Diamond’s ‘Caroline’ inspiration

Neil Diamond held onto the secret for decades, but he has finally revealed that President John F. Kennedy’s daughter was the inspiration for his smash hit “Sweet Caroline.”

“I’ve never discussed it with anybody before -- intentionally,” the 66-year-old singer-songwriter said in an interview. “I thought maybe I would tell it to Caroline when I met her someday.”

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. “It was a picture of a little girl dressed to the nines in her riding gear, next to her pony,” Diamond recalled. “It was such an innocent, wonderful picture, I immediately felt there was a song in there.”