Jennifer Nettles Performs Stunning In Tribute To Neil Diamond

Nov 18, 2020

Over the course of his illustrious career, American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond has recorded 38 Top 10 hits and sold more than 100 million albums around the globe. Jennifer Nettles, the lead singer for the country music duo, Sugarland, may not have put up those numbers yet, but she has certainly made her own mark on the music industry. In December of 2011 the songstress was asked to join the star-laden Kennedy Center Honors to pay tribute to Diamond.

Every year, the Kennedy Center Honors event is held to pay tribute to those who have made an undeniable impression on American culture through entertainment. For the 34th annual event, the main focal point of the event was Neil Diamond, who has long been a mainstay in the music industry, both nationally and globally. Nettles wowed the crowd and fellow performers with her jaw-dropping rendition of Diamond's emotional ballad Hello Again.

Long before she was being asked to perform at the Kennedy Center Honors event, Nettles got her start in Douglas, Georgia. A little girl that performed at a school event and at her local Baptist church, Nettles didn't find herself in the limelight until 2002. It was then that she teamed up with fellow songwriters Kristian Bush and Kristen Hall to form Sugarland.

Sugarland was formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 2002 and quickly came to country music prominence. The trio, which quickly became a duo after Hall left the group, has released multiple albums and put 15 songs on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. While Sugarland has experienced success, and Nettles has had her own as a solo artist, she was still thrilled to be a part of the evening designated to honor a music icon.

The song that Nettles chose to perform, Hello Again, came to fame thanks to Diamond performing it in the 1980 film The Jazz Singer. The film, which is a cinematic adaptation of the play with the same name, included multiple Neil Diamond songs. Interestingly enough, it was also the movie in which Diamond made his acting debut.

During one particularly emotional part of The Jazz Singer, Hello Again is performed. The use of the song in that movie led to it making its way up two Billboard charts: the Hot 100 and the Adult Contemporary charts. The song reached number three and number six, respectively.

While the original rendition of the song was emotional in its own right, the version that Nettles performed at the Kennedy Center Honors invoked just as much emotion. Nettles strolled to the microphone before going into the song and evoking an incredible amount of emotion.

However, the emotion wasn't limited to those in the audience, as it quickly became apparent that Nettles was just as emotionally in tune with the performance as anyone else. Not long after the music began to play, it was blatantly obvious that Nettles was every bit as moved as the visibly awestruck Diamond.

It didn't take long for Nettles' unique and magical voice to rev into the song, creating a group of emotions that were on the same level as those that the original rendition brought to light. At one point during the performance, the camera panned into the audience and caught Diamond's reaction to the performance.

Neil was visibly moved by Nettles' rendition of the song he had made famous some four-plus decades ago. As Diamond fought to hold back tears, it was obvious that Nettles had hit all the right notes on more than one level.

It didn't take long for the YouTube reviews to match the reaction that Diamond and the rest of the audience had in person. "This version gives me goosebumps...her voice is stunning!" raved one reviewer. Others quickly agreed with "stunning" as the best adjective to use, while another pointed out the emotional reaction that Diamond had to the performance.

It could be argued that in today's world, the lyrics of Hello Again are more important than ever: “Hello my friend. Hello. I just called to let you know. I think about you every night. I know it’s late, but I couldn’t wait. Hello.”

As people are seeing the need to connect with those they love more than ever before, these lyrics resound in 2020 perhaps more than they did in 1980. As the performance drew to a close, Nettles scoped Diamond out in the crowd and blew the legend a kiss. With a smile on his face and emotion in his eyes, Diamond applauded the performance that is taking the web by storm. Make sure to let everyone on your friends' list see this epic rendition of a classic.

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