Pages tagged “neil diamond”

Neil Diamond was diagnosed with laryngitis after a recent concert at Ohio State University, where he reportedly “sounded raspy.” Many fans walked out during the event, which took place on Monday, demanding refunds and flooding the veteran singer-songwriter’s inbox with grievances. A spokeswoman came forward today, offering reimbursement to concert-goers who submit their requests before Sept. 5.

At 67 years old, Neil Diamond says he still hasn’t run out of ideas. But the crooning bard did return to a certain bearded producer for his new album Home Before Dark, the follow-up to Diamond’s credibility-enhancing 12 Songs.

After releasing album 29 of his career, Neil Diamond will tour across the U.S. and some of Canada this summer. As expected from anyone with a body of work that massive, the man has done quite a bit so far in his life: written a lovesong about a Kennedy, talked some shit at Bob Dylan backstage during The Last Waltz, won the very first Worst Actor Razzie Award for his leading role in a remake of The Jazz Singer ... the list goes on. So what's another tour for this legend?

Dates:

July
19 - St. Paul, Minn. @ Xcel Energy Center
22 - Sioux City, Iowa @ Tyson Events Center
24 - Omaha, Neb. @ Qwest Center Omaha
26 - Chicago, Ill. @ United Center
29 - Indianapolis, Ind. @ Conseco Fieldhouse
31 - Detroit, Mich. @ The Palace of Auburn Hills

August
3 - Cleveland, Ohio @ Quicken Loans Arena
5 - Washington, D.C. @ Verizon Center
7 - Hartford, Conn. @ XL Center
9 - Philadelphia, Pa. @ Wachovia Center
12 - New York, N.Y. @ Madison Square Garden
14 - New York, N.Y. @ Madison Square Garden
18 - Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Mellon Arena
20 - Albany, N.Y. @ Times Union Center
23 - Boston, Mass. @ Fenway Park
25 - Columbus, Ohio @ Value City Arena at The Schottenstein Center
27 - Green Bay, Wis. @ Resch Center
29 - St. Louis, Mont. @ Scottrade Center

September
14 - Winnipeg, Manitoba @ MTS Center
16 - Edmonton, Alberta @ Rexall Place
18 - Calgary, Alberta @ Pengrowth Saddledome
20 - Vancouver, B.C. @ General Motors Place
22 - Portland, Ore. @ Rose Garden
24 - Seattle, Wash. @ KeyArena at Seattle Center
26 - Sacramento, Calif. @ ARCO Arena
28 - San Jose, Calif. @ HP Pavilion

October
1 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Hollywood Bowl
2 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Hollywood Bowl
7 - San Diego, Calif. @ San Diego Sports Arena
10 - Phoenix, Ariz. @ Jobing.com Arena
12 - San Antonio, Texas @ AT&T Center
14 - Houston, Texas @ Toyota Center
16 - Dallas, Texas @ American Airlines Center
19 - Oklahoma City, Okla. @ Ford Center
21 - Tulsa, Okla. @ BOK Center
24 - Tampa, Fla. @ St. Pete Times Forum
26 - Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. @ BankAtlantic Center
28 - Orlando, Fla. @ Amway Arena Orlando
30 - Jacksonville, Fla. @ Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena

Check out our interview with Diamond in the April issue, and click the web extra below for even more Diamond.

Related links:
NeilDiamond.com
Neil Diamond on MySpace
Paste Web Extra: The Diamond Life, continued

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.

When Paste writer Bart Blasengame interviewed Neil Diamond, he got more material than we could fit in the pages of our magazine. Here are a few extra exchanges from their conversation.

Paste: A lot of people forget that you were among the giants who performed during The Band’s Last Waltz show. Do you have any particular memories about that show?
Diamond: Well, it was done on Thanksgiving. So I had Thanksgiving dinner in a hurry with my family, then jumped on a plane to San Francisco, then took a cab to the Winterland. I got backstage about a half hour before I was to go on, said "Hi" to a lot of people and did my song ["Dry Your Eyes"]. Then I hopped in a cab, flew back to LA and put my kids to bed. I hear I missed a pretty good after party.

Paste: Some of the performers, Levon Helm and Ron Wood most notably, weren’t big fans of you being there. And then supposedly there was friction between you and Bob Dylan backstage. What really happened?
Diamond: Bob and I chatted a little bit. And I just told him that he’d "better be good that night because that audience was mine. He better be careful."

Paste: How did he respond?
Diamond: He just arched his eyebrow…then proceeded to go out there and do a terrific show. It really made me appreciate Bob as a performer. He was electric that night.

Paste: You were in the news recently when it was revealed that after 40 years of speculation, "Sweet Caroline" was actually written about Caroline Kennedy. How did that it get out?
Diamond: I would’ve preferred to keep the mystery of that. But basically, I thought that if I was ever going to tell anybody it would be directly to Caroline when and if I met her. Then that opportunity actually came up. It was her birthday and her husband [Edwin Schlossberg] called up and said, "Neil, could you sing happy birthday to Caroline?" I agreed to do it so we set up a cross-country satellite thing in my little studio here in LA. I asked if they’d mind if I sang "Sweet Caroline." So the connection was made to this gathering at the New York Public Library. I said "hi" to Caroline, said a few words, and then I told her the story about how the song title came from a photo I’d seen of her and her little pony. I was an unknown songwriter at the time and it was just an idea I had. She was thrilled. Somehow, I suppose somebody from the press was there and it got picked up. The news went everywhere…I was overwhelmed by it.

Paste: You were the inaugural winner of the Worst Acting Razzie and have been mocked in both film (Saving Silverman) and television (Will Ferrell’s impersonation)—both of which you participated in. Is a healthy sense of humor essential for survival?
Diamond: Well, when you’re a performer you’re open game for satire. I take it as a compliment. I’ve never been bruised. My ego is intact. I’m perfectly fine about it…sometimes even flattered. I think it can be a tribute, though I guess it could be insulting if you let it be. I’ve just never had a problem with the usage of my name and people playing off my image…whatever that is.

Paste: With such a massive body of work there’s got to be a few clunkers in there-- songs that maybe you wish you didn’t have to live with.
Diamond: There are a few that make me wince. But no, I’m gonna keep that private and let them make me wince in the privacy of my own home.