It was a beautiful Saturday at the Fenway Park at the Boston Red Sox Game with singer and songwriter Neil Diamond making an appearance to perform “Sweet Caroline”, his 1969 song, in person. The singer, who was born on the 24th of January 1941 in New York City, first recorded “Sweet Caroline” in 1969 after moving to Los Angeles. In 2007, Diamond stated that he wrote the song for Caroline Kennedy after seeing her wearing a horse riding outfit on the cover of Life.
However, he debunked the earlier claim during an interview on the Today show in 2014, where he stated that “Sweet Caroline” was written for Marcia, his wife at the time and that he used the name Caroline because he could not find a good rhyme with the name Marcia.
Adoption Of The Song By The Boston Red Sox
The song enjoyed even more success when it became a popular one at sporting events. It was used in the 1990s by the Boston College and Basketball teams during their games, while it is also played at the home game of the Australian Football League’s Sydney Swans.
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However, the song was adopted as the theme song of the Red Sox Nation, the name given to fans of the Boston Red Sox, and has been played at every 8th inning since it was first used 25 years ago. This most recent performance marks the third time Diamond has performed the song live at Fenway Park. His first was in 2010 and again in 2013 after the Boston Marathon Bombing.
The Reason For Neil’s Appearance
This novelty visit to Fenway Park comes as an epoch-making occasion for the singer, who retired from touring in 2018 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He made this unusual live appearance at the ball game in an effort to promote the new musical about his life, Neil Diamond: A Beautiful Noise.
The musical documentary, which is named after the singer’s 1976 album of the same name, will feature songs from the 81-year-old’s archives while also telling his life story — the ups, and downs of Diamond’s life, from growing up in Brooklyn to his rise to stardom in the ’70s. The show was first announced in 2019, but was delayed due to the COVID Pandemic which struck the world in 2020 and put on hold on all public gatherings until recently, when safety regulations were relaxed a bit.
Broadcast Of The Musical
The City of Boston has of late become a fertile ground for Broadway-intended musicals, some of which include Jagged Little Pill, which had its opening at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge in May of 2018, as well as Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which got its world premiere at the Emerson Colonial in July of the same year. Both musicals were running successfully on Broadway until the suspension of live theater due to the pandemic.
Just like Moulin Rouge!, The Musical, Neil Diamond: A Beautiful Noise, will begin its world premiere six-week engagement at Boston’s Emerson Colonial on Tuesday June 21, after which it will proceed to Broadway in the fall of this year.
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