wrote several songs, by the time he was 18 he wrote his fifth song “Blue Destiny”. He became a writer in the Brill Building and wrote "I'm a Believer" and "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You" for The Monkees. Also in 1962, his composition "Santa Santa" was recorded by the Rocky Fellers and released by Scepter Records. In 1966, Diamond signed with Bang! Records and released some singles including "Kentucky Woman," "Cherry, Cherry," and "Solitary Man."

In 1970, Neil moved to Los Angeles, California, and signed a deal with Uni Records (now MCA). He released songs like “Cracklin’ Rosie”, “Song Sung Blue” and the rallying cry of Red Sox Nation: “Sweet Caroline”. In 1972, Diamond played 10 sold out concerts at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. One of his presentations was recorded and released as Hot August Night a live double album. Neil changed label to Columbia Records and recorded the Jonathan Livingston Seagull soundtrack. Next year, he released Serenade which was followed by Beautiful Noise in 1976. Following year, he released I'm Glad You're Here With Me Ton, which included “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” (which was covered by Barbra Streisand and eventually done as a duet).

In 2000, Neil Diamond was granted the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2005 he released the album 12 Songs produced by Rick Rubin, which debuted at #4 in the Billboard. On December 31, 2005 Diamond appeared on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve 2006.