What Neil Diamond Actually Said to Bob Dylan Behind the Scenes at The Last Waltz]

Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz isn’t just a concert film—it’s one of rock’s most mythologized final chapters, a farewell show that somehow turned into a permanent monument.

Released in 1978, it documents the Band’s last live performance at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976. The guest list reads like a genre map of American music: Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and more.

But even in a lineup built on legend, one moment still feels slightly out of frame: Neil Diamond walking onstage to perform his 1976 hit “Dry Your Eyes.”

What, exactly, is he doing here?

The Last Waltz encore. (from left) Dr. John, Neil Diamond, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Rick Danko, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson. (Image credit: UNITED ARTISTS/Album/Alamy)

Reportedly, Diamond was so energized by his performance that he issued a challenge to the next performer, Bob Dylan. Finding the folk-rock bard awaiting his entrance, Diamond stepped offstage and told Dylan, “Top that!”

To which Dylan allegedly replied, “What do I have to do—fall asleep?”

Diamond would later offer his own version of events. But first, it’s worth asking how he ended up on that stage at all.

Held on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, The Last Waltz was intended as the Band’s farewell from touring, following the toll of life on the road and growing internal strain. Guitarist Robbie Robertson decided the group should continue as a studio band, much as the Beatles had done after 1966. The concert would be a final celebration with friends and musical influences.

But almost immediately, its scope began to expand. As the concert’s main architect, Robertson wanted to showcase a wide spectrum of American music — not just contemporary singer-songwriters, but the artists — like Waters — who shaped them.

Robertson wanted Diamond onboard as a representative of New York City’s Brill Building tradition and a link to the era of classic American pop songwriting.

The Band performing at their farewell concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, 25th November 1976. (from left) Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Garth Hudson

The Band in a scene from The Last Waltz film. (from left) Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson. (Image credit: Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Not everyone was convinced the guy behind hits like the Monkees’ “I’m a Believer” belonged on a stage with legends like Dylan and Waters.

“I was in a mood. I snarled, ‘Go tell Robertson to tell Neil Diamond we don’t even know who the fuck he is!’”
— Levon Helm

Levon Helm, the Band’s drummer, noted that Robertson had just produced Diamond’s album Beautiful Noise, which featured “Dry Your Eyes,” a Diamond-Robertson cowrite. He accused Robertson of self-promotion.

“Robbie called me up and said, ‘Well, Neil is like Tin Pan Alley. That Fifties Brill Building scene, songwriters like Doc Pomus,’” Helm wrote.

“Why don’t we just get Doc Pomus?’” was Helm’s tart reply.

As the show approached and the guest list grew unwieldy, someone suggested cutting Muddy Waters. Helm was furious and threatened to walk.

“I was in a mood,” he wrote. “I snarled, ‘Go tell Robertson to tell Neil Diamond we don’t even know who the fuck he is!’”

In the end, both Waters and Diamond remained on the bill.

And, for the record, Diamond killed it. Strumming an Ovation acoustic, with backing from the Band, he turned his one-song performance into a show-stopping moment.

It was a good night and an exciting night. I was glad to be a part of it.”
— Neil Diamond

What happened next is a matter of legend — and debate. It was the Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood, one of the evening’s guests, who started the rumor about Diamond challenging Dylan in a 1992 interview with Q magazine.

Asked for the true story by Rolling Stone in 2010, Diamond insisted his encounter with Dylan was all in good fun and took place before he went on, not after.

“He was tuning his guitar and I came over to him and I said, ‘You know, Bob, those are really my people out there,’” Diamond recalled. “He kind of looked at me quizzically.

“I said it as a joke, but I think it spurred him a little bit and he gave a hell of a performance. It was a good night and an exciting night. I was glad to be a part of it.”