You know Neil Diamond.
Your parents know Neil Diamond.
Even your grandparents know Neil Diamond.
But despite his celebrity, the man has dropped off the radar.
While many of his musical peers have languished in the spotlight, here's why you don't hear
from Neil Diamond anymore.
Sadly, in January 2018, Diamond announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's
disease, an incurable cognitive disorder that causes shaking, stiffness, and trouble balancing,
and eventually leads to anxiety, depression, and dementia.
It is the same disease that Michael J. Fox lives with.
Time reported the reality of this new condition forced Diamond to cancel the remainder of
his 50th anniversary tour, much to his own "reluctance and disappointment."
However, though Diamond may have retired from touring, he's not retiring from music.
In the same announcement, he promised to continue writing and recording new songs and sharing
music with the world for as long as he can.
He said to his fans,
"My thanks goes out to my loyal and devoted audiences around the world.
[…] This ride has been 'so good, so good, so good' thanks to you."
It might seem like Diamond has been in the public eye fairly consistently, but in reality,
vanishing acts have always been part of his MO.
Rather than work himself to death, Diamond prefers to regularly take vacations from performing,
sometimes for years at a time.
For example, the New York Times writes that back in '72, he announced he was going to
be taking a sabbatical from concerts for a few years.
He was only in his mid-30s, prime music-making age for many artists.
Still, his break lasted until 1976.
"I had to get away because the insanity was starting to creep in and it was no longer
a normal existence.”
He explained his reasoning to Rolling Stone by saying,
"I've tried to [keep some privacy].
I've avoided getting too hot; I've avoided overexposure [and] staying away from television
for a long time has been part of it."
When he came back from his break, though, things didn't go quite how he planned, thanks
to the critical failure of his 1980 remake of the film The Jazz Singer.
These days, Rotten Tomatoes ranks it at about 15 percent, and beloved film critic Roger
Ebert famously said that the film,
"[…] has so many things wrong with it that a review threatens to become a list."
"Well we just blew a very important gig.
And there's only one thing to do.”
“What is that?”
“Have a party!”
For one, Diamond unconvincingly plays a character two decades younger than he is.
Even worse, as the AV Club points out, the film contains a horribly problematic blackface
sequence that never should've made it past the first draft.
Of course, The Jazz Singer didn't destroy Diamond's musical career, but it certainly
put the brakes on any film ambitions he might've had.
Diamond basically made so much money back in his earlier years that he can afford to
retire from performing and still live comfortably off song royalties.
"Neil Diamond?”
“Yeah, I love Neil Diamond.”
“I love Neil Diamond.”
Rolling Stone pointed out Diamond made a deal with MCA's Uni Records in 1967 that earned
him $50,000 per album for five albums.
When that contract was nearing its end, he started getting offers of over $400,000 per
album for a 10-album commitment.
And Diamond still makes crazy amounts of money today, earning royalties whenever people download
hits like "Sweet Caroline" - which he wrote in 1969 - and which, according to the Washington
Post, could still be netting him up to $500,000 a year.
"When I wrote this song, I thought, this is, some kind of magic happened.”
On a charitable note, after the 2013 Boston marathon bombing, Diamond donated a week of
"Sweet Caroline" royalties to victims of the attack.
It's hard not to notice how Diamond's songs have transformed from pop hits to part of
the tapestry of American life.
Now that he's almost 80 years old, he's done trying to redefine music.
He's made his mark.
His name is in the history books.
So over the past decade, he's more or less been on a retirement tour, picking up lifetime
achievement awards left and right.
"I never thought that I would be spending an entire life doing this.
But it worked out and I'm as amazed as anybody else.”
For example, in 2011, the Telegraph reported he'd earned his spot in the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame.
In 2012, he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2017, he put out a 50th anniversary collection.
And in 2018, the Recording Academy celebrated his legacy with a lifetime achievement award.
He's seemingly taken a step back from the industry as a whole and now has the opportunity
to bask in his achievements.
Diamond might be one of the biggest musicians in history, but he's never been a conventional
"rock star," and he's not one to hog the spotlight.
Basically, he's just a regular guy who enjoys the creative endeavor of making and playing
music for his fans.
Even back in his heyday, the self-proclaimed "solitary man" wasn't a big partier, according
to the Telegraph.
And while other musicians were hitting the clubs, Diamond preferred to go home and write
music.
Sure, it might seem like this soft-spoken strummer has been even quieter than usual
in the last decade or so, but in reality, stepping back from the spotlight has always
kind of been his thing.
Diamond once told the Telegraph,
"I learnt from Elvis to avoid becoming public property.
Nothing is worth that."
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Grunge videos about your favorite stuff are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.