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Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Diamond has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling artists of all time. Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.
Neil Leslie Diamond was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family descended from Russian and Polish immigrants. His parents were Rose (née Rapaport) and Akeeba "Kieve" Diamond, a dry-goods merchant.
Diamond has been married three times. In 1963, he married his high school sweetheart, school teacher Jaye Posner; they had two daughters, Marjorie and Elyn, before they separated in 1967 and divorced in 1969. He then married production assistant Marcia Murphey, with whom he had sons Jesse and Micah. This marriage ended in 1994 or 1995 (sources differ). He began a lengthy relationship with Australian Rae Farley in 1996, after the two met in Brisbane, Australia. On September 7, 2011, Diamond announced his engagement to his then 41-year-old manager Katie McNeil. On April 21, 2012, they married in front of family and close friends in Los Angeles.