Solitary man is still on a roll

By Joe Brown

Friday, Jan. 2, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Chris Morris

The brand spanking new year is off to a sparkling start in Las Vegas: The first big headliner of 2009 is Neil Diamond, who brings his 11-piece band and countless hits to the MGM Grand tonight.

1. The Diamond industry

Diamond is the hardest substance found in nature, and at 67, Neil Diamond is one of pop music’s most durable artists. Apparently impervious to time and age and trends, he’s been uncool so long that he’s transcended cool. The past few years have been a high point in Diamond’s four-decade career: His 2005 international tour grossed nearly $80 million from 86 shows that drew 1.2 million people. And his current world tour, which wraps up Thursday in Portland, Ore., recently topped those numbers. Nearly every show sold out.

2. Diamond in the rough

Somewhere along his career continuum, Diamond acquired the “adult contemporary” label and shelf space near schoolmate Barbra Streisand and Josh Groban. But recent years have found Diamond stripping back the pop pathos and polished production and collaborating with producer Rick Rubin, who returned the raw luster to late-period Johnny Cash and Donovan with back-to-roots settings. The two resulting albums were “12 Songs” and “Home Before Dark,” which entered the Billboard album chart at No. 1 in the United States and United Kingdom when it was released in May — the first and only chart-topping album of his career.

3. In the sky with Diamond

The multifaceted performer — singer, songwriter, musician, actor — has been named the Person of the Year by the MusiCares charity, which will celebrate his sterling qualities at a gala and performance featuring Coldplay, Jennifer Hudson and Groban on Feb. 6, two days before the 51st Grammy Awards.

4. A Diamond is forever

Diamond, who has been nicknamed “the Jewish Elvis,” and although a Las Vegas residency — like the headliner deals struck by fellow sexagenarian icons Bette Midler, Cher, Elton John and Barry Manilow — would make all sorts of sense and surely prove a destination draw, Diamond has said he’s not considering putting his chips into a casino run. That doesn’t mean he’s going to sit around gathering dust: Diamond recently said he’s set up a meeting to discuss a follow-up album with Rubin — on Jan. 12, four days after Diamond’s final concert of this tour.

5. Cubic zirconia

Tickets for Diamond’s MGM Grand gig run up to $183.75. And lots of Diamond-heads just can’t swing it this year. That’s where Jay White comes in. Being Neil Diamond has been White’s full-time job for 25 years, all of them in Las Vegas. In his tribute act at the Riviera, White sings only the hits (none of the unfamiliar newer stuff) and he’s the gold standard for Diamond impersonators. He nails it all: the proto-mullet hair, the squint, the grandiose stage moves, three costume changes including those silky, spangled, puffy-sleeved shirts open to the navel and the baritone with that gravitas and gravelly growl — he may even sound better than the real Neil at this point.