Q 01/05

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

A) The Bronx

B) Queens

C) Brooklyn

D) Manhattan

Answer · why

C) Brooklyn

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

Q 02/05

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

A) Barbra Streisand

B) Carole King

C) Neil Sedaka

D) Carly Simon

Answer · why

A) Barbra Streisand

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.'

Q 03/05

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

A) Garry Kasparov

B) Boris Spassky

C) Paul Morphy

D) Bobby Fischer

Answer · why

D) Bobby Fischer

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

Q 04/05

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

A) Albuquerque, New Mexico

B) Cheyenne, Wyoming

C) Boise, Idaho

D) Colorado Springs, Colorado

Answer · why

B) Cheyenne, Wyoming

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

Q 05/05

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

A) Woody Guthrie

B) Pete Seeger

C) Burl Ives

D) Bob Dylan

Answer · why

B) Pete Seeger

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