Neil Diamond is coming to terms with the fact that he has Parkinson’s disease.
“Yet, somehow, the cyclone of my life has passed, and things have grown quite quiet, as quiet as this recording studio,” says reporter Anthony Mason.
The musician quit touring five years ago, but that hasn’t stopped him from communicating with his passionate followers.
“I’m still doing it,” he says in the interview. “But this is me; this is what I must accept.” “And I’m willing to do it, and, OK, so this is the hand that God has dealt me, and I have to make the best of it, and I am.”
During a performance of A Beautiful Noise, a musical about his life, in December, the New York native shocked fans and audience members with an impromptu rendition of his famous song “Sweet Caroline.”
Mason asks the celebrity what was most challenging about seeing his younger self portrayed on stage during the conversation on Sunday.
“It was all pretty difficult,” Diamond recalls. “I was a little ashamed, flattered, and afraid.”
“What were you afraid of?” Mason asks.