Neil Diamond has seen Hugh Jackman's 'tribute act movie' and here's what he thought of it

6 January 2026, 12:57

Neil Diamond gives his seal of approval to Song Sung Blue.

We're in the era not just of the big screen music biopic, but very much the authorised take on the biggest stars.

Be it Bob Marley, Queen, Elton John or the upcoming Michael Jackson film, most of these films have been given the seal of approval from the stars themselves or at least their estate.

• Hugh Jackman is the ultimate Neil Diamond tribute singer in trailer for Song Sung Blue movie
• Neil Diamond's 10 best songs, ranked
• Listen to the Music From The Movies Live Playlist on Global Player, the home of Gold

Song Sung Blue is a a very different sort of movie.

Despite taking its name from a Neil Diamond classic, it's not only not an authorised telling of the singer-songwriter's life... it's not actually about him at all.

Instead the film is based on the real-life story of Neil Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder, which stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as Mike and Claire Sardina.

But given that his songs feature heavily in the movie, it's something that was absolutely on Neil's radar.

Song Sung Blue UK trailer – Hugh Jackman in Neil Diamond tribute

In fact, while Neil's record label originally banned the use of his tunes in the 2008 Song Sung Blue documentary on which the new feature film was based, after Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder got in touch with the man himself and sent him the film, he gave his permission personally.

And director Craig Brewer has now revealed how Diamond felt about his new adaptation of this real-life story.

"I was not in the room with him, but I had a few spies," Brewer told Entertainment Weekly.

"I had also been prepped that Neil does not get effusively enthusiastic or into movies. He watches them, he studies them — that's what I was told."

He added: "But I was told from his people that they were surprised to see just how enthusiastic he started to get with it, that he was tapping his foot, that he would applaud after each music number, and that he cried.

"He went up to the projectionist, or the person was running the screening, and when they introduced themselves to him, he said, 'Okay, well, when's the next screening? Can we watch it again?'.

"And so I was so happy about his reaction because I hope what it does for him — not that he looks for this or needs it — but I just hope he knows how incredibly relevant his contribution to songwriting is.

"Those songs are beautiful, and yeah, he's a performer, but he's a writer. He wrote these, he thought them, he felt them in his soul, and then he created them."