60 Fun Facts About Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond was born in 1941 in which New York City borough?

All four of his grandparents were immigrants, from Poland and from Kyiv, which is the story behind his song 'America'.

Which future superstar was in the Erasmus Hall High School chorus with Diamond?

He said they weren't close then: 'We were two poor kids in Brooklyn. We hung out in the front of Erasmus High and smoked cigarettes.'

Which chess grandmaster was also in Diamond's class at Erasmus Hall?

Fischer was born in 1943, two years after Diamond, and became US champion at 14.

As a boy Diamond spent four years in which Western city while his father was stationed there?

The family otherwise moved between several homes in Brooklyn before settling in Brighton Beach in 1956.

Which folk singer's summer-camp performance made the 16-year-old Diamond realise he could write songs?

He got a guitar back in Brooklyn, took lessons and 'almost immediately began to write songs'.

Diamond attended New York University on a scholarship for which sport?

He was on the 1960 NCAA championship team but spent his time cutting class to pitch songs on Tin Pan Alley.

Diamond dropped out of NYU ten credits short of a degree for a 16-week songwriting job paying how much a week?

Sunbeam Music didn't rehire him when the 16 weeks were up, and he spent years living on 35 cents a day of food.

Diamond's first success as a songwriter, 'Sunday and Me' in 1965, was a hit for which group?

He was working out of the Brill Building at the time; the Monkees came calling the following year.

Which Diamond-written song was a seven-week US number one for the Monkees and went gold within two days?

He wrote it for himself, but the Monkees version came out first and made him famous as a songwriter instead; he also gave them 'A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You'.

What was Diamond's debut single as a recording artist, released in April 1966?

Decades later, after 'four years of Freudian analysis', he realised he had written it about himself.

Diamond's first hits were released on which label, run by Bert Berns as a subsidiary of Atlantic?

The relationship soured over royalties and 'Shilo', and after years of lawsuits he bought back his master tapes in 1977.

Early on, Diamond opened for which band, whose guitarist shocked him by smashing his instrument?

He also opened for Herman's Hermits, a considerably gentler experience.

Which 1967 Neil Diamond song became better known through Urge Overkill's Pulp Fiction cover?

Diamond's original reached No. 10; Cliff Richard and the Biddu Orchestra had also covered it before Tarantino got there.

Which Diamond ballad from 1967 topped the US chart in 1988 in a reggae version by UB40?

Diamond's own single had stalled at No. 62 after his old label added a choir without asking him.

Which 1970 single was Diamond's first US number one?

The backing band was LA's Wrecking Crew, and the title is said to come from a cheap Canadian sparkling wine.

Diamond's 1972 number one 'Song Sung Blue' was inspired by a piano concerto by which composer?

The slow movement of Piano Concerto No. 21 was the seed; the song lost both its Grammy nominations to Roberta Flack.

In 2014, Neil Diamond said 'Sweet Caroline' was really written for whom?

He needed a three-syllable name to fit the melody, and it took him about an hour in a Memphis hotel to finish.

Which Diamond song have the Boston Red Sox played at every Fenway Park home game since 1997?

The Sydney Swans, the New York Rangers and Pitt football adopted it too, and in 2019 the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry.

At Fenway Park the singalong happens between the top and bottom of which inning?

Diamond used the 2008 singalong to announce, on the big screen, that he'd play the ballpark that August.

Diamond made a surprise appearance to sing at Fenway in April 2013 after what event?

He followed it with the single 'Freedom Song (They'll Never Take Us Down)', with all proceeds to One Fund Boston and the Wounded Warrior Project.

England fans adopted a Diamond song after the Wembley DJ played it after a Euro 2020 win over whom?

'Three Lions' co-writer Frank Skinner conceded it 'went slightly better than Three Lions in the post-match sing-song'.

Diamond's classic 1972 live double album was recorded at which Los Angeles venue?

He added a quadraphonic sound system for the ten-show run, backed by a 35-piece string section.

What is the title of that 1972 live album, which many consider his best work?

Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it 'the ultimate Neil Diamond record'; a 2008 Madison Square Garden sequel added '/NYC' to the name.

In which country, said to have the most Diamond fans per capita, did the 1972 live album spend 29 weeks at number one?

It stayed in that country's top 20 for two years, and his 1976 comeback tour there was broadcast to 36 TV outlets.

At which Broadway theatre did Diamond play 20 sold-out nights in 1972, the first rock-era star to headline there?

The house hadn't staged a one-man show since Al Jolson in the 1930s; afterwards Diamond stopped touring for four years to be with his son.

Diamond won a Grammy and Golden Globe for scoring which 1973 film, whose album out-grossed it?

He and author Richard Bach both sued the director, Diamond for 'butchering' his score; the album still reached No. 2.

Which member of The Band produced Diamond's 1976 studio album?

The pair co-wrote 'Dry Your Eyes', which is why Diamond turns up among the guests at The Band's farewell concert.

Diamond performed 'Dry Your Eyes' at which 1976 farewell concert filmed by Scorsese?

He joined everyone onstage at the end for Bob Dylan's 'I Shall Be Released'.

Why did Diamond start wearing colourful beaded shirts on stage in the 1970s?

Bill Whitten designed and made them for him from the 1970s until around 2007.

Which Las Vegas hotel paid Diamond $650,000 to open its new Theater for the Performing Arts in July 1976?

Elizabeth Taylor and Chevy Chase were in the opening-night crowd, and he began with a story about an ex who'd dumped him too soon.

Which director of The Exorcist filmed Diamond's 1977 concert for 55,000 fans at Woburn Abbey?

Friedkin used six cameras to capture the show and interviews.

Which song became a number-one duet in 1978 after radio DJs spliced together two solo recordings of it?

Diamond wrote the music with the Bergmans on lyrics; he and his old schoolmate performed it unannounced at the 1980 Grammys.

After collapsing on stage in San Francisco in 1979, Diamond had a 12-hour operation to remove what?

He was so sure he would die that he wrote farewell letters to friends before rehab and the shoot of The Jazz Singer.

Diamond's 1980 film The Jazz Singer was a remake of a 1927 classic starring which entertainer?

Diamond's version co-starred Laurence Olivier and Lucie Arnaz, and only Arnaz escaped the critics.

Which acting legend played Diamond's father in The Jazz Singer?

The film flopped but its soundtrack went multi-platinum and became Diamond's most successful album.

For The Jazz Singer, Diamond became the first-ever winner of which dubious prize?

Awkwardly, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for the same performance.

Which Jazz Singer song about Diamond's immigrant grandparents became Dukakis's 1988 campaign theme?

It was played on the news as the Iran hostages came home and at the Statue of Liberty centenary; a poll found it more recognised than 'God Bless America'.

Which 1982 Diamond top-10 hit, inspired by E.T., drew legal threats from Universal?

Co-written with Carole Bayer Sager and Burt Bacharach, it never names the alien; it was his last top-10 hit on the Hot 100.

In January 1987 Diamond sang the national anthem at which event?

Billboard had just ranked him the most profitable solo performer of 1986, even as his singles stopped charting.

Diamond's stripped-back 2005 album 12 Songs was produced by whom?

Brian Wilson sang backing vocals on a bonus track, and the CD was one of the last with Sony BMG's notorious copy-protection rootkit.

Which 2008 Diamond album topped the charts in the US, the UK and New Zealand?

He premiered its single 'Pretty Amazing Grace' while mentoring on American Idol that spring.

Roughly how many fans watched Diamond's sound-plagued 2008 set at the Glastonbury Festival?

The sound cut out during the show, and later that summer he offered refunds after a laryngitis-hit gig at Ohio State.

Which talk-show host was 'arrested' for impersonating Diamond in 2008?

The stunt used the roof of the Hollywood Masonic Temple, the historic building that houses Kimmel's studio.

In which year was Diamond inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

The same year brought the Kennedy Center Honors; the Songwriters Hall of Fame had taken him in back in 1984.

In January 2018 Diamond announced he would stop touring after being diagnosed with what?

The Australian and New Zealand legs of his 50 Year Anniversary World Tour were cancelled, but he stressed he was not retiring from music.

In which 2001 comedy, about a Neil Diamond cover band, does Diamond appear as himself?

He wrote a new song, 'I Believe in Happy Endings', for it and sat in with tribute act Super Diamond at the premiere party.

In 1967 Diamond appeared as a nightclub singer, interrupted by a brawl, on which TV detective series?

The club was called 'The Bad Scene'; it was his only acting until The Jazz Singer 13 years later.

What is the title of the jukebox musical about Diamond's life that opened on Broadway in December 2022?

It is framed as therapy sessions in which Diamond reacts to his lyrics as a psychiatrist reads them from a second-hand lyric book.

Which actor played the younger Diamond on Broadway and joined the real Diamond for a 2022 Fenway singalong?

Mark Jacoby plays 'Diamond (now)' and Robyn Hurder plays his second wife Marcia in the original production.

Which company bought Diamond's songwriting catalogue and master recordings in 2022?

The deal reunited his Bang, Columbia and Capitol recordings under one roof, along with an unreleased album.

Neil Diamond's 'Longfellow Serenade' is named for a poet whose verse the teenage Diamond used to do what?

The song is about a man who woos a woman with poetry, and it reached No. 1 in Switzerland.

Diamond's first US number one is said to take its name from what?

Diamond has told a story about a First Nations community whose lonely men drank 'Crackling Rosé' together round the fire.

How many wives has Neil Diamond had?

His wives were high-school sweetheart Jaye Posner, production assistant Marcia Murphey and, from 2012, his manager Katie McNeil.

Which Australian Football League club plays 'Sweet Caroline' at every home game?

The song's sporting life stretches well beyond Fenway Park, from Boston College games to a Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament.

In which year was Neil Diamond inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame?

His Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction did not follow until 2011, the same year he was a Kennedy Center honoree.

What was the title of Diamond's 2010 album of his favourite songs by rock-era artists?

The 14-track set also included a new slow-tempo arrangement of his own 'I'm a Believer', and he performed 'Ain't No Sunshine' from it on The Sing-Off.

Which comedian joined Diamond for a duo medley in his 1986 TV special Hello Again?

It was his first television special in nine years, and Billboard ranked him the most profitable solo performer of that year.

Which Beach Boy sang backing vocals on a bonus track of the special edition of 12 Songs?

The Rick Rubin-produced album debuted at No. 4 and was among the last Sony BMG releases pressed with the infamous Extended Copy Protection software.

Diamond's first recording contract, an Everly Brothers-style duo, was billed as Neil and whom?

Neil and Jack, with high-school friend Jack Packer, released two unsuccessful singles in 1962 before Columbia signed Diamond as a solo act.

Who co-produced Diamond's 1969 album Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show in Memphis?

Moman and Tommy Cogbill recorded it in Memphis, where Diamond would also write 'Sweet Caroline' in a hotel room in about an hour.