Neil Diamond is the latest artist to sell off the family assets with Universal acquiring his publishing and recordings.
The deal also includes 110 unreleased Neil Diamond songs.
In a statement Neil Diamond said: “After nearly a decade in business with UMG, I am thankful for the trust and respect that we have built together and I feel confident in the knowledge that Lucian, Jody, Bruce, Michelle and the global team at UMG, will continue to represent my catalogue, and future releases with the same passion and integrity that have always fueled my career.”
Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, said: “Neil Diamond is by definition, a truly universal songwriter. His immense songbook and recordings encompass some of the most cherished and enduring songs in music history. Through our existing partnership, we are honored to have earned his trust to become the permanent custodians of his monumental musical legacy.”
From Universal:
A Brooklyn native, Diamond was inspired to become a songwriter when he was still a teenager, after Pete Seeger performed at his summer camp and Diamond saw fellow campers sharing their own music with the celebrated folksinger. Some years later, Diamond ended up dropping out of New York University to pursue his creative dream full time, only to endure several very lean years as a freelance songwriter, often subsisting on hot dogs and hard candy.
Diamond finally broke through when he stopped writing for others and started exploring songs about his own experiences and feelings. His ideas and authentic voice ultimately gave rise to a global career that inspired not just millions of fans, but also some of the world’s finest performers.
Diamond’s songs have been covered by Johnny Cash singing “Solitary Man,”, UB40 performing “Red Red Wine,” Frank Sinatra singing “Sweet Caroline,” Andrea Bocelli’s re-interpretation of “September Morn” as “Sara’ Settembre,” The Monkees’ signature “I’m A Believer” and Barbra Streisand singing “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” – the latter, coincidentally, a classmate of Diamond’s at Brooklyn’s Erasmus Hall High School. His music has been used to soundtrack some of the most popular film & TV series of all time, from The Simpsons, Friends, Mr. Robot and The Big Bang Theory to Donnie Brasco, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Urge Overkill’s scene-stealing rendition of “Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon,” taken from Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, and of course his own starring turn in 1980, as the lead in The Jazz Singer.
Diamond’s work has become woven into the very fabric of American popular culture in other ways, too. “Sweet Caroline” is one of a handful of pop anthems that compel fans of all abilities (or none at all) to sing along with unrestrained joy, as Red Sox fans do during their seventh inning stretch in Boston’s Fenway Park. Perhaps it is fitting that “Sweet Caroline” has become entwined with America’s pastime, because Diamond’s own ascent – one of aspiration, determination, and the sweetness of success – is a quintessentially American story. But his reach extends far beyond America, with the song sung on soccer terraces in the U.K. by supporters of the English national team, at ice hockey games in Canada, and by WBC World Heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury, serenading the crowd at the MGM Grand Garden arena in Las Vegas following his knockout victory over Deontay Wilder.
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