The life of the singer-songwriter has been dramatized, 'warts and all,' in a new Broadway musical. Now 82, he talks about his Parkinson's diagnosis, being in denial, and the calm that - finally - has moved into 'the hurricane of my life.'
In the Seventies, with"Cracklin' Rose,""Song Sung Blue," and"You Don't Bring Me Flowers," he conquered the world. By the Eighties, he was one its biggest concert draws. In the '90s, no one sold more tickets than the"Jewish Elvis."the singer was about to go on the road again – and he implied it wasn't by choice."I have to, yeah. I don't"I have to because if I want to maintain any self …"He paused.
. It's very hard," he replied."In a sense, I was in denial for the first year or two. When the doctor told me what it was, I was just not ready to accept it. I said, 'Oh, okay. I'll see you, you know, whenever you wanna see me. But I have work to do, so I'll see you later.'"His acceptance, he admits, is a work in progress."I'm still doing it. And I don't like it," he said.
Mason asked,"Was there a moment in that process where you finally sort of did say to yourself, I accept this?"CBS News "But somehow a calm has moved [into] the hurricane of my life, and things have gotten very quiet, as quiet as this recording studio," said Diamond."And I like it. I find that I like myself better. I'm easier on people, I'm easier on myself. And the beat goes on, and it will go on long after I'm gone."Well, I like singing. I've been doing it for 50 years, and I enjoy it.""I feel good.
Why?"Well, I can't really fight this thing, so I had to accept it, this Parkinson's Disease. There's no cure. There's no getting away from it. You can't just say, 'Okay, enough already. Let's get back to life.' It doesn't work like that. But I've come to accept what limitations I have, and still have great days."A scene from the Broadway musical"A Beautiful Noise.
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