arts & life

Diamond says he would

love to reprise a duet with

Barbra Streisand, with

whom he sang "You Don't

Send Me Flowers."

"All Barbra has to do is

give me a call and I'll be

there," he says. "I think

she's probably the greatest

female voice of the 20th

century, and it's an honor to

PHOTO BY MICAH DIAMOND

sing with her."sr
or/

Shine On

Neil Diamond

brings his powerful

performing style to

the Palace.

Neil Diamond performs 8
p.m. Friday, March 20, at
the Palace of Auburn Hills.
$49.50-$150. (800) 745-
3000; palacenet.com .

Alice Burdick Schweiger
Special to the Jewish News

N

eil Diamond, Grammy
Award-winner and
iconic singer/song-
writer, shows no signs of slowing
down.
On March 20, he will perform
at the Palace of Auburn Hills
— one stop on his 34-city tour.
Detroit fans can hear him sing
everything from his 1960s chart-
topping hits to songs from his
latest album, Melody Road.
"This show will probably have
more songs in it than any show
I've ever done because I don't
want to take out 'I Am I Said' or
`Sweet Caroline' or 'Holly Holy:"
says Diamond, 74. "I do a fair
share of the new songs and keep
the audience involved as well. It's
going to be a big show:'
Songs from The Jazz Singer
will be among those he will
perform, and that movie has a
special meaning for Diamond.
When it was released in 1980,
he said it reminded him of his

Yiddish-speaking immigrant
grandparents and his own Jewish
roots, which were very impor-
tant to him.
Today, he remains proud of
those roots. "My parents are
Jewish, my aunts and uncles, my
grandparents, so many kids that
I grew up with in Brooklyn, so
it's a part of me he says. "I am
100-percent Jewish; I love being
Jewish and I intend to remain
Jewish. It's a part of my life; it's a
part of who I am:'
The Jazz Singer, a story about
a cantor who left his safe,
expected career path for a life
in show business, was similar
to Diamond's life. He was born
in Brooklyn in 1941 to Akeeba
and Rose Diamond, Polish
immigrants. His father was a
dry-goods merchant. Diamond
went to Erasmus High School
in Brooklyn and sang in the
100-member choir with class-
mate Barbra Streisand before
attending New York University
on a fencing scholarship. With a
knack for science, he wanted to
become a doctor — but he had

an extreme passion for music
and dropped out of school his
senior year to work for a music-
publishing company as a song-
writer for $50 a week. He never
finished his degree.
His recording career began in
the 1960s, and before long, Neil
Diamond became a household
name. Over the course of his
celebrated career, he has sold
more than 128 million records,
garnered a Golden Globe Award,
was inducted in both the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame and the
Songwriters Hall of Fame, and
was a recipient of the prestigious
Kennedy Center Honor for his
lifetime of contributions to
American culture.
After more than four decades
with Columbia Records,
Diamond signed with Capitol
Music Group last year. "I was
with Columbia for 42 years,
and when you're with a label
that long, you have to begin to
wonder what's going on outside
of that world:' Diamond says. "I
never did feel constrained in any
way at Columbia Records, either

creatively or personally. At some
point I owed it to myself just to
make a change, even it if was
only for the sake of change:'
Also evolving over the years:
Diamond has been married to
video-producer Katie McNeil
since 2012. He has two daughters
with his first wife, Jewish teacher
Jayne Posner, and two sons with
second wife, production-
assistant Marcia Murphy.
His upcoming tour marks 45
years of performing his music on
the road. What's changed?
"I carry 100 people with me
now," he says. "I used to go out
with just a guitar and then it
grew from there to a three-per-
son band, and then a larger band
and a road manager and lighting
directors and catering and trav-
eling. The audiences have been
there, thank God, and they've
been with me — and that is
something that trumps anything.
I need to have the audience with
me and in my corner for the
show. If I know they are, they're
going to get everything that I
can give:' ❑

March 12 • 2015

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