Neil Diamond Stages

‘Hot August Night III’ chronicles Neil Diamond’s triumphant return to the Greek Theater, in 2012, for a compelling performance that ranks among his greatest.

Neil Diamond's five-decade career as a singer, songwriter, and performer has certainly been a successful one by any standard. He’s sold well over 115 million records worldwide to date and has had eight number one singles ("Cracklin Rosie," "Song Sung Blue," "Desiree," "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," "Love on the Rocks," "America," "Yesterday's Songs," and "Heartlight"), and if he hasn't always generated the kind of critical respect he probably deserves, he’s been a steady and dependable artist who has managed to keep his large core audience happy. This 23-track set surveys the whole of Diamond's recording career, collecting his key and signature sides, beginning with his first hits for Bang Records in the mid-'60s through his commercial peak for Uni/MCA between 1968 and 1972, cuts from 1980’s The Jazz Singer (a soundtrack album that went platinum five times over on Capitol Records), and ending with tracks from Diamond's two Rick Rubin-produced albums, 2005’s 12 Songs and 2008’s Home Before Dark, on Columbia Records.

The 14-song set features the world-renowned singer-songwriter’s new performances of many of his best-loved hits, accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra.

"On The Way To The Sky" is a fourteenth studio album released by Neil Diamond in 1981. It contained the hit "Yesterday's Songs", which reached #11 and the title track which peaked at #27 in the US. The album marked a transition into a period of creative and commercial decline for him that lasted, to one degree or another, until the release of the 2001 album "Three Chord Opera", followed by his collaboration with producer Rick Rubin and the release of 2005's 12 Songs and 2008's "Home Before Dark". While Diamond continued having some success, some significant periodic hits, and some television specials and film appearances, the period beginning with the release of "On The Way To The Sky" did not have for him the same level of sales, notoriety or fame that the preceding times did.