Even legends have off nights — and Neil Diamond just proved that sometimes, the best way to handle a mistake is to turn it into music. In a newly resurfaced clip from a 1980s concert, the beloved singer-songwriter can be seen forgetting the lyrics to one of his own songs mid-performance — and improvising by singing an entire chocolate cake recipe instead.
“I went completely blank,” Diamond laughed in a recent interview about the incident. “The band’s looking at me, the crowd’s looking at me — and all I could think about was cake.”
The clip, now circulating online among fans, shows Diamond grinning as he catches himself during “Forever in Blue Jeans.” When he realizes the words have vanished, he starts ad-libbing in rhythm:
🎶 “Add two eggs and a little bit of sugar, stir it nice and slow…” 🎶
The crowd bursts into laughter, clapping along as the band gamely follows his lead. “I figured, why not roll with it?” Diamond recalled. “It was either that or pretend I meant to do it — and I’m not that good an actor.”
The legendary moment reportedly happened during a show in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s, when Diamond was touring nonstop and performing up to five nights a week. “We were exhausted,” said his longtime guitarist, Richard Bennett. “But Neil never took himself too seriously. When he started singing about butter and flour, we all just played along. He made it sound like gospel.”
Fans who were in the audience still remember it as one of the funniest — and most endearing — moments of the tour. “Everyone was crying with laughter,” one attendee recalled. “He forgot his words, made up a song about cake, and somehow it was still beautiful.”
After the show, Diamond reportedly told the audience, “That’s what happens when you mix hunger with harmony.” The joke became something of a legend among fans, and for years, some have even called for him to record a “Baker’s Edition” version of Forever in Blue Jeans.
Even decades later, Diamond laughs about it. “I’ve written a lot of songs in my life,” he said, “but that one — that accidental one — might’ve been the sweetest.”
And maybe that’s why fans adore him all the more: for every anthem that fills stadiums, there’s also the man who can forget his own lyrics and still turn it into joy — with a dash of humor and a pinch of sugar.
As one fan perfectly commented after rewatching the clip:
“He didn’t just bake a cake — he baked a memory. That’s Neil Diamond magic.”