Neil Diamond Bio, Parents, Married, Wife, Children, Net Worth &Salary

There are very few singers above the singer Neil Diamond when it comes to Pop-rock and folk-country music. He is an American singer-songwriter and actor who received various prestigious awards such as Sammy Cahn, Grammy lifetime achievement award, and Kennedy Center Honors. Neil has won Hall of fame status for his exceptional work as a songwriter and rock and roll singer.

Some of his most notable work includes Crackin Rosie, Song Sung Blue,  If you know what I mean, Desire, America, among many other hits. Apart from his professional career, what about his married life, children, and net worth?

Poor Background

Neil Diamond was born as Neil Leslie Diamond on January 24, 1941, in Brooklyn, New York, to father Akeeba Diamond. He sold dry goods to make a living, and her mother, Rose Rapoport, was a housewife. Neil followed the Jewish religion and belonged to Russian and Polish descendants. He spent most of his time in several homes in Brooklyn and later moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, after his father was stationed in the army.

During his time in Brooklyn, he attended Erasmus Hall high school, where Neil became one of the Freshman Chorus and Choral Club members alongside singer Barbra Streisand. Although he wasn’t close with Barbra at the time, they hung out together because of their similar poorly background.

Later, he attended Abraham Lincoln high school based in Ocean parkway and remained a member of combat sports, where he shared a close relationship with Olympic fencer Herb Cohen. Currently, the 79-year-old singer saw the first concert of folk singer Pete Seeger when his school went on a trip to Surprise Lake Camp. That concert moduled the path of Neil decided to take guitar lessons and write his song. The songwriting idea helped him cope with the frustration in life he had faced in his initial life.

Focused on his Passions

Ultimately, he developed skills in writing and started to write poetry for the girls he liked and often won their hearts. Neil’s friend encouraged him to write poems they used for their Success in winning girls. Upon graduation from school, he worked various jobs to support his family as a waiter in Catskills resort. Since he had already practiced combat during school days, he got a scholarship at New York University and studied to become a medical student.

However, destiny had a different plan for Diamond since he never found interest in Fencing and often got bored during the class. Due to this, he decided to focus on writing song lyrics and started cutting classes to travel to Tin Pan Alley, a music publisher-dominated town. After massive hard work and dedication, Neil received an offer from Sunbeam Music publishing.

Sadly things didn’t turn out the way Neil had thought they would since Sunbeam did not hire him after working for 16 weeks. However, he kept on writing songs. In his own words, Neil said:

“I never really chose songwriting,” he says. “It just absorbed me and became more and more important in my life

A struggle followed by Success

Finally, he got the first recording contract as ”Neil and Jack” which he recorded alongside school friend Jack Packer, but sadly, it was unsuccessful. Although it became commercially unsuccessful, Neil received excellent reviews from Cashbox and Billboard magazines.

Due to the reviews, Neil was signed by authorized top label company Columbia Records, owned by Sony Music as a solo performer. Again he got excellent reviews but failed to make the charts. Due to this, he went back to writing songs in and out of publishing houses for the next seven years.

Moreover, despite facing failure, Neil didn’t stop working and kept writing songs wherever he could, including on buses. Finally, his work paid off, and he got recognition on the charts for two songs, Cherry Cherry and Solitary Man. Slowly things started to fall right, and he became a successful songwriter with hits such as Sunday and Me; I m a believer. Viggo Mortensen, Chelsea Tyler, and Davey Havok are some renowed musicians like Neil.

Married and Divorced

Neil married three times during his life. He married high school sweetheart Jaye Posner. The couple dated from high school before tieing the knot in 1963 in an intimate ceremony. During his marriage to Jaye, she became huge support in his struggling days when she worked as a teacher to support the family. They were happily married and shared two daughters before separating in 1967. Their divorce was finalized after two years in 1969.

Ultimately after his divorce was finalized, Neil married Marcia Murphey, who worked in production as an assistant. He had a quiet married life with Marcia, which lasted for 25 years and was the longest ever married for Neil. Sadly things started to fall after the birth of their children, which resulted in indifferences. Eventually, they decided to separate mutually in 1994 or 1995.

Nevertheless, upon divorce from his second wife, Neil started dating an Australian lady, Rae Farley. The former couple met in Brisbane, Australia. They were in intimate relationships for more than eight years. Since Ray was in bad health due to chronic back pain, Neil dedicated the Album Home before dark to her. Although they didn’t tie the knot, they lived in a live-in relationship before separating in the midst of 2010.

Current Marriage

After a break-up, Neil remained single for a year before meeting producer Katie McNeil. Despite the age difference of 29 years, 70-year-old Neil fell in love with 49-year-old Katie. In a private ceremony, the couple announced their engagement through Twitter and later tied the knot in Los Angeles. Like Neil’s ex-girlfriend, he dedicated an album Melody road to McNeil, whom he calls a muse. After the release of the album in 2014, he explained the relationship in his own words:

“There’s no better inspiration or motivation for work than being in love. It’s what you dream of as a creative person. I was able to complete this album – start it, write it and complete it – under the spell of love, and I think it shows somehow.

Furthermore, Katie gained fame after producing the documentary based on her husband Neil Diamond: Hot August Night Nyc. As of now, the couple lives happily with no rumor of dispute as of 2020.

Four Children

Neil Diamond is the father of four children from his three marriages. Currently 79 years old became a father for the first time with his first wife, Jaye Posner. The couple welcomed two daughters named Marjorie Diamond in 1966 and Elyn Diamond in 1968.

Additionally, he became the father of two more children from his second marriage to Marica Murphey. The ex-couple was blessed with two sons name Jesse Diamond; a musician turned photographer born in April 1970. He married actress Sheryl Lee and shared a son Elijah Diamond making Neil a grandfather.

Likewise, his other son Micah Diamond was born on February 14, 1978. All of his children are pursuing their respective careers and can be seen with Neil during events and awards nights.

Net Worth-$300 million

Neil Diamond has a massive net worth of $300 million from his career as a songwriter and singer, as per Celebrity Net Worth. His album sold over 100 million copies until now. Neil’s earnings have risen from $50 or the US $423 a week to earn $100,000. During an initial career in the early ’70s, pop-rock singers earned $1 million from the sales of two albums. Afterward, he started earning $1 million to $5 million from the albums.

Additionally, his earnings rose until 2009, when he earned a total of $30 million from the record sales of albums. After 2009 his earnings started slowing down, and he earned comparatively low, around $200,000 on average from the sales until 2014. As of now, he lives with his third wife in a Beverly Hills house whose asking price is $38,750,000. In addition, the pop-rock legend owns a house in Malibu worth $7.25 million.