His latest disc, "Home Before Dark," recently debuted at No. 1, his first
non-compilation disc ever to do so. Like its predecessor, 2005's "12 Songs,"
"Home" is a spartan, soul-baring, hair shirt of an album made in collaboration
with uber-producer/bearded weirdo Rick Rubin. Here's Diamond, in his own
words:
Why I'm having such a moment:
I guess it's preordained. It just happened. And I'm glad it
happened with this album, because I think it's one of my better ones.
When they told me I had my first No. 1 album, I didn't believe
them:
I was eating out in London with some friends and they told
me I was No. 1 in the States. I didn't believe it, so I told them to call
someone from a legitimate organization to confirm it and they did and I spoke
to the person and he confirmed it and I had a big laugh and ordered some
champagne. … It was just a beautiful surprise. I've gotten more than I deserve
probably from my career, and this is just another cherry on top of the hot
fudge sundae of my musical life.
What I'm really thinking about onstage when I'm singing "You
Don't Bring Me Flowers" for the 50 millionth time:
The mind goes to all kinds of different places. I'm
thinking about the guy with the mustache in the front seat. Who knows what
you're thinking about? I'm certainly not concentrating on the lyrics.
Rick Rubin didn't really change my sound. Mostly because I don't
have a sound:
Rick and I didn't
hang out after hours:
We didn't go out and drink until 4 a.m. We did our
work, we hugged each other, we enjoyed every minute of it, and we knew
it was special. We said good night knowing we would meet again the next
day and chase down that same elusive beast and try to capture it whole
and display it to the world.
Why it helps that Rick is nice to me:
I don't think you really want somebody roughing you
up. It's not "
American Idol," where you're facing
Simon [Cowell]. There's a mutual respect that goes on, and
criticisms are made all along the way and rethinking and reworking are
done all along the way. That's to be expected. … I don't think I would
respond well to being manhandled in the studio.
The last record I bought:
James Brown "[Live] at the Apollo." … I think if he
were alive, he'd have a hell of a future.
Having my first No. 1 album hasn't made much of a
difference in my everyday life:
I insist that people address me as Sir. Otherwise,
it's pretty much the same.