It remains one of the most charming and downright hilarious stories ever told about Neil Diamond — the day a complete stranger mistook him for a cab driver, climbed into his car without hesitation, and Neil… simply drove him where he needed to go.
The incident happened in the early 1980s, during a quiet evening when Neil had just finished a meeting and walked out to the curb to head home. His driver was running late, so Neil waited beside the car assigned to pick him up — a dark sedan with its back door unlocked.
As he stood checking his watch, a man in a hurry rushed down the sidewalk, yanked open the back door, tossed himself into the seat, and said briskly:
“Airport, please — and step on it.”
Neil blinked. He looked at the open door, then at the man settling comfortably in the backseat, flipping through papers as if everything were perfectly normal.
“Sir?” Neil started.
But the man waved his hand impatiently.
“Yes, yes. Airport. I’m late.”
Neil could have corrected him. He could have explained the misunderstanding. He could have stepped back and waited for his actual driver to arrive.
But instead — as one longtime friend later said — “Neil just found the whole thing too funny not to go along with it.”
So he got into the driver’s seat.
The stranger didn’t look up once. He didn’t recognize Neil’s voice when the singer politely asked, “Any particular terminal?” He didn’t question why the “driver” hummed lightly under his breath or tapped rhythmically on the steering wheel. He didn’t even glance at the man chauffeuring him down the boulevard.
Neil drove all the way to the airport, navigating traffic with the same smoothness he reserved for moving through backstage corridors. When they pulled up to the departure drop-off area, the man finally looked up, startled for the first time.
“Oh,” he said, digging into his pocket. “How much do I owe you?”
Neil, struggling not to laugh, replied, “Nothing at all.”
The man frowned, confused. “Are you sure?”
Neil turned slightly so the man got a better look at his face.
Recognition hit instantly.
The man froze. His eyes widened. His mouth dropped open.
“You’re— you’re—” he stammered.
Neil just smiled. “Not a cab driver.”
For a full ten seconds, the man was silent, stunned by the realization that he had just ordered around — and been chauffeured by — one of the most famous singers in the world.
“I… I can’t believe… I’m so sorry,” he finally blurted.
Neil waved it off. “You needed a ride,” he said simply. “And I had the time.”
The story spread quietly among friends for years before becoming a beloved fan favorite — not because of the absurdity, but because it perfectly encapsulated Neil Diamond’s personality: patient, polite, and quietly amused by life’s odd moments.
In a world filled with celebrity ego, Neil Diamond once drove a stranger to the airport simply because the man asked him to.
And that, fans say, is its own kind of legend.