LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The day I interviewed Neil Diamond, he was sitting in a little room to the side of a studio, and a makeup artist was smacking him in the face with a powder puff. He was wearing a white wife-beater T-shirt and looked like he wanted to flee.



Neil Diamond is riding high with a huge world tour, a successful album and a humanitarian award.



It was November, and Diamond had just come off the first two legs of his biggest world tour yet -- with 64 shows in 50 cities and nine countries already under his belt. In a moment, he would step in front of a camera to begin a round of 70 or so interviews -- beamed via satellite to local television stations -- to talk up the remaining 20 dates, where he'd thrill diehard fans with such nuggets as "Cherry Cherry," "Song Sung Blue" and "Sweet Caroline."



Ours was the only in-person interview he -- or someone in his camp -- had agreed to do. The singer-songwriter (who turned 68 on January 24) stepped into the studio, a man ready for his close-up. He had slipped a black button-down shirt over his T-shirt, and suddenly he looked like Neil Diamond -- the same Neil Diamond who next week will be feted by The Recording Academy as its "2009 MusiCares Person of the Year," joining an elite club that includes Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Sting, Bono and Quincy Jones.



He's working on a follow-up to last year's CD, the Rick Rubin-produced "Home Before Dark" -- which earned Diamond his first-ever No. 1 debut on the Billboard Top 200 album chart. That album came after 2005's "12 Songs," also produced by Rubin, which re-invigorated his recording career. As for live performance, he's rarely had problems filling arenas -- but he remembers when he did.  Watch Diamond talk about giving back »



CNN: The man in black. This has become quite the trademark.



Neil Diamond: Yeah. I still wear black, but I got sparkly somewhere along the way -- especially if you are playing in an 18,000-seat arena, you like to be seen by somebody in the back.



CNN: I've been to a Neil Diamond concert, and everybody stands up, and they sing every word to every song. Don't you ever want to tell them, "I'm singing -- listen!"



Diamond: No, I don't -- but I did in the very beginning when I first realized on my first few records that people were singing along. I thought, "You shouldn't be singing. That's my job. Let me sing and you listen." But then I realized that it's a compliment. They knew the music, they loved it and they wanted to sing. So I said, "All right, let's sing together." [chuckles]



CNN: Whenever you hit the road, you're one of the year's top ticket draws and play to more than a million fans per tour. [Diamond had the fifth highest-grossing tour of 2008, taking in $60 million in ticket sales.]



Diamond: It's truly not until the last leg that you finally get the show down. You are relaxed with it, you are not worried about the intricacies of the show, and the last shows are always the best and the most fun.



CNN: After 40 years in the business, do you still get nervous?



Diamond: I don't know if it's nerves. I get excited. I want things to go right. I want the audience to love the show.



CNN: For this tour, you've donated all the proceeds from merchandise sales [T-shirts, programs and other souvenir items] to the victims of Hurricane Ike in Texas. We're talking about a figure that's somewhere in the neighborhood of a million dollars.



Diamond: Hurricane Ike hit southern Texas so
Who sells out arenas? Who is Person of the Year? Where is the money going? What does the money go to? Who won the award? Who received the honor? Who had a no 1 album What was the award offered?
Neil Diamond: Neil Diamond to the victims of Hurricane Ike in Texas. the victims of Hurricane Ike in Texas. Neil Diamond Neil Diamond Neil Diamond humanitarian
question: Who sells out arenas?, answer: Neil Diamond: | question: Who is Person of the Year?, answer: Neil Diamond | question: Where is the money going?, answer: to the victims of Hurricane Ike in Texas. | question: What does the money go to?, answer: the victims of Hurricane Ike in Texas. | question: Who won the award?, answer: Neil Diamond | question: Who received the honor?, answer: Neil Diamond | question: Who had a no 1 album, answer: Neil Diamond | question: What was the award offered?, answer: humanitarian