In 1965, Neil Diamond was a pre-med student at New York University, sitting in his dorm room surrounded by medical textbooks. His parents, Jewish immigrants who had sacrificed so much to give him a better future, hoped he would earn his medical degree. But with just six months left before graduation, he gave up his pre-med scholarship and walked away from medical school to accept a songwriting contract with Sunbeam Music Publishing that paid only $50 a week. His parents were devastated. Rejection letters kept arriving, but Diamond refused to give up. He lived in cheap apartments, survived on very little money, and spent years learning his craft around New York’s Brill Building. His first major breakthrough came in 1966, when a song he had written, “I’m a Believer,” became a huge international hit for The Monkees, staying at the top of the charts for seven consecutive weeks. That success gave him a chance to build a career of his own. He began releasing his own music, scoring hits with “Solitary Man,” “Cherry, Cherry,” and “Cracklin’ Rosie.” In 1969 he wrote and recorded “Sweet Caroline.” What began as a song became an international anthem sung in sports stadiums, at weddings, and wherever people gathered to sing together. Over a career spanning six decades, Diamond sold more than 130 million records. He was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2018, Parkinson’s disease forced him to retire from touring, but he continued writing and recording from his studio. Looking back, his decision to trade a medical career for a guitar may have seemed reckless. But in his own way he fulfilled the dream his parents had for him. He didn’t heal people with medicine. He did it through music, creating songs that brought millions of strangers together.