Singer Neil Diamond talks about living and coping with Parkinson’s disease

Neil Diamond, 82, reflected on his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and learning to live with the condition in an emotional new interview on Sunday.

The Sweet Caroline singer, who revealed his diagnosis with the neurological condition in 2018 and subsequently retired from touring, admitted he is still navigating his life with the disease.

‘I still do. And I don’t like it,” he explained on CBS Sunday Morning. “OK, so this is the hand God has given me, and I have to make the best of it, and I am.”

The I Am I Said crooner first revealed his condition in 2018, though he was diagnosed more than a decade ago and said about that time he was “in denial” and “not ready to accept it.”

“I was in denial for the first year or two. When the doctor told me what it was, I just wasn’t ready to accept it,” he admitted. “I said, ‘Oh, okay. I’ll see you, you know, when you want to see me. But I’ve got work to do, so I’ll see you later.'”

Despite knowing he’s had the disease for many years, the Forever in Blue Jeans singer said he’s only really started to accept it in recent weeks.

“I can’t really fight this, so I had to accept it, this Parkinson’s disease,” he said. ‘There is no cure. There’s no escaping it.’

“You can’t just say, ‘Okay, enough already. Let’s come back to life.’ It doesn’t work that way,” he said.

“But I’ve come to accept what limitations I have and still have great days,” the Hello Again singer admitted.

Since his acceptance, he said, “the hurricane of my life has calmed down, and it has become very quiet, as quiet as this recording studio.”

“I find myself liking myself better,” he continued. ‘I’m easier on people, I’m easier on myself. And the rhythm continues, and it will continue long after I’m gone.”

The Song Sung Blue singer is celebrating the fact that he can still sing and he hasn’t completely given up on the idea of ​​ever going on tour again – even if only to a limited extent.

“I have to take life as it comes, enjoy it, be thankful I’ve had it, especially with the life I’ve had,” he said.

Parkinson’s disease is the fastest growing neurological disorder in the world and there is currently no cure for it.

It causes muscle stiffness, slowness of movement, tremors, sleep disturbances, chronic fatigue, decreased quality of life and can lead to severe disability.

It is a progressive neurological disorder that destroys cells in the part of the brain that controls movement.

Patients are known to have a reduced supply of dopamine because the nerve cells that provide it have died.

About 18,000 Britons and 90,000 Americans are diagnosed each year, and charities estimate that one in 37 people alive today will be diagnosed in their lifetime.

Celebrities who have battled the condition include Michael J. Fox, Muhammad Ali, Billy Connolly, Alan Alda, George HW Bush, and Ozzy Osbourne.

Fox was diagnosed with the degenerative disease in 1991 at age 29 and hid the disease for seven years by carrying props in his left hand, where the telltale shakiness first began.

Last month, the Back to the Future star, 61, opened up during a Q&A about living with Parkinson’s over three decades after he and wife Tracy Pollan screened their documentary STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie at the SXSW conference.

“A festival of self-abuse,” the Back to the Future star joked about his film. “You get Parkinson’s, you trip over things.”

“Parkinson’s sucks, but it’s a great life, so thank you for it,” he added. “Pity is a benign form of abuse. I can feel sorry for myself, but I don’t have time for that. There’s something to learn from this, so let’s do that and move on.”

“My fans basically gave me my life. I wanted to give these people who have done so much for me my time and gratitude. It was great for me to hear from all of you,” he concluded.