IN: Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actor. With 38 songs in the Top 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts, Diamond has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. Neil Diamond has been touring around the world consecutively for 50 years. Neil Diamond 50 - 50th Anniversary Collection Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.

Diamond was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family descended from Russian and Polish immigrants. His parents were Rose (nee Rapaport) and Akeeba "Kieve" Diamond, a dry-goods merchant. He grew up in several homes in Brooklyn, having also spent four years in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where his father was stationed in the army. In Brooklyn he attended Erasmus Hall High School and was a member of the Freshman Chorus and Choral Club, along with classmate Barbra Streisand. They were not close friends at the time, Diamond recalls: "We were two poor kids in Brooklyn. We hung out in the front of Erasmus High and smoked cigarettes." After his family moved he then attended Abraham Lincoln High School, and was a member of the fencing team. Also on the team was his best friend, future Olympic fencer Herb Cohen. For his 16th birthday, he received his first guitar. When he was 16, and still in high school, Diamond spent a number of weeks at Surprise Lake Camp, a camp for Jewish children in upstate New York, when folk singer Pete Seeger performed a small concert. Seeing the widely recognized singer perform, and watching other children singing songs for Seeger that they wrote themselves, had an immediate effect on Diamond, who then became aware of the possibility of writing his own songs. "And the next thing, I got a guitar when we got back to Brooklyn, started to take lessons and almost immediately began to write songs," he said. He adds that his attraction to songwriting was the "first real interest" he had growing up, besides helping him release his youthful "frustrations". Diamond also used his newly developing skill to write poetry. By writing poems for girls he was attracted to in school, he soon learned it often won their hearts. His male classmates took note and began asking him to write poems for them which they would sing and use with equal success. He spent the summer following his graduation as a waiter in the Catskills resort area. There he first met Jaye Posner, who would years later become his wife. Diamond next attended New York University as a pre-med major on a fencing scholarship, again on the fencing team with Herb Cohen. He was a member of the 1960 NCAA men's championship fencing team. Often bored in class, he found writing song lyrics more to his liking. He began cutting classes and taking the train up to Tin Pan Alley, where he tried to get some of his songs heard by local music publishers. In his senior year, when he was just 10 units short of graduation, Sunbeam Music Publishing offered him a 16-week job writing songs for $50 a week (equivalent to about US$405 per week, in 2017 dollars), and he dropped out of college to accept it.

Where did he go to school?

OUT: attended Erasmus Hall High School and was a member of the Freshman Chorus and Choral Club, along with classmate Barbra Streisand.

IN: Michael Bloomberg was born at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston, on February 14, 1942. Bloomberg's family is Jewish. Bloomberg's father, William Henry Bloomberg (1906-1963), was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts and worked as an accountant for a dairy company. He was the son of Alexander "Elick" Bloomberg, an immigrant from Russia.

In March 2010, Bloomberg's top political strategist Kevin Sheekey resigned from his mayoral advisory position and returned to Bloomberg LP, Bloomberg's company. It was speculated that the move would allow Sheekey to begin preliminary efforts for a Bloomberg presidential campaign in the 2012 election. An individual close to Bloomberg said, "the idea of continuing onward is not far from his [Bloomberg's] mind". In October 2010, The Committee to Draft Michael Bloomberg - which had attempted to recruit Bloomberg to run for the presidency in 2008 - announced it was relaunching its effort to persuade Bloomberg to wage a presidential campaign in 2012. The committee members insisted that they would persist in the effort in spite of Bloomberg's repeated denials of interest in seeking the presidency. While on the December 12, 2010, episode of Meet the Press, Bloomberg ruled out a run for the presidency in 2012, stating: "I'm not going to run for president," further adding "I'm not looking at the possibility of running ... no way, no how." On July 24, 2011, in the midst of Democrats' and Republicans' inability to agree on a budget plan and thus an increase in the federal debt limit, the Washington Post published a blog post about groups organizing third party approaches. It focused on Bloomberg as the best hope for a serious third-party presidential candidacy in 2012. During an appearance on The Daily Show in June 2012, London Mayor Boris Johnson told host Jon Stewart that he did not know why Bloomberg had ruled out a bid for the presidency in the upcoming election, declaring that he would be "a great candidate". Bloomberg had privately indicated he believed Mitt Romney would be better at running the country, but could not publicly support him because of Romney's positions on social issues such as abortion and gun control. In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in November 2012, Bloomberg penned an op-ed officially endorsing Barack Obama for president, citing Obama's policies on climate change.

What else did he do during the campaign?

OUT: Bloomberg ruled out a run for the presidency in 2012, stating: "I'm not going to run for president,"

IN: Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of pop, rock, country and blues. She has released ten studio albums, four compilations, a live album, and has contributed to a number of film soundtracks. Her songs include "All I Wanna Do" and "If It Makes You Happy."

In 2011, Crow separated from her label, A&M Records. The singer followed Nashville neighbor Brad Paisley's advice and, after being introduced to producer Justin Niebank and several Nashville-based songwriters such as Chris DuBois, Luke Laird and Chris Stapleton, started her first country music project. In 2013, Crow signed a recording contract with Warner Music Nashville and, a few months later, released "Easy," the first single from the upcoming album, which became her first top twenty country radio hit and her highest charting lead single since 2005. Feels Like Home was released on September 10, 2013, and debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of over 36,000 copies, becoming Crow's ninth top ten album. Crow was one of the opening acts for George Strait's 2014 leg of The Cowboy Rides Away Tour. Along with Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris and Carrie Underwood, she made an appearance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, paying tribute to Linda Ronstadt, who was one of the inductees of 2014. Crow, along with country band Gloriana, joined Rascal Flatts on their Rewind Tour, which kicked off May 16, 2014. The 40th anniversary celebration benefit concert of the Austin City Limits Festival was held June 26, 2014. Crow hosted the event along with Jeff Bridges and performed with Kris Kristofferson, Gary Clark Jr, Alabama Shakes, as well her former guitarist Doyle Bramhall II. Crow sang on a rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" that appeared on Darius Rucker's Christmas album, Home for the Holidays. In December 2015, she covered "A Hard Day's Night" at the John Lennon 75th Birthday Concert, and performed "Two More Bottles of Wine" with Vince Gill at another tribute concert: The Life & Songs of Emmylou Harris.

Did she perform live on any other dates?

OUT:
Crow was one of the opening acts for George Strait's 2014 leg of The Cowboy Rides Away Tour.