UPDATE
BBCNEWS
JAN 2018
Singer Neil Diamond has announced he will retire from touring, after a recent diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
Diamond, who turns 77 on Wednesday, cancelled his March tour dates for Australia and New Zealand on medical advice.
The Solitary Man singer was midway through his 50th anniversary tour.
In a statement he said he took the decision "with great reluctance and disappointment".
"I have been so honoured to bring my shows to the public for the past 50 years," he said.
"My sincerest apologies to everyone who purchased tickets and were planning to come to the upcoming shows."
Parkinson's is a progressive condition in which the brain becomes damaged. It can lead to tremors, difficulty moving, speech changes and eventually memory problems.
Forty eight million records sold in the U.S.
In 1970 Neil signed up with MCA and had
five top twenty hits with Shilo, Until It’s Time For You To Go, Soolaimon,
Solitary Man and He Ain't Heavy He’s My Brother. But one record was a hit in the
UK and the USA that year, which was Cracklin’ Rose from the album Tap Root
Manuscript. The song is about a sparkling wine from Canada. The single was
mono, but the sound was great.
More singles in 1971, and the biggest being
I Am..I Said for which Neil got a Grammy nomination. The song was in fact about
Neil being torn in many directions, including where he wanted to live. LA or
New York?
1972 several U.S. hits including Play Me
and Walk On Water. But the big hit in UK and U.S. was Song Sung Blue and gave Neil two more Grammy nominations, although
he did not win. This was inspired by Mozart's "Piano Concerto no.
21."
1973 several singles, but none made the top
thirty, and in 1974 only one did and that was Longfellow Serenade that got to
No. 5 in the U.S. and No.29 in the UK. The title of the song is a reference to
the 19th century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
1975 no UK, but 1976 he came back with If
You Know What I Mean from the album Beautiful Noise which became a single hit
itself later in the same year. The title came from the fact that Neil’s
daughter was listening to a parade outside the window and turned to her dad and
said "What a beautiful noise daddy”. And it was truly a beautiful noise.
1977 and Desiree was the biggest single hit
for Neal.
It was the third of June
On that summer's day
When I became a man
At the hands of a girl
Almost twice my age
1978 he had a worldwide hit with a duet
with Barbra Streisand and You Don’t Bring Me Flowers a Platinum selling single.
The song was in fact supposed to be a theme for a TV show called All That
Glitter, but the show failed. Neil had the song on a 1977 album and the next
year Barbra had it on one of her albums. The reason the song was made was
because of a divorce by a radio jock. He spliced the two songs together to make
one recording and gave it to his wife. The song got airplay, and an official
single was made. The power of the people!
1979 and still the singles followed on.
Forever In Blue Jeans. The song came out of a radio commercial for jeans by a
man pretending to be Neil Young. He was so good at it, that Neil did it himself
and had a worldwide hit.
The very last single of the 70s for Neil
was September Morn from the album I’m A Believer. The song was out about the
same time Neil collapsed on stage and had to have an emergency operation on his
back. It was a tumor, but they managed to remove it.
Neil Diamond TV Interview from 1971
Neil Diamond TV Interview from 1971