Six Decades After His Debut Album, Neil Diamond Reflects on ‘Capturing Magic in a Bottle’
Categoria: Musica
Diamond looks back on how losing the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles led him to music and his time working alongside songwriting royalty in the Brill Building.
Por Billboard | 03/08/2026
Neil Diamond remembers a very clear difference when he shifted from being a songwriter to a recording artist with his debut album, The Feel of Neil Diamond , which came out 60 years ago this month. “There was a lapel button that said, ‘I love The Feel of Neil Diamond,’ and marketing around the album,” Diamond says in an email interview. “You don’t get that when you’re just a songwriter and other people are singing your songs! It was a new era.” Related Hugh Jackman Left Speechless By One-Of-a-Kind Gift From Neil Diamond: ‘Oh… My’ Fans Choose Ariana Grande's 'Petal' as This Week's Favorite New Music Ariana Grande Taking a Break After Tour Amid Ongoing Public Scrutiny That 1966 debut album on Bang Records — with its hits “Solitary Man” and “Cherry Cherry” — set Diamond on his way as one of not only the most successful singer-songwriters in pop music history but one of the most beloved. With hits like “Holly Holy,” “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon,” “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “I Am… I Said,” “Song Sung Blue,” “Forever in Blue Jeans,” “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” “America” and, of course, the cultural juggernaut “Sweet Caroline,” Diamond has charted 53 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 , including 13 top 10s, and 18 top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 . He is No. 2 on Billboard ’s Greatest Adult Contemporary Artists of All Time list, behind only Elton John . He has sold more than 130 million albums, according to Universal Music Group, which acquired his song catalog and master recordings in 2022. Not bad for someone who never planned to perform his own songs. In the early to mid-1960s, the Brooklyn-born Diamond was writing in the Brill Building, the revered New York home to such legendary writers as Ellie Greenwich, Gerry Goffin , Carole King , Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. “Working in the Brill Building, I had a thrilling sense of belonging and I was impressed by the people who inhabited the building,” Diamond says. “I didn’t have any premeditation of being a new star. I was making a living.” “Making a living” turned into a career in which he conquered the world with his songs, earned induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame and received both a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Kennedy Center Honor. After being a global touring sensation for more than 50 years, in 2018 Diamond announced he was no longer touring after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. However, new fans continue to discover his music. In 2022, A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical , the moving musical about his life and career, opened on Broadway. After more than 650 performances, it is now playing around the globe, including opening in Australia this month. The 2025 movie Song Sung Blue about Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder starring Hugh Jackman and an Academy Award-nominated Kate Hudson further introduced a younger audience to his songs. And there is still music in the vault to enjoy.