Neil Leslie Diamond (born 24 January, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He wrote songs for Sonny and Cher, the Ronettes, Jay and the Americans and the Monkees. He began singing his own songs in 1966. From 1966 to 1968 he had written 14 hit songs and sold more than 12 million records. For a while he was the most highly paid performer in the world.