尼尔·戴蒙德

　　尼尔·戴蒙德（Neil Diamond），1941年1月24日出生于纽约的布鲁克林。他在纽约大学医学院学习过一段时间，而后缀学从事音乐工作。最初，戴蒙德以作曲家的身份出现并为他赢得了声誉。1965年底开始唱歌。1966年，他创作了一系列的热门歌曲，如：埃尔维斯·普莱斯利和"深紫色"乐队都演唱过的《肯德基妇女》（Kentucky woman）等作品使他名声大增。1978年，他和芭芭拉·史翠珊（Barbra streisand）的二重唱单曲《你别给我带来鲜花》（You Don't Bring Me Flowers）在美国排行榜名列第一。1980年，戴蒙德在电影《爵士歌手》（The Jazz singer）中的精彩表演使他的明星地位进一步得到了巩固。
　　Neil Diamond是美国60－80年代最为成功的流行歌手和创作人之一，在Billboard历史上，他的成绩仅次于Elton John和Barbra Streisand。截至2005年，他的专辑在全世界范围内已经售出了1亿2千万张，这简直是个天文数字（在美国的销量不过4800万张，可见他的影响力是国际性的）。他在1984年入选歌曲创作名人堂。
　　然而，尽管在商业上非常成功，由于他的整体风格属于典型的民谣＋流行摇滚，Neil Diamond在专业的乐评领域并没有得到很高的评价，不过，这并不影响人们欣赏他的歌曲——音乐是否具有革命性和歌曲是否好听基本上是两个不同的概念。
　

Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. As a successful pop music performer, Diamond scored a number of hits worldwide in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. According to David Wild, common themes in Diamond's songs are "a deep sense of isolation and an equal desire for connection. A yearning for home – and at the same time, the allure of greater freedom. The good, the bad and the ugly about a crazy little thing called love."

As of 2001 Diamond has sold 115 million records worldwide, including 48 million records in the U.S. In terms of Billboard chart success, he is the third most successful Adult Contemporary artist ever, ranking behind only Barbra Streisand and Elton John.

Though his record sales declined somewhat after the 1980s, Diamond continues to tour successfully, and maintains a very loyal fan following. Diamond's songs have been recorded by a vast array of performers from many different musical genres.

Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984, and in 2000 he received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award.

On Monday, March 14, 2011, Neil Diamond was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.