Citing doctor’s advice following a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, Neil Diamond has abruptly retired from touring just a couple of days shy of his 77th birthday. In doing so he abandons the Australia-New Zealand leg of his 50th anniversary tour.
Neil Diamond is one of the greatest showmen of my lifetime. If your first time to see him was forthcoming on this tour, then you’ve missed him, Aussies and Kiwis. I am disappointed for you. Lea and I got to see him in Nashville with Dad and Martha, and it was a fantastic show.
I’m sad that he’s ill, but so relieved he’s still with us. I clicked his name in my Trending Now list on Twitter last night with more than a little dread.
That got me thinking again about how we can be “close” enough to celebrities that their deaths actually affect us emotionally. Before the fact I never would have guessed I’d cry when Prince died. And I didn’t, until I got under the headphones, by myself, with “Let’s Go Crazy.”
(I saved that song for a quiet experience alone, so part of me probably knew it.)
No, the people aren’t there with us. But, sometimes, if their influence is great enough, they can be directly adjacent to our experiences in our hearts, and we naturally get an emotional tendril or two into them.
I’ve written before of Neil Diamond. He’s been right there, my entire life. He’s in otherwise good health, and he believes (and has said as much) that he will remain prolific for years to come. So hopefully it will be a good while before we have to say goodbye to him. But when that day comes, I expect he’ll be one of the few who upset me to that degree.
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Did you see today, that Elton John announced his farewell tour?
I saw the link but did not read the story.
I’ve never seen Elton John, but I’m not particularly bothered by that. I could take or leave most everything he did after 1982 or so.
He is not my favorite ever, but he’s a great showman whose work is forever wrapped up in my memories of junior high. I am a little sad that those artists are fading out.