This ride has been so good..
NEIL Diamond thanked millions of his fans yesterday as he bowed out of live shows for good – after revealing he has Parkinson’s disease.
Hundreds of thousands have tickets for his 50 Year Anniversary World Tour and he was due to play Manchester, Glasgow and Leeds in October.
Vowing to keep writing and recording, Neil, who is 77 today, told followers: “It is with great reluctance and disappointment I announce my retirement from touring .... This ride has been so good, so good, so good, thanks to you.”
Known for his forest of chest hair, sequinned jackets and hits including Sweet Caroline, Beautiful Noise and I Am...I Said, Neil sold more than 130 million records and had 53 chart hits.
Fans were devastated that the “Jewish Elvis” may never again unleash his craggy bass-baritone live on stage.
Few can be as devoted as Kevin and Julie Fitzpatrick, who spent £27,000 in life savings at a charity auction for seats at their idol’s Christmas party at his home in Malibu, California in 2010.
They were shocked at the news. “We saw him in Birmingham last October and he was just as good as ever – there wasn’t any indication of a problem,” said Kevin at home in Preston, Lancs.
“It’s very sad. But we have memories of him that we will always treasure.”
Now fans will follow Sunday’s Grammy Awards closely, as the star collects a Lifetime Achievement Award in what could be one of his last shows.
There are fears the progressive nature of his incurable nervous system disorder – which causes tremors and slurred speech – may make him reclusive.
He is remembered in Britain for his
Glastonbury show in 2008, when generations of younger fans realised the power and passion of his lyrics which he discovered as a 16-year-old in Brooklyn.
Born over the bridge from Manhattan to a Jewish family descended from Russian and Polish immigrants, he was inspired by US folk singer Pete Seeger.
After learning the guitar, he wrote Blue Destiny at 17 and was smitten.
“It made an immediate emotional connection,” he recalled. “Blue Destiny actually touched my heart and got me started on a lifetime journey of expressing myself through songs.” Later, he dropped out of medicine school at New York University for a $50-a-week job writing songs at Sunbeam Music.
His first success was Sunday and Me in 1965 – a hit for Jay and the Americans. But his real breakthrough was I’m a Believer, for the Monkees in 1966.
Behind the scenes, he compiled material for himself leading to his first album The Feel of Neil Diamond, in 1966.
For a spell he released albums at a rate of one a year, sometimes two.
In May 1969 he made his mark with
It is with great reluctance and disappointment I announce my retirement from touring NEIL DIAMOND YESTERDAY, REVEALING HE HAS PARKINSON’S
the immortal anthem Sweet Caroline. “I’m motivated to find myself. I’m an imperfect emotional being, trying to figure out some way to give some kind of substance and meaning to my life,” he told Rolling Stone magazine in 1976.
“It’s really the only justification I’ve found yet for my life.”
With his heartfelt lyrics often inspired by his own love life, Neil went on to achieve huge success in the 70s.
He was once paid £465,000 (£2million today) by the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, to open its new £7.5million theatre in 1976 with three sell-out gigs. In 1978 he dueted on You Don’t Bring Me Flowers with Barbra Streisand, an old Brooklyn school friend.
“We were two poor kids. We hung out in the front of Erasmus High and smoked cigarettes,” he once recalled.
In 1991, he met Princess Diana at a Wembley concert in aid of The Royal School for the Blind.
Married three times, the superstar admitted he was high maintenance.
He wed high school sweetheart Jaye Posner in 1963 and had two daughters before tying the knot with production assistant Marcia Murphey.
They were married for 25 years, having sons, Jesse and Micah. They split in 1994.
Finally, in 2012, he walked down the aisle with manager, Katie McNeil, 30 years his junior, in Los Angeles.
But the constant love of Neil’s life has been his fans, making his retirement from the stage all the more sad.
“I have been so honoured to bring my shows to the public for the past 50 years,” he added yesterday. “My thanks goes out to my loyal and devoted audiences.
“You will always have my appreciation for your support and encouragement.”