Neil Leslie Diamond was born on January 24, 1941, in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York City, to Akeeba "Kieve" Diamond, a dry-goods merchant, and his wife Rose, a Jewish immigrant from Poland. The family temporarily relocated to Cheyenne, Wyoming, due to Kieve's military service during World War II, where Neil developed a passion for "singing cowboy" movies.
After the war, the family returned to Brooklyn, and Neil received a $9 acoustic guitar as a birthday gift, sparking his interest in music. At the age of 15, he wrote his first song, "Here Them Bells."
