You might not know his face or be intimately acquainted with his sweaty chest. But everyone knows the songs of Neil Diamond. There's "Sweet Caroline," "Forever in Blue Jeans," "Cracklin' Rosie," "America," and "Solitary Man." And over the years, the hits just kept coming.
In his day, Diamond was also a bit of a show pony, with plunging necklines and sparkles galore. Oh, yes, this old crooner was quite the baja panti. And even today, he's still sleek and sexy at 71.
Yet despite all his success and sexiness, this Diamond hasn't always shined. Here are his four most questionable decisions.
Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon. Oddly enough, Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand attended Brooklyn's Erasmus Hall High School at the same time. They didn't know each other at the time, but Diamond probably should've gotten over there and hit on her. Why didn't he put a ring on it? Sure, "You Don't Bring Me Flowers (Anymore)" was a number one hit in 1978. But it would've been so much more romantic if they'd been high- school sweethearts.
Everyone Loves a Jewish Doctor. Diamond not only attended the premed program at NYU, but he did so on a fencing scholarship. How hot is that? Yeah, he became a superfamous, wealthy musician. But we think he would've done just fine as a nice podiatrist in Brooklyn, living with Barbra, his glamorous wife.
Taxi! Diamond almost scored the lead role as Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver. It certainly wasn't his final decision not to be in the movie. But with something like one of the greatest film roles of all time on the line, wouldn't you think he'd have bought Scorsese a bunch of roses or a nice bottle of champagne? Maybe that would've improved his chances of becoming one of the most iconic creeps of all time.
Monkee Business. Is there a catchier tune than the Monkees' "I'm a Believer"? It's one of the most memorable songs of all time. Turns out that our boy Diamond wrote it. He probably should have kept that one for himself.
