neil diamond
Neil Diamond has been a pop music star since the mid-1960s, writing and singing hit songs such as “Kentucky Woman” (1967), “Song Sung Blue” (1972) and “Love on the Rocks” (1980). [...] His 2005 album 12 Songs was hailed as a return to his early days of songwriting glory and was the basis for one of the top grossing tours of the year. [1]
The August 24 performance was recorded and released as the live double album Hot August Night (the title being the opening words of Diamond’s song “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show “). [...] His songs have been covered internationally by countless performers of all musical genres. [...] Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. [2]
Rock, even soft rock, has never been Diamond’s milieu; it is equally wrong to categorize him as a club singer in the Frank Sinatra/Wayne Newton vein. [...] A hired-gun songwriter in the early 1960s, he wrote the Monkees’ 1967 hit “I’m a Believer” around the time he began his own recording career. [1]
… sales and Top 40 airplay were disappointing, and Columbia dropped Diamond from the label shortly there after. [...] Later in 1962, Diamond signed with the Columbia Records label as a solo performer. [3]
Neil Diamond was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family descended from Russian and Polish immigrants. [2]
Sources:
[1] Neil Diamond: Biography from Answers.com
[2] Neil Diamond - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[3] Neil Diamond - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia