Neil Diamond is 82 years old today.
Diamond is a singer-songwriter with a career that began in the 1960s. He has sold over 125 million records worldwide, and is the third most successful adult contemporary artist on the Billboard charts behind Barbra Streisand and Elton John.
His songs have been covered internationally by many performers from various musical genres.
On the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts, he has had ten #1 singles: "Cracklin' Rosie," "Song Sung Blue," "Longfellow Serenade," "I've Been This Way Before," "If You Know What I Mean," "Desiree," "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," "America," "Yesterday's Songs," "Heartlight" and "I'm A Believer."
On January 22, 2018, Diamond announced that he would immediately retire from live performance due to having been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. His official Neil Diamond website, announced the immediate cancellation of the remainder of his "50 Year Anniversary World Tour."
The cancellation affected tour dates in Australia and New Zealand. In the online statement, the website said the cancellation would allow Diamond to "continue his writing, recording and development of new projects."