Neil Diamond Finally Reveals Inspiration Behind "Sweet Caroline"

Los Angeles, CA (CNS) - It's been a classic since 1970, and now after almost 40 years Neil Diamond has finally gone public about the inspiration behind his hit song "Sweet Caroline."

In a performance via satellite for Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg's 50th birthday party Diamond finally came clean and admitted that it was a picture of young Caroline Kennedy that inspired him to write the tune.

"I've never discussed it with anybody before - intentionally," Diamond told The Associated Press on Monday. "I thought maybe I would tell it to Caroline when I met her someday."

Diamond was a down on his luck songwriter when a picture of young Caroline, dressed in horse riding gear, caught his eye and "It was such an innocent wonderful picture, I immediately felt there was a song in there."

When his musical career began to take off, Diamond finally found the time to revisit the memory of the picture and wrote the music and lyrics to "Sweet Caroline" in under an hour.

"It was a No. 1 record and probably is the biggest, most important song of my career, and I have to thank her for the inspiration," he said. "I'm happy to have gotten it off my chest and to have expressed it to Caroline. I thought she might be embarrassed, but she seemed to be struck by it and really, really happy."

Diamond still continues to tour and record and is currently working on a new album with producer Rick Rubin. The album will mark the second time the two have collaborated since 2005.