Neil Diamond Retirement
 

Has Neil Diamond's retirement due to illness caused anyone here to rethink how they'd like Gord to bow out one day? I'm leaving the question simple to encourage a broad spectrum of ideas. Obviously, the question is much more complex.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

What do you mean by saying "How they'd like Gord out one day?

That's a silly statement.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

It's tough to think about, but Gord always says how much he "enjoys the work", so I think he'll keep going until he just can't anymore.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

It really doesn't matter to me. He's given more than 50 years of music that we can enjoy.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

What we need is a time travel machine. We go back to San Francisco November 25, 1976. We remove Neil Diamond from the Last Waltz concert and add Gordon performing with The Band "Alberta Bound" "Sundown" and "Summertime Dream."

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

The intent of this thread was to reflect on several contemporaries of Gord's: Neil Diamond, Elton John, Paul Simon, who have announced touring retirement plans due either to health issues, or a desire to spend more time with family. With Gord turning 80 in November, it seemed an interesting time for some of us, many fans of his for 50+ years, to reflect on advancing age and the rigors of touring. But, look at Tony Bennett, at 91 he's still going!

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

i try to never miss a Gordon Lightfoot concert if it is a venue near me. Every time I go, I wonder if it will be the last chance I get, so I always go. Last summer I saw Neil Diamond for the first time. I went with my husband, and my daughter, Caroline. She was thrilled that after an incredible 2 hour concert, Neil sang Sweet Caroline to close the concert. I am saddened that he is ill, and that he can no longer perform. I dread the day that Gordon finds himself in the same position. Until then, I go, and I cherish each song that he sings.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

With his retirement I think he is smart to protect his health. The stress on his body would probably speed up symptoms so he's doing what he needs to. I saw him a few times and always came away thrilled with his performance. A true showman and profound songwriter.
Now Paul Simon and Elton John have announced their retirement.. I never saw Paul Simon but did see Art Garfunkel and was brought to tears at the beauty of his voice.. I saw Elton with Billy Joel years ago and it was a great show. I've seen Billy many times over the years too..It won't surprise me if Kristofferson stops touring soon altho he doesn't set out on such a severe schedule as Gordon does. Jimmy Buffett (worth over 500 million) is still out almost continually and James Taylor is too.. The Eagles are out with Vince Gill in the band and from the videos I have seen he is a wonderful addition. There's still so many of the 70's era bands and artists of all ilks out still getting full houses and playing the tunes we love...

And I, like Lisa, try to see Gordon whenever I can because you never know when the opportunities will stop. A day I do not look forward to at all...

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

I don't wanna sound insensitive to everyone's feelings nor am I meaning to but why would it be such a big deal if he should retire?

At least we can enjoy all the music he's made through the years and that should be enough.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

One thing is certain with me. I'm an avid listener aka fan of all the people mentioned here and even though it's only retiring, it is no less kind of a melancholy or borderline sad thing.

I'm an '80s teen but I like these artists even more than the ones I liked in that decade. Mainly because their music was honest and from the heart and just outright emotionally touching and simply beautiful, wonderful and any other positive adjectives.

A lot o the acts of my teens have in the past few years, suddenly passed on at too young an age. The acts in question here may be aging but they haven't exited unexpectedly early either.

So, I hardly feel that any singer or band, that would retire after 50+ years of touring, would not be considered 'a big deal'. Sorry if we can't take it as 'matter of simple fact' Touhy, but Gordon means a lot to all of us here, as well as these other singers we're talking about.

I'm already and still so bummed about some of my fave 80s acts being gone, i sometimes just can't listen to their music, mainly because my heart says they should still be here and that I never saw them in concert. George Michael, Prince, Michael Jackson and some others. Basically, I and my peers didn't get to say goodbye.

My girlfriend's fave is Linkin Park and their lead singer Chester Bennington
and another member took their lives...and she didn't get to see them 'live' either.

So, the possibility of Gordon retiring and that we know the others will, 'is' a very big deal. Once they're done, they're done. I'd love to see Simon & Garfunkel together at least once, since "Mrs. Robinson:" was #1 in the US the day I was born & I love their music.

As for Gordon, he's coming to Scottsdale/Phoenix this May and I hate to say it, it may be the last time I see him perform. So should he decide to hang it up not long after that, then that will be the end of a very long but very great era.

For us him and the rest as well. I may have said it long ago,
but again, I envy all off you who saw Gordon in the 1960s and 1970s in concert.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

It's amazing you're allowing that to affect your enjoyment of them.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

I think it's a tribute to the emotional attachment we get to musicians who mean a lot to us. I was a big George Harrison fan, my favorite Beatle. When he died, I didn't want to listen to any of my albums from him for well over a year. But I finally got back into it, bought his last album "Brainwashed" and enjoyed it a lot. Same with Jim Croce and Greg Lake. Music is a deeply personal involvement, and it sometimes causes very definite reactions.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

Thank you Rob, I've been trying for many days to come up with a way to say it.

In another example, my mother and her generation that loved Elvis in a way beyond
that word, were emotionally and for some even mentally devastated at his loss in 1977.

I think she didn't take too long to get back to listening to him but the thing is, I'm sure it no longer felt the same as before. Artists departing also has a way of making many people feel 'old' and it's not so simple to try and get into newer acts, as we've already had our musical favorites and/or heroes.

What I can now say for myself, is that I'm not just still sad,
I'm angry at some of them, because their untimely ends were preventable. I cried for Michael and Whitney the most and yes, for Prince.

Still, I'm mad at Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston and even
Freddie Mercury for doing things to themselves that destroyed them.

I'm only angry about George Michael and Tom Petty being taken far too soon as well as David Bowie and Glen Campbell. I'm also angry and like many, totally unprepared to see these acts leave so close together.

All of these acts to one level or another meant a great deal to
me, I have all the hit songs and all or some of the albums of each.

Maybe it's a mistake to get so deeply and emotionally involved but as one who has listened to popular music since age 4 or 5 and loved what I heard, I guess there was no way around it.

I only got to see Neil Diamond once, but that's one more than these others, except for Whitney, I saw her in May of 1991, before the drugs.
In the case of David Bowie, true he was older but it was still unexpected.

Couple this with all the other famous people of movies and TV that left us last year and not long before, it can't help but make me feel the way I do.

...but I guess if I can watch TV reruns and old movies, I should be able to listen to my music too. I think this will still take longer, but I'll know when I'm ready to do so. I'm an emotional male.....so it's not as simple for me.

Anyway,let's cherish who we still have with us and for those that are gone,, I know, I and we should remember them for the positive things they gave us.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

Saw Paul McCartney last September live at the Carrier Dome, me and 35,000 of my closest friends lol. Fabulous hotter than blazes show and night, three solid hours of nonstop performing (literally set the Dome on fire with pyrotechnics from Live and Let Die.) He's the Energizer Bunny of performers and at 77is still providing great entertainment. I suspect like Tony Bennett he'll die with his boots on (Paul that is) and it wouldn't surprise me if Gord does the same. He may scale back but as long as he's got the fortitude and an audience he will keep plugging along. I have an uncle who will be 90 in May and doesn't look a day over 65, still driving from NY to Florida and back every winter. Hope I got the same genes.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

Borderstone, I don't think any of those we've lost had any intention of leaving so soon and if they didn't take better care of themselves, well, they were human. They had "obligations " to their families and loved ones, let alone fans. And if they couldn't manage it for them or even themselves I don't get too upset. On the plus side ar will always have the recordings and videos to go back to when they are no longer with us.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

Keep it to yourself Borderstone.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

No, I will not keep it to myself.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

Quite right you tell 'im Walter:redface:

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

It’s completely up to GL when it comes to retirement, but I am unlikely to see him in concert again. When he came to Oxford, England, in 2016 my wife and I were shocked how bad his singing voice had got. I understand he is suffering from Emphysema and he was leaving the stage to take oxygen. At least that’s what I understood.
Thankfully I have all his music to hand and continue to enjoy it immensely.

Re: Neil Diamond Retirement
 

He was on a prescribed medication which was causing him some breathing and congestion problems. They have since changed it and he is singing somewhat better now, but of course not what he was in the earlier years of his career. Age takes its toll.