Neil Diamond has been married to wife Katie McNeil since April 21, 2012, but the pair didn’t start out on romantic terms.
The Grammy winner first met his spouse in 2007, when McNeil was working with Diamond’s manager, Irving Azoff. Having grown up listening to hits such as “Holly Holy,” “Sweet Caroline” and “Forever in Blue Jeans,” McNeil convinced her boss to let her work on the singer’s account, and the pair fell in love over the course of a year.
“Part of me said, ‘Don’t get involved; he’s a client,’ ” McNeil told Parade in June 2012. “There are a lot of complications for a lot of reasons. But our chemistry grew into something that couldn’t be denied.”
In September 2011, Diamond announced their engagement via Twitter (now X), writing, “Good news coming from sunny LA/ and you’re the first I want to tell/ Katie & I just got engaged/ and I hope you wish us well.” Added Diamond: “I’m lovestruck.”
Since tying the knot, the couple, who celebrated their 10-year anniversary in 2022, have weathered Diamond’s Parkinson’s diagnosis, which he shared with fans in 2018 while announcing his retirement from concert touring.
“A calm has moved in, and the hurricane of my life, and things have gotten very quiet,” Diamond told CBS Sunday Morning in March 2023 of life after performing. “And, I like it. I find that I like myself better. I’m easier on people. I’m easier on myself.”
The “America” singer, who was awarded the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame Johnny Mercer Award in 2018 for his contributions to music over his decades-long career, also likes being married.
“I don’t want to end this whole fabulous journey alone,” he told Parade in 2012. “I want someone by my side who I love and who loves me.
I’ve finally found somebody who’s up to the task of being my wife, because I’m very … high maintenance.” He added: “I think I’m probably the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
So who is Neil Diamond’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Katie McNeil and her relationship with the songwriter.
Prior to falling in love, McNeil and Diamond’s relationship was all business. As the “Sweet Caroline” singer recounted to The Telegraph in December 2012, McNeil lobbied with Azoff to manage his account.
“I guess because she loved my music so much or she thought it was a feather in her cap to be in charge of Neil Diamond. I would like to think it was the first one,” he said.
- According to Diamond, he initially had no romantic feelings toward the music producer. “I was not particularly interested in Katie, I was interested in my work,” he explained.
After working together for a year, however, Diamond began to see her in another light. “We kind of fell in love, slowly,” he said. “She wove her way into my heart and I think she’s a great person. I realized that I was in love with her.”
