What Are Neil Diamond’s 5 Biggest Hits?

Few people have been a part of more hit songs during their career than Neil Diamond. Whether he was writing them for others, recording his own stuff, or singing someone else’s songs, the man held a firm grasp of what audiences wanted to hear for an impressive stretch of time.

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You might be surprised which of his songs did the best on the US charts. And maybe which didn’t? For example, “Sweet Caroline” came up just shy of making this list of Neil Diamond’s five highest-charting songs in America.

5. “I Am… I Said” – No. 4 in 1971

We tend to think of Neil Diamond as the ultimate craftsman when it comes to his songwriting. And he probably wouldn’t object to that assessment. “I Am…I Said” proved that he could dig as deep into personal territory as anybody when the mood struck him. The song delves into feelings of rootlessness and unworthiness. When the narrator belts out his identity to the world, he’s hit with the ironic realization that not even the furniture in the room is listening to him. Diamond’s voice cracks with the emotion of it all in the final moments.

4. “Love On The Rocks” – No. 2 in 1980

Diamond managed to intermingle one of his biggest career missteps with an undeniable bit of triumph in 1980. On the one hand, he found out that he probably wasn’t cut out for an acting career when he starred in The Jazz Singer. But the songs that he churned out for the soundtrack put him right back at the top of the pop music world. “Love On The Rocks” served as an undeniable highlight. Working with the veteran French composer Gilbert Becaud, Diamond fashioned an affecting barroom lament. You could easily imagine Frank Sinatra tackling this song back in the day.

3. “Cracklin’ Rosie” – No. 1 in 1970

We’re now in the No. 1 single part of the list. There are various stories circulating about how Diamond came up with the idea for “Cracklin’ Rosie”, his first-ever pop chart topper. Ultimately, the inspiration isn’t all that important, since Diamond doesn’t dig too far into the character sketch beyond intimating that Rosie is quite captivating. What matters is how the track keeps alternating between surges and sighs. Some of the best Wrecking Crew musicians and a sparkling Diamond vocal ensured that this one would win over radio listeners.

2. “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” – No. 1 in 1978

Here’s a No. 1 single that fans willed into existence. “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers”, which Diamond wrote with the legendary movie songwriting team of Alan and Marilyn Bergman, was initially meant as a TV theme song. Diamond elongated it and recorded a solo version, with Barbra Streisand following suit not long after. Some enterprising radio programmers started mashing up the two versions on their own. Once the principals got wind of how the song was catching fire, they did their own official duet. With the star power of Diamond and Streisand, there was no stopping its momentum to the top.

1. “Song Sung Blue” – No. 1 in 1972

For those who watched the Hugh Jackman-Kate Hudson biopic that documented a Diamond tribute act, here’s the song that gave that film its title. Diamond achieves something subtly marvelous here. People don’t realize how difficult it can be to make a grand statement without using a ton of verbiage to get it done. Utilizing a musical motif that he borrowed from Mozart, Diamond keeps things as simple as possible, going syllable by syllable to achieve the impact he needs here. It obviously worked, as “Song Sung Blue” was a runaway No. 1 in the US and scored big all over the world.

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