Inside this crafty Brooklyn boy, though, was a star waiting to shine: After breaking out on his own in the mid-\u201960s, Diamond became one of the most beloved showmen of the 20th century \u2014 a sweat-slicked dynamo whose specialty was pushing past sentimentality to embrace the sublime in a kind of secular gospel music.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s probably already burned into your mind, but just look at the cover<\/a> of his iconic 1972 live LP, \u201cHot August Night.\u201d<\/p>\n Any questions?<\/p>\n In 2018, the singer \u2014 a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame \u2014 announced that he\u2019d been diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease and would stop touring. Yet the years since then have been big for Diamond, with a Broadway musical based on his life and a hit movie, last year\u2019s \u201cSong Sung Blue,\u201d starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as married Midwesterners in a Neil Diamond tribute band. (Hudson earned a best actress Oscar nomination for her performance.)<\/p>\n This week, Diamond, 85, will release a new album, \u201cWild at Heart,\u201d featuring 10 tracks he recorded with producer Rick Rubin during sessions for his 2008 LP \u201cHome Before Dark.\u201d To mark the moment \u2014 and perhaps to push back on his baffling omission from the New York Times\u2019 much-discussed list<\/a> of the 30 greatest living American songwriters \u2014 I\u2019ve ranked all 55 of Diamond\u2019s singles that have charted on Billboard\u2019s Hot 100, starting with the worst and ending with the best.<\/p>\n As the man himself once sang: Get on board \u2014 we\u2019re gonna ride till there ain\u2019t no more to go.<\/p>\n 55. \u2018Be\u2019 (peaked at No. 34 in December 1973)<\/p>\n It says something about Diamond\u2019s heat in the wake of \u201cHot August Night\u201d that he scored a Top 40 hit with a song from a movie about an intrepid seabird. Rolling Stone called the \u201cJonathan Livingston Seagull\u201d soundtrack \u201cproto-new age mush\u201d; nevertheless, the album brought Diamond his only competitive Grammy, which is obviously insane.<\/p>\n 54. \u2018Turn Around\u2019 (peaked at No. 62 in September 1984) Diamond once said he wrote this lugubrious ballad to satisfy the suits at his record company, and I, for one, believe him.<\/p>\n 53. \u2018New Orleans\u2019 (peaked at No. 51 in February 1968)<\/p>\n A lively if unnecessary cover of the Gary U.S. Bonds tune \u2014 and one of just five songs on this list that Diamond didn\u2019t write.<\/p>\n 52. \u2018He Ain\u2019t Heavy \u2026 He\u2019s My Brother\u2019 (peaked at No. 20 in December 1970)<\/p>\n Here\u2019s another of those: a slower and drearier version of the Hollies hit.<\/p>\n 51. \u2018I\u2019m Alive\u2019 (peaked at No. 35 in February 1983)<\/p>\n \u201cEvery night on the streets of Hollywood \/ Pretty girls come to give you something good.\u201d<\/p>\n 50. \u2018Be Mine Tonight\u2019 (peaked at No. 35 in July 1982)<\/p>\n Listen to that string section go.<\/p>\n 49. \u2018Headed for the Future\u2019 (peaked at No. 53 in June 1986)<\/p>\n A pumped-up synth-rock number with some Huey Lewis in it, Diamond\u2019s final Hot 100 entry was addressed to his four children. \u201cI\u2019m trying to give them some kind of positive message for the future and a little fatherly advice about learning to lean on people and letting them lean on you a little bit,\u201d he told The Times<\/a> in 1986. \u201cThat\u2019s something I had a hard time learning.\u201d<\/p>\n 48. \u2018The Long Way Home\u2019 (peaked at No. 91 in August 1973)<\/p>\n Sufficiently Beatlesque.<\/p>\n 47. \u2018The Good Lord Loves You\u2019 (peaked at No. 67 in April 1980)<\/p>\n Dedicated to \u201cthe junkies and juicers\u201d in \u201cyour prisons and jails.\u201d<\/p>\n 46. \u2018Skybird\u2019 (peaked at No. 75 in March 1974)<\/p>\n More talk of gulls.<\/p>\n 45. \u2018Done Too Soon\u2019 (peaked at No. 65 in June 1971)<\/p>\n Almost a year after it first appeared on Diamond\u2019s \u201cTap Root Manuscript\u201d LP, \u201cDone Too Soon\u201d \u2014 a motor-mouthed roll call of historical figures that set the table for Billy Joel\u2019s \u201cWe Didn\u2019t Start the Fire\u201d \u2014 charted as the B-side of \u201cI Am \u2026 I Said.\u201d<\/p>\n 44. \u2018Front Page Story\u2019 (peaked at No. 65 in May 1983)<\/p>\n In which Diamond observes that the only thing worse than getting your heart broken is realizing how little anyone cares.<\/p>\n 43. \u2018Sunday Sun\u2019 (peaked at No. 68 in November 1968)<\/p>\n A strummy little number about \u201cfeeling good and yet sad at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n 42. \u2018On the Way to the Sky\u2019 (peaked at No. 27 in March 1982)<\/p>\n Diamond wrote this waltz-time weeper with Carole Bayer Sager<\/a>, who beat him to the punch with her own recording; his version is haunted, hers downright macabre.<\/p>\n 41. \u2018Do It\u2019 (peaked at No. 36 in December 1970)<\/p>\n Words of encouragement from Uncle Neil.<\/p>\n 40. \u2018Say Maybe\u2019 (peaked at No. 55 in June 1979)<\/p>\n A show tune in search of a show.<\/p>\n 39. \u2018If You Know What I Mean\u2019 (peaked at No. 11 in August 1976) Critics were less than impressed by 1976\u2019s \u201cBeautiful Noise\u201d LP, which was produced by the Band\u2019s Robbie Robertson (leading to Diamond\u2019s appearance that Thanksgiving at the Band\u2019s legendary Last Waltz concert in San Francisco). \u201cThis is a monstrous record,\u201d Robert Christgau wrote, while Rolling Stone said it was a \u201cmuddled-sounding, much-hyped attempt to realign Diamond with the rock audience.\u201d The singer himself told The Times<\/a> in 1992 that the album\u2019s hit ballad, in which a grizzled narrator blubbers over the one that got away, \u201chad a real strong emotional peak on the record.\u201d His verdict: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t put it in my top 10 personal songs, but it would be in the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n 38. \u2018The Last Thing on My Mind\u2019 (peaked at No. 56 in September 1973)<\/p>\n Suppler than Tom Paxton\u2019s original; not as frisky as Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton\u2019s cover.<\/p>\n 37. \u2018Until It\u2019s Time for You to Go\u2019 (peaked at No. 53 in March 1970)<\/p>\n Moonier than Buffy Saint-Marie\u2019s original; somehow almost as French as Claudine Longet\u2019s cover.<\/p>\n 36. \u2018Walk on Water\u2019 (peaked at No. 17 in December 1972)<\/p>\n Neil and Julio down by the schoolyard.<\/p>\n 35. \u2018I Got the Feelin\u2019 (Oh No, No)\u2019 (peaked at No. 16 in December 1966)<\/p>\n \u201cI love you so much I could taste it \/ But, girl, your eyes tell me it\u2019s wasted.\u201d<\/p>\n 34. \u2018I\u2019m a Believer\u2019 (peaked at No. 51 in July 1971)<\/p>\n Diamond\u2019s first pass at the Monkees smash is basically a remake of their version; much cooler (but not issued as a single) is his reggae-fied take from 1979.<\/p>\n 33. \u2018Two-Bit Manchild\u2019 (peaked at No. 66 in August 1968)<\/p>\n A himbo grows in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n 32. \u2018Don\u2019t Think \u2026 Feel\u2019 (peaked at No. 43 in October 1976)<\/p>\n Another cut overseen by Robertson for \u201cBeautiful Noise,\u201d this one with Dr. John on organ and Jerome Richardson on flute.<\/p>\n 31. \u2018Cherry Cherry\u2019 [from \u2018Hot August Night\u2019] (peaked at No. 31 in May 1973)<\/p>\n The song so nice it charted twice \u2014 first in its mid-\u201960s studio incarnation then again as a hopped-up live cut from \u201cHot August Night.\u201d Said Diamond in 2012 of the 10-night Greek Theatre engagement<\/a> documented on the concert LP with the sex-bomb cover photo: \u201cWe pulled out all the stops and let it all hang out.\u201d<\/p>\n 30. \u2018Longfellow Serenade\u2019 (peaked at No. 5 in November 1974)<\/p>\n Pure horndog poetry.<\/p>\n 29. \u2018Thank the Lord for the Night Time\u2019 (peaked at No. 13 in August 1967)<\/p>\n As close as Diamond ever got to the Stooges.<\/p>\n 28. \u2018Red Red Wine\u2019 (peaked at No. 62 in April 1968)<\/p>\n A credibly sloshed vocal performance \u2014 and the source of a No. 1 hit two decades later for UB40.<\/p>\n 27. \u2018Solitary Man\u2019 (peaked at No. 21 in September 1970)<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t trying to write anything about myself necessarily,\u201d Diamond said of his first chart hit (which went to No. 55 in 1966 before going higher on a re-release). \u201cI thought it was just a nice idea to write a song about a solitary guy. It wasn\u2019t until years later, when I went into Freudian analysis, that I understood that it was always me.\u201d<\/p>\n 26. \u2018You Got to Me\u2019 (peaked at No. 18 in March 1967)<\/p>\n Neil Diamond\u2019s 115th dream.<\/p>\n 25. \u2018Soolaim\u00f3n\u2019 (peaked at No. 30 in May 1970)<\/p>\n Part of the so-called African Trilogy that occupied Side 2 of \u201cTap Root Manuscript,\u201d \u201cSoolaim\u00f3n\u201d offered up an idea of white-guy world music years before Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon.<\/p>\n 24. \u2018Stones\u2019 (peaked at No. 14 in December 1971) One of the paradoxes of Diamond\u2019s career is that his flashy showman reputation is built on songs that can be almost comically humble in their imagery.<\/p>\n 23. \u2018Brother Love\u2019s Travelling Salvation Show\u2019 (peaked at No. 22 in April 1969)<\/p>\n Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies.<\/p>\n 22. \u2018I\u2019ve Been This Way Before\u2019 (peaked at No. 34 in March 1975)<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people say this is one of their favorites,\u201d Diamond told The Times, \u201cbut I\u2019ve always felt a sense of disappointment in that song because I wrote it for the \u2018Jonathan Livingston Seagull\u2019 movie and didn\u2019t finish it in time to get it on the album. It was supposed to be the concluding statement.\u201d Half a century later, Kate Hudson\u2019s performance of the song fulfilled that ambition as the finale of \u201cSong Sung Blue.\u201d<\/p>\n 21. \u2018Desir\u00e9e\u2019 (peaked at No. 16 in February 1978)<\/p>\n Diamond\u2019s first hit produced by Bob Gaudio (of the Four Seasons) recalls the thrill of a one-night stand with an older woman \u2014 and the agony of the following night without her.<\/p>\n 20. \u2018Hello Again\u2019 (peaked at No. 6 in March 1981)<\/p>\n He just called to say he loves you.<\/p>\n 19. \u2018Shilo\u2019 (peaked at No. 24 in April 1970)<\/p>\n \u201cIt was my first attempt at an autobiographical thing,\u201d Diamond told Rolling Stone of this encomium to an imaginary childhood friend. The singer wanted to release \u201cShilo\u201d as a single but Bang Records\u2019 Bert Berns disagreed \u2014 at least until Diamond found success on a different label, at which point Berns reached back for the hit Diamond knew he\u2019d had.<\/p>\n 18. \u2018Yesterday\u2019s Songs\u2019 (peaked at No. 11 in January 1982)<\/p>\n After this silky if self-pitying yacht-rock jam \u2014 Diamond said he wrote it at a time \u201cwhen I guess I doubted that any of my early songs would be remembered\u201d \u2014 only one more of his singles got close to the top of the Hot 100. But \u201cYesterday\u2019s Songs\u201d spent six straight weeks at No. 1 on Billboard\u2019s adult contemporary chart, where Diamond kept scoring hits through the early \u201990s.<\/p>\n 17. \u2018Crunchy Granola Suite\u2019 (peaked at No. 36 in January 1972)<\/p>\n Inspired by Diamond\u2019s discovery of California\u2019s health-food scene not long after he moved to Los Angeles, \u201cCrunchy Granola Suite\u201d charted as the B-side of the \u201cStones\u201d single before he enshrined the tune as his concert opener. Wrote Diamond in the liner notes of his \u201cIn My Lifetime\u201d box set: \u201cI actually thought \u2018Crunchy Granola Suite\u2019 might change people\u2019s eating habits!\u201d<\/p>\n 16. \u2018Brooklyn Roads\u2019 (peaked at No. 58 in June 1968)<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to try and capture what it was like growing up in Brooklyn,\u201d Diamond said in 1992, leading to a vivid tableau of cooking smells, crummy report cards and a father\u2019s whiskers warming his son\u2019s face.<\/p>\n 15. \u2018You Don\u2019t Bring Me Flowers\u2019 (peaked at No. 1 in December 1978)<\/p>\n Former classmates from Brooklyn\u2019s Erasmus High, Diamond and Barbra Streisand joined forces for this chart-topping duet after each had already recorded the tune on their own. The song, which Diamond wrote with Alan and Marilyn Bergman, laments the cooling of a romance in language as direct as the music is florid; the recording, as the story goes, came in response to a homemade edit by a radio programmer eager to hear the two stars sing together. \u201cFlowers\u201d sold more than a million copies, though Paul Simon once floated a theory<\/a> that its easy-listening success delayed Diamond\u2019s induction into the Rock Hall: \u201cIf it\u2019s Barbra Streisand, it is not rock and roll,\u201d Simon said when Diamond finally got in in 2011 \u2014 20 years after he\u2019d crossed the eligibility threshold. \u201cI don\u2019t think they allow that DNA even close to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.\u201d<\/p>\n 14. \u2018Cherry, Cherry\u2019 (peaked at No. 6 in October 1966)<\/p>\n Few have gotten more out of three ragged chords than Diamond did in his first Top 10 single. Crisply produced, like all of his early hits, by the duo of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, the exorbitantly hooky \u201cCherry, Cherry\u201d led music publisher Don Kirshner to ask whether Diamond had any songs that might be right for the Monkees; two months later, the TV band was at No. 1 with Diamond\u2019s \u201cI\u2019m a Believer.\u201d<\/p>\n 13. \u2018Kentucky Woman\u2019 (peaked at No. 22 in November 1967)<\/p>\n This zesty country-pop flirtation was composed, per \u201cIn My Lifetime\u2019s\u201d notes, \u201cin the back of a limo as we approached the outskirts of Paducah, Kentucky.\u201d In a sign of Diamond\u2019s growing renown at the time, \u201cKentucky Woman\u201d was covered within a year by both Waylon Jennings and Deep Purple.<\/p>\n 12. \u2018Love on the Rocks\u2019 (peaked at No. 2 in January 1981) \u201cPour me a drink and I\u2019ll tell you some lies.\u201d<\/p>\n 11. \u2018Heartlight\u2019 (peaked at No. 5 in November 1982)<\/p>\n Diamond\u2019s last Top 10 pop hit reportedly cost him $25,000 to settle a lawsuit from the film studio behind \u201cE.T.,\u201d which accused him of stealing from the movie about the friendly alien whose heart glows when he says goodbye to his young earthling pal. (Diamond even sings about their \u201cride across the moon.\u201d) Yet that sum was a small price to pay for a record as weirdly beautiful as this one \u2014 proof that Diamond could find the pathos in any scenario.<\/p>\n 10. \u2018September Morn\u2019 (peaked at No. 17 in March 1980)<\/p>\n Svelte but swaggering, tender yet macho \u2014 this hairy-chested torch song might be the singer\u2019s finest vocal performance. Five years after it charted, he famously serenaded Britain\u2019s Princess Diana with \u201cSeptember Morn\u201d during a Reagan-era dinner at the White House.<\/p>\n 9. \u2018America\u2019 (peaked at No. 8 in June 1981)<\/p>\n \u201cThat song tells the immigrant story,\u201d Diamond said in 2006. \u201cIt was written for my grandparents and the immigrants who came over in the late 1800s \u2014 the Irish, Jews and Italians. But it\u2019s the song for the modern-day Latino coming as well.\u201d<\/p>\n 8. \u2018Girl, You\u2019ll Be a Woman Soon\u2019 (peaked at No. 10 in May 1967)<\/p>\n Gen X embraced this licentious lover\u2019s plea when Uma Thurman\u2019s character did a sexy dance \u2014 and then experienced a grisly drug overdose \u2014 to a cover by Urge Overkill in 1994\u2019s \u201cPulp Fiction.\u201d In 2008, Diamond told Q magazine that Quentin Tarantino had asked to use his original but that he\u2019d turned down the director because he understood the movie \u201cinvolved cocaine, and I didn\u2019t want my music associated with that.\u201d No hard feelings, evidently: Tarantino later set the trailer for \u201cOnce Upon a Time \u2026 in Hollywood\u201d to \u201cBrother Love\u2019s Travelling Salvation Show.\u201d<\/p>\n 7. \u2018Sweet Caroline\u2019 (peaked at No. 4 in August 1969)<\/p>\n Diamond\u2019s most-streamed song on Spotify is a piece of record-making so good (so good! so good!) that you no longer have to hear it to hear it.<\/p>\n 6. \u2018Forever in Blue Jeans\u2019 (peaked at No. 20 in March 1979)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778079009_121_hqdefault.jpg\")
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