Neil Diamond

In 2022, his life and music became the subject of the hit Broadway musical "A Beautiful Noise." Neil Diamond is now 84 years old. Let's listen to Terry's interview with him, recorded in 2005.

Diamond's life and music are the subject of a new Broadway show, A Beautiful Noise. In 2005, Diamond spoke to Terry Gross about his guilty-pleasure hits, include "Sweet Caroline" and "Cherry Cherry."

Neil Diamond's new CD 12 Songs is the result of his work with the producer Rick Rubin, who previously put his personal touch on albums from Jay Z, Tom Petty and Johnny Cash, to name a few. The move is a departure from the work Diamond is better known for: hummable hits like "Sweet Caroline," "Cracklin' Rosie," and "Cherry Cherry."

Kate Hudson. She's up for an Oscar for her role as Claire in the film "Song Sung Blue," starring opposite Hugh Jackman as one half of Lightning & Thunder, a Neil Diamond tribute band.

The Hustle & Flow director is known for films about dreamers and misfits. His latest is based on the true story a Milwaukee couple who became local legends performing as a Neil Diamond tribute band.

Diamond has sold 128 million records and written and recorded 37 Top 40 songs. But in the early 1960s, rock historian Ed Ward says, Diamond was writing songs for other musicians while struggling to get his own career off the ground.