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Neil Diamond drops the F-bomb during his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction
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It's that time of year again when a seemingly arbitrary group of musicians is feted as "influential" and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This year's inductees were '70s rocker Alice Cooper, prolific pop balladeer Neil Diamond, New Orleans piano man Dr. John, indie fave Tom Waits and Darlene Love, one of the original members of the Phil Spector-produced girl group, the Crystals.Diamond surprised the crowd on hand at New York's Waldorf-Astoria when he delivered a rambling acceptance speech and started taking pictures of the crowd with his camera phone.
"Here I am," Diamond said. "I'm sorry I didn't write a speech. I just got off tour from Australia, I did a show two days ago, I got on a plane, commercial, yesterday. I've been flying my a** off for 45 hours, got in this morning. I have no idea where we are... What are we doing here? What the heck is going on right here?"
"They love me!" he continued, perhaps taking his queues from tiger blood winner Charlie Sheen or recent f-bomb dropping Oscar winner Melissa Leo. "They're crazy. But I love them, and I love you too, even though you didn't vote for me. I don't give a s**t! I'm flying back tomorrow to Sydney f**king Australia because they love me there! And I'm gonna keep going back 'til they stop loving me!"
Diamond concluded his speech with, "What time is it? What day is it? And what the f**k is this country?!"
Good questions, all.
Among other highlights from the show -- Cooper ended his performance covered in fake blood and wielding a large snake, according to Rolling Stone.
The ceremony is set to air Sunday (March 20) on Fuse at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
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Photo/Video credit: Getty Images
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Embarrassed to be a ND fan. Have been since '60s but this was inexcusable. Was he trying to be funny? How did his Mother feel...his children, his grandchildren? I have lost much respect for Neil Diamond.
RE: Carol... why are you embarrassed to be a Diamond fan? Because he swore/dropped "the F Bomb"? He was just joking about being disoriented from long travel. And if he has a little bit of a chip on his shoulder for not getting this honor until now it is understandable, he should've been inducted years or even a decade or two ago.
Nothing will stop me from being a fan, my license plate says "NEILFAN" and my twitter is Neilfan12... I'm a die-hard Diamondhead. But could or should he have prepared a speech for this event? Yes. He knew well enough ahead of time to have one ready. Maybe it was a mini-protest by him for the Hall of Fame taking so long to induct him.
And for anyone reading this saying he shouldn't be so full of himself and be glad for having this honor... well there is, from what I understand, some debate or controversy about the whole process... that this Hall of Fame is basically a popularity game (read it's entry on Wikipedia). So if there is any chip on Neil's shoulder I understand it.
Only fools venerate strangers.
I love neil diamond to he should have gotin this reword a long time ago. I will always be a fan he has every right to be mad but he should also be happy to get this reword.