Legendary performer Neil Diamond is opening up about living with Parkinson’s disease, which is a degenerative and incurable disease affecting the nervous system.
The 82-year-old singer-songwriter was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2018 and recently discussed how he’s been coping during an interview with CBS Sunday Morning.
“I was in denial for the first year or two,” Diamond admitted. “When the doctor told me what it was, I was just not ready to accept it,” he went on. “I said, ‘Oh, OK. I’ll see you, whenever you wanna see me. But I have work to do, so I’ll see you later.'”
The “Sweet Caroline” composer said he’s only accepted the reality of his diagnosis in “the last few weeks” and that coming to terms with it has been a process.
“I’m still doing it. And I don’t like it. This is the hand that God’s given me, and I have to make the best of it, and so I am,” the musician explained.
Diamond said a “calm has moved [into] the hurricane of my life, and things have gotten very quiet, as quiet as this recording studio. And I like it. I find that I like myself better. I’m easier on people. I’m easier on myself. And the beat goes on, and it will go on long after I’m gone.”
He added: “I can’t really fight this thing, so I had to accept it, this Parkinson’s disease. There’s no cure. There’s no getting away from it. You can’t just say, ‘Okay, enough already. Let’s get back to life.’ It doesn’t work like that. But I’ve come to accept what limitations I have, and still have great days.”
“I still can sing,” Diamond continued. “I feel good. It’s like, all the systems in my mind and my body are working as one when I’m singing. And it’s a great feeling.”
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The recording artist has slowed down his touring schedule but hasn’t “given it up, yet.”
“I just have to take life as it comes to me, enjoy it, be thankful that I’ve had it, especially having the life that I’ve had,” he said.
With more than 130 million albums sold worldwide, the Grammy Award-winning singer is among the best-selling musicians ever. Diamond’s career began in the early 1960s.