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For decades, the world has adored Diana Ross and Neil Diamond as two towering figures in American music. Though their careers took different paths—Motown royalty and pop-rock troubadour—they often crossed in private moments, mutual admiration, and behind-the-scenes friendship. Now, at 81, Diana Ross is finally opening up about a few of those memories—some humorous, some emotional, and all deeply human.
“Neil always made the room feel smaller, warmer—like he was singing just for you,” Ross shared in a recent retrospective interview. “There was always something so personal about the way he wrote… and something so real in the way he lived.”
A Friendship Born from the Stage
Their first meeting wasn’t planned. According to Diana, it happened backstage at a CBS awards show in the late ’70s.
“He had just performed ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers’ and the crowd was still buzzing. I was standing off to the side, watching him. He turned, smiled, and said, ‘That one was for all the broken hearts in the room, including yours and mine.’ We both laughed.”
From that moment, a friendship was born—one rooted in mutual respect and quiet understanding. While they never released a duet together, Diana revealed they did once rehearse a version of “Song Sung Blue” during a Motown rehearsal session—just the two of them at a piano.
“He said, ‘Your voice has this sadness, Diana, like you know what the world feels.’ I remember being caught off guard by that. He could see through you, in the gentlest way.”
Phone Calls Through the Years
Though not often photographed together, Diana says she and Neil stayed in touch over the years—through letters, late-night phone calls, and mutual friends.
“He once called me after my Central Park concert in 1983 was rained out. I was devastated. He said, ‘That’s the kind of story legends are made of, Diana. Don’t you dare let it end here.’ I never forgot that.”
She added that Neil had a way of lifting people when they were down, and grounding people when they were flying too high. “He wasn’t interested in fame. He was interested in truth.”
A Shared Vulnerability
Both artists experienced personal struggles—Diana with the pressures of fame and motherhood, Neil with the weight of stardom and later, his battle with Parkinson’s disease. She admitted watching his quiet retreat from the stage was hard.
“When he stepped away from touring, I sent him a letter. I told him that some voices never need microphones. His was one of them.”
She paused.
“He’s still here. He’s still Neil. And his music still carries a thousand of us on its back.”
A Secret Kept for Decades
In one moment of quiet reflection, Diana confessed something she had never shared before.
“When I was going through a very difficult time in my personal life in the early ’90s, I would listen to Neil’s ‘Hello Again’ on repeat. It felt like someone was singing to the part of me that was invisible to the world. I never told him that. But I guess he’ll know now.”
Looking Back, With Love
As the conversation drew to a close, Diana smiled, her voice trembling ever so slightly.
“Neil Diamond wasn’t just a star. He was a heart walking through this world with open arms. We didn’t get to see each other often, but I always felt his presence. Even now, I do.”
At 81, Diana Ross carries with her the grace of someone who has loved, lost, risen, and remembered. And as she looks back on her life in music, it’s the quiet connections—the unseen ones—that mean the most.
“People saw the glitter. But I saw the gentleness. That’s the Neil I knew.”