Caroline's secret out

Nov 21 2007

Neil Diamond kept it secret for decades, but he has finally revealed that President Kennedy's daughter was the inspiration for his smash hit Sweet Caroline.

The 66-year-old singer-songwriter said: "I thought maybe I would tell it to Caroline when I met her some day." He got his chance last week when he performed the song via satellite at Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg's 50th birthday party.

Diamond was a "young, broke songwriter" when a photo of the president's daughter in a news magazine caught his eye. Years later, holed up in a hotel in Memphis, he wrote the words and music in less than an hour.