Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond is an American singer-songwriter and performer known for a decades-spanning music career that produced some of the bestselling songs in pop history. Diamond spent his childhood in Brooklyn, New York, where he attended Abraham Lincoln High School. Diamond later enrolled at New York University on a fencing scholarship, where he studied pre-med before leaving school just short of graduation to pursue music full time.

He began his career in the early 1960s as a songwriter in New York’s Brill Building scene, penning hits for other artists including The Monkees. Diamond soon transitioned into a solo recording career, signing with Bang Records and scoring hits like “Sweet Caroline,” “Cracklin’ Rosie” and “Song Sung Blue.”

Diamond is known for iconic songs including “Sweet Caroline,” “Cracklin’ Rosie” and “Song Sung Blue,” as well as albums such as Hot August Night (1972), Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973) and Beautiful Noise (1976). He has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. His honors include multiple Grammy Awards, the Kennedy Center Honors and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Diamond has been married three times. He was first married to Jaye Posner, with whom he welcomed daughters Marjorie (born in 1965) and Elyn (born in 1968) before their divorce in 1969. He later married Marcia Murphey, and the couple welcomed sons Jesse (born in 1979) and Micah (born in 1982) before their divorce. He moved on with Katie McNeil in 2011, and the pair tied the knot the following year.

In 2018, Diamond announced his retirement after revealing a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis.