Celebrating Celebrity Moms in the Holidays A holiday tradition which we never miss is the Motion Picture Mothers annual "Yule Love It" luncheon at the Regent Beverly Wilshire. Where else can you see such stars as Tom Selleck, Mackenzie Phillips and Anthony Hopkins with their moms, acting as dutiful little boys or girls? Selleck's mom, Martha, is president of the group, which supports the Motion Picture and Television Fund, wich operates the home for industry retirees in Woodland Hills. This year, Neil Diamond received their Gold Star Award, following in the footsteps of Michael York, Annette Funicello and Bob Stack to name a few....

All-star cast more interested in looking the part than acting the part in crime spree sequel By CRAIG OUTHIER Get Out Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Catherine Zeta Jones, Don Cheadle and their sundry co-stars appear quite pleased with themselves in Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's Twelve," and why not-- Being Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Catherine Zeta Jones, Don Cheadle or even Scott "Nepotism Now!" Caan must be a pretty cool way to go through life, most of the time. So, thank you, gentle celebrity superbeings, for inviting us to the party. Actually, think of "Ocea...

Two music greats play Metro Radio Arena Published on 06/12/2004 NOT only is singer-songwriter Neil Diamond's 38-year music career still ongoing but he has managed to do it with his dignity intact -- Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart take note. He has had nearly 60 hit singles, beginning with the adolescent rush of Cherry Cherry in 1966. Songs such as Sunday Sun, Sweet Caroline, Song Sung Blue and Forever in Blue Jeans are some of the most recognisable of the 20th century, as is the song he wrote for The Monkees, I'm A Believer. He cemented his position in American music in 1980 when he starred in and composed and performed the ...

Nov 24, 2004 Bellamy Brothers To Give Troops In Korea Holiday Treat By STEVE KORNACKI skornacki@tampatrib.com DARBY - The Bellamy Brothers have scheduled a one-week concert tour of U.S. military bases in Korea before and after Christmas. ``It's going to be a real interesting thing standing near the DMZ line, playing country music,'' David Bellamy said. ``We'll be doing seven shows for the troops in Korea. We've done shows on bases before and in Europe, and it's always great.'' Bellamy said they would perform on Christmas Eve, Christmas and during that week before finishing the tour New Year's Eve. David and brother Howa...

Diamond geezers Nov 18 2004 By Gordon Barr, The Evening Chronicle Donny Osmond and Neil Diamond are both heading for Tyneside, the Chronicle can reveal today. The American superstars will play Newcastle's Metro Radio Radio Arena, with tickets for the two shows on sale tomorrow at 9am. Neil Diamond will be first to return to the Arena, on May 24, while Donny will appear there on September 30. The May show will be Diamond's first at the Arena since July 2002. The first time he played the venue, in 1996, it was the fastest-selling gig there ever, although that record has since been eclipsed by the likes of Diana Ross, Robbie W...

A Knight to Remember So how does a millionaire ageing Christian pop star, as Sir Cliff puts it, keep himself busy now he's 64? By recording an album in Nashville, letting Tony and Cherie use his Barbados home, and feeling the love of his fans. Harriet Lane is impressed. Sunday November 14, 2004 The Observer Forty-six years, 119 single hits (and 52 international number ones), 59 bestselling albums. It's not bad going, is it, Sir Cliff? During the last half-century, spent around the top end of the music industry, you must have met some incredible people, and seen - and even done - some crazy things, right? So: what's your ultima...

More Neil Diamond Shows Added By Paul Cashmere 4 November 2004 Neil Diamond's Australian tour has just expanded with a 4th show added for Melbourne and a 3rd for Brisbane. Diamond will now perform 12 shows on his Australian tour. This is his first time back in Australia in 6 years. Promoter Paul Dainty said "The demand for tickets to Neil Diamond's Australian concerts has been so great I proposed 2 extra concert dates to Neil and he has agreed to do them at the end of the tour. These will be the last shows so fans should not wait." Dates are: MARCH 2005 Friday 11 - Sydney Superdome SOLD OUT Saturday 12 - Sydney ...

NEIL DIAMOND TO PERFORM AT ASHTON GATE BY STEVE GRANT S.GRANT 11:00 - 22 October 2004 Pop legend Neil Diamond will perform one of a handful of UK dates in Bristol next summer. The singing superstar has agreed to appear at Bristol City's Ashton Gate on June 14 next year and tickets are expected to sell out fast. It will be the second major-name concert to be staged by the stadium within a year. Last June, more than 23,000 fans crammed into the venue to see Sir Elton John. A similar number are expected to watch the American singer next summer. Richard Gould, the soccer club's commercial manager, said: "We are sure it wil...

DIAMOND GIG FOR STADIUM 09:30 - 22 October 2004 Singing legend Neil Diamond is to perform at the KC Stadium next year. His concert on Sunday, May 22, is another coup for stadium officials, who recently announced top American group REM will play the stadium next July. Hull is one of only four UK concerts the veteran American singer-songwriter is performing next year as part of a world tour. All the other shows are in the south. Tickets went on sale today, with stadium staff expecting a huge demand. KC Stadium marketing manager Rob Smith said: "Attracting an artist of this calibre to Hull is another major coup for the KC...

Star Neil Diamond to play at stadium Dave Mark ONE of the most successful songwriters of the past four decades has been confirmed as the latest in a line of international superstars to play Hull's Kingston Communications Stadium. Neil Diamond will perform at the KC Stadium on Sunday May 22, 2005, as part of his world tour. He follows in the footsteps of the likes of Elton John, Bryan Adams and REM in performing at a venue that is fact becoming one of the UK's most respected. Diamond's track record is impressive – almost 60 hits in the US, more than 30 chart albums and status as one of the Top 20 most successful artists eve...

22 October 2004 Lansdowne Road show for Neil Diamond Neil Diamond has confirmed that he will play a fully-seated concert at Lansdowne Road Stadium, Dublin on Saturday 11 June 2005, subject to licence. This show is part of his 2005 World Tour which also includes live dates in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. The UK and Irish leg of the tour kicks off on 22 May 2005 at KC Stadium in Hull, England and runs until 14 June 2005. Last month, Diamond set new box office records in both Zealand and Australia when tickets for all dates sold-out within minutes of going on sale. Speaking about the forthcoming tour from his studio...

Diamond to light up Portman Road October 22, 2004 06:49 IPSWICH will welcome yet another massive music star for one night only next year as legendary singer Neil Diamond is on his way to town. The star is booked to perform at Ipswich Town Football Club on May 26 and tickets for the much anticipated date go on sale today. Neil Diamond is without doubt a big name to secure for Ipswich. He was the number one top earning solo artist on the 1990s, playing to some 4.4 million fans over the course of 461 shows – including 373 sell outs – and grossing nearly $183 million in that ten year period. And his popularity seems not to ...

The man, the legend, Neil Diamond comes back to the joy of his millions of UK fans to play five magnificent outdoor shows, including the historic Woburn Abbey. Outdoor spectacle This will be the first time Neil Diamond has played Woburn Abbey since his last outdoor spectacular on July 2nd 1977. Over the course of a career that kicked in with the adolescent rush of ?Cherry Cherry? in 1966, Neil Diamond has never failed to delight and surprise his fans with fresh approaches to the music that moves him the most deeply. Legendary His shows sell out all over the world, he is a Grammy Award winner, but above all Neil is an in...

INTERVIEW: Super Diamond is forever By Kristin Lockwood Colorado Daily (U. Colorado) 10/15/2004 (U-WIRE) BOULDER, Colo. -- The growing live cover-band scene is ideal for those of us looking to experience carbon copies of our favorite musicians without having to also experience the loss of cash we most likely would for the real thing. For nearly four decades, singer/songwriter Neil Diamond has influenced Generation-Xers everywhere with his upbeat tunes. Super Diamond, a Neil cover band out of San Francisco, has been interpreting and recreating the sounds of Neil for audiences nationwide since 1993. Scheduled to electrif...

At the conclusion of Neil Diamond's wildly successful 2001-2002 tour, his band scattered to their various homes and projects as usual. But pianist Tom Hensley had decided to set a task for himself. He planned to record a CD of songs based on humorous pieces from his on-tour newsletter, the PBI, which has been published on every Diamond show day since 1986. His original plan was to record it with just piano and vocal and burn enough copies for the band (Touroids, he calls them), but the first piece he did was about the Horndogz (Diamond's stellar horn section), and they volunteered to come in and play on the track. He was so please...

Bon Jovi and Neil Diamond for ITFC? October 12, 2004 06:45 By Jonathan Barnes ROCK band Bon Jovi and singer-songwriter Neil Diamond are believed to be among the acts being lined up for shows at Ipswich Town next summer. The football club is close to securing a second major artist to perform at its Portman Road ground after tying up a deal with U.S. rock group R.E.M. for a show on July 8. They also hope to secure a third major act to complete a series of summer concerts in front of 28,000-strong crowds. Ipswich Town chief executive, Derek Bowden, said last week the club expected to announce a second show in the near fut...

Rock acts sign up for New Plymouth 08 October 2004 By TOM CARDY New Plymouth has secured the only North Island dates in March for concerts by two of the biggest names in rock -- Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler and American band REM. Knopfler plays the outdoor Bowl of Brooklands -- which can hold up to 15,000 -- on March 19. REM play at the venue on March 26. Knopfler and REM also play in Christchurch on March 21 and March 25 respectively. Promoter Manolo Echave said Wellington and Auckland missed out on the acts because of incentives offered by regional development agency Venture Taranaki to have the acts exclusive...

From The Morning Call -- September 25, 2004 Super Diamond gives Gen Xers a Neil Diamond experience By Beth W. Orenstein Special to The Morning Call Neil Diamond is forever. At least if Randy Cordero has anything to say about it. Cordero, 39, inadvertently launched a career as a Neil Diamond impersonator in 1989 when he threw one of the legend's songs into his nightclub mix. Much to his surprise, the audience of mostly 20 and 30 somethings went wild over his campy rendition of ''Sweet Caroline.'' ''I didn't know anyone who liked Neil was that young,'' Cordero says from his San Francisco home about the singer-songwriter...

Yeshiva Builds New School Over Abandoned Little Neck Hotel by Neille Ilel, Chronicle Reporter September 23, 2004 Yeshiva Har Torah started work on its new elementary school building in Little Neck. It’s due to be completed by Septemeber 2005. The cornerstone of Yeshiva Har Torah’s new school building was dedicated September 12th, kicking off construction of the Orthodox Jewish elementary school’s new building in Little Neck. YHT began educating elementary school children 15 years ago, but has never had a building of its own. Instead they’ve been renting space from two other organizations. The kindergarten through thir...

Hot deals: Rockin' with Rod Stewart or Neil Diamond 22.09.2004 By VICTORIA BARTLE Under $230 Neil Diamond or Rod Stewart? Accommodation and concert ticket package deals start at $189 each, twin-share, airfare extra. Diamond performs in Wellington on March 5 and in Christchurch on March 7; package deals to see Stewart in Christchurch in February from $225 each, twin-share. Contact: House of Travel, freephone 0800 838 747. * * * Under $1500 Fly direct to Hong Kong from $1499 each between now and November 17. There are two morning flights every day from Auckland with Air New Zealand. Minimum stay is four days, maxim...

Best seats online By Dino Scatena September 18, 2004 The days and nights of camping outside the box office to secure choice seats to the latest shows are well and truly over. Welcome to the 21st century, people, where if you don't have a credit card and access to the internet, then best you go out and buy yourself some binoculars. While internet ticketing was first introduced into Australia in 1997, it's only in the past couple of years that it has started doing better business than traditional outlets and phone sales. With some shows, up to 70 per cent of tickets are now purchased online. In more recent times, the introduction ...

Greek Theatre 75th anniversary Theater nestled in L.A.'s Griffith Park is a gift that keeps on giving to performers and fans alike. By Deborah Wilker A special report from The Hollywood Reporter and Amusement Business, the international journal of out-of-home entertainment. In 1896, when Los Angeles pioneer Griffith J. Griffith gave the city 3,000 acres of his Los Feliz Rancho to be used as a park, he did so with just one condition. "It must be made a place of recreation and rest for the masses, a resort for the rank and file, for the plain people," Griffith told the Los Angeles City Council. "I consider it my obligation to ...

Rush for Diamond tickets expected 13 September 2004 Tickets for Neil Diamond's one-off Christchurch concert are expected to be snapped up quickly when they go on sale today. The veteran American musician broke box office records when he last came to Christchurch. Promoters of his March 2005 concert are predicting another sell-out. Diamond's success in New Zealand is unparalleled - he has sold more than a quarter of a million records here. His highest-selling album in New Zealand, Hot August Night, was one of the biggest-selling albums on the New Zealand charts in the 1970s. Promoter Paul Dainty said tickets for Diamond's...

Critic's Choices Super Diamond in Lodi If you're wondering who is that man wearing platform shoes and blinding sequins at the Grape Festival, you may want to check out the Super Diamond concert Thursday night. Fortuna native Randy Cordeiro is a live impersonator of Neil Diamond, who not only dresses like him, but also has the same throaty vocal style. Cordeiro started the gig as a fluke by dressing as Diamond for a party. In 1989, he started performing Diamond as a solo performer, and would sing songs by other artists that he felt sounded like Diamond. A few years later, he added a band to back him up and create the Neil Diamond...

Ticket Rush For Neil Diamond By Paul Cashmere 7 September 2004 Shows for Neil Diamond's 2005 Australian tour sold out in minutes after going on sale yesterday morning. Promoter Paul Dainty reports that in Melbourne, two shows at the 14,000 capacity Rod Laver Arena sold out within 20 minutes and a third show quickly went on sale. Additional shows were also added for Sydney and Brisbane. "Tickets to Neil Diamond's Australian concerts have always sold at a rapid rate and this current tour is faster than ever" said Paul Dainty. "Neil's popularity is as strong as ever and his success is unparalleled, he is the only internati...

Neil Diamond To Grace Our Shores Wednesday, 8 September 2004, 6:10 pm Press Release: Paul Dainty Neil Diamond The Most Successful International Touring Act To Grace Our Shores! Brand New Show! Neil Diamond On Stage For The Whole Show With Brass Section And Backing Singers Tickets On Sale Monday!!! Neil Diamond brings his brand new, electrifying concert experience to New Zealand audiences in March 2005. Tickets go on sale 9am Monday 13 September, with a limited number of tickets for internet pre-sale on Friday 10 September. Neil Diamond concert tickets are priced at $99.50 - $60.00, ticket agency charges may apply. The $...

Elite Neil Diamond tickets going for nearly $400 06 September 2004 By KIM RUSCOE Premium tickets to Neil Diamond's concert in Wellington are selling for $375 - despite the singer-songwriter's insistence that all tickets cost under $100. Melbourne-based promoter Paul Dainty announced less than a month ago that Diamond would perform at the Westpac Stadium on March 5, followed by a concert in Christchurch on March 7. Diamond had in the past shown his disgust at high concert prices and had insisted all tickets for the New Zealand performances cost under $100, Mr Dainty said at the time. But Ticketek last week started adve...

I am ... He said September 4, 2004 Neil Diamond just can't get enough out of life, and Australia just can't get enough of him. Dino Scatena meets the legend. The recreation room of Neil Diamond's Los Angeles headquarters is dedicated exclusively to Australasian paraphernalia. To one side, there's a real-life highway sign, replete with shotgun pellet blasts, warning of kangaroos for the next two kilometres. The rest is a wall-to-wall mosaic of plaques, multi-platinum awards, tour posters and the like, mementoes of Diamond's numerous visits down under dating from 1976 and testament to his seemingly eternal popularity. All these...

This Diamond keeps on shining September 4, 2004 Neil Diamond has a love affair with Australia, in more ways than one, writes Dino Scatena. Neil Diamond has a love affair with Australia, in more ways than one, writes Dino Scatena. The "recreation room" in Neil Diamond's Los Angeles headquarters is dedicated to Australiana. On one side is a highway sign peppered with shotgun pellet blasts. It warns of kangaroos for the next two kilometres. The opposite wall is dominated by a ridiculously oversized bright-blue boomerang, covered in fake Aboriginal symbols, a joke award from his Australian record company. There's also a wall-to-...

Legends of the fall: Autumn's greatest hits BY ISAAC GUZMAN Ella Fitzgerald It's relatively easy to write a song about the joys of summer, the warm glow of winter holidays or the rebirth of spring. Just think about the ubiquity of seasonal standards such as the "Grease" ballad "Summer Nights," Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song" or Rodgers & Hart's "Spring is Here." The real challenge is capturing the spirit of wistfulness and subtle melancholy that accompanies harvest time, Halloween and the arrival of chilly weather. There have been many attempts, but few are memorable and even fewer are true classics. That's what inspi...

Singer Neil Diamond will tour Australia in March next year. Diamond, who last toured Australia six years ago, will begin the tour at the Sydney Superdome on March 11. He will then perform in Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide. Promoter Paul Dainty said Australia's love affair with Neil Diamond began in 1966 with his first Australian hit, Cherry Cherry. "Neil Diamond's concerts are events not to be missed," Dainty said. "He is one of the world's greatest entertainers and his success in Australia is especially highlighted by being the only international artist to have achieved one million ticket sales from his previo...

Diamond still loves to dazzle By Paul Stewart August 29, 2004 Neil Diamond loves Australia. Paul Stewart in Los Angeles reports with yet another tour taking shape. By his own reckoning, music superstar Neil Diamond would not cut it in today's television pop star competitions. "I would have failed miserably," the 64-year-old laughs here in his private Los Angeles studio where he's talking up his first Australian visit in six years. "My voice developed the more I wrote songs, actually. I never went into this game thinking of myself a singer, I just wanted to write songs. My voice was never classically trained. "The only ...