1966 Soft Rock Classic, Music Legend's Debut Single, Took Four Years to Become a Hit

In the 1960s, Neil Diamond was making his way as a staff songwriter at New York's famous Brill Building when he was offered his own record deal with Bang Records. His debut album, titled The Feel of Neil Diamond, was released in August 1966, and the first solo single was "Solitary Man."

Penned by Diamond, the acoustic guitar ballad featured a horn section, shaker percussion, and lyrics about walking alone after a heartbreak. It became one of the music legend's signature songs.

But "Solitary Man" wasn't an immediate Top 40 hit. While it received positive attention upon its release, the song didn't make Billboard's Top 40 in 1966 and didn't become a hit until Bang re-released it four years later. The savvy re-release came after Diamond signed a new deal with Uni Records.

Under Bang's label, the re-release of "Solitary Man" went to No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1970.

In 2026, a post on Diamond's official Facebook page described "Solitary Man" as "the landmark single that introduced the world to one of his most enduring songs" and "a defining part of Diamond's catalog."

Neil Diamond elevated his songwriting with ‘Solitary Man'

By 1966, Diamond had already written successful hit songs for other artists, such as "I'm a Believer" for the Monkees, which went to No. 1 that year. But he credited "Solitary Man" as his breakthrough moment as a songwriter.

"'Solitary Man' was my first song where I tried to really raise the level of my songwriting," he once told Mojo, per Songfacts. "It was inspired by the Beatles' song ‘Michelle,' which was also written in a minor key. I don't think I'd ever written a song in a minor key before, it was the first and it kind of broke the dam for me."

Diamond, now 85, has also admitted that his growing maturity as a songwriter became apparent over the past 60 years.

"Over the years, you grow up, you mature, and you see things in a different way, and it's reflected in the writing," he told NPR's Fresh Air in an interview. "So at this point, my writing is different. I think it's better. I think it's deeper. But, strangely enough, it covers a lot of the old ground. Maybe it says it in a more sophisticated way ... but I [have written] about basically the same subjects over the years."

As for his decision to switch record labels back in his early days, the move was triggered by his desire to write the kind of song he wanted to.

"I changed labels from Bang Records, where I was just owned – in every sense of the word – by the record company," Diamond told Music Radar in 2026. "I had hits there, and they wanted more. They wanted another 'Cherry, Cherry,' another 'Kentucky Woman,' another 'Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon.' But my writing was taking a different turn. I wanted to try something different. I said, 'I can't do it anymore.' So I left the label. And they sued me, but I left the label. So I'm with a new label now, and they said, 'You can do anything you want.' So I did."

Related: The Monkees' Biggest No. 1 Hit Was Written By a Music Legend You'd Never Expect

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This story was originally published June 18, 2026 at 9:23 AM.