Colleagues of Marcia Murphey, who later became Neil Diamond’s second wife, said that she was an attractive, intelligent, and self-sufficient lady. These were characteristics that were supposed to have appealed to the singer.

In 1969, Diamond wed Murphey, making her his second wife. In the 1970s, the couple welcomed two children into the world: Jesse and Micah, who were born seven years apart.

They were married for close to thirty years before they finally decided to divorce one another. Diamond, who had pledged to always be there for his wife when they were married, had grown aloof as a result of his immersion in his business. Diamond and his wife had just divorced.

It is believed that Diamond is proud to be an American and to uphold American principles; as a result, he was taken aback by the all-American credentials that Murphey had. He made the observation, “Her ancestors arrived to this country on the Mayflower. She represents the part of myself that is much more American, and she provides me with that kind of strength as well.

The Mayflower was a ship from England that became renowned for being the vessel that transported a group of English families to what was then known as the “New World” in the early 17th century. On the coast of Massachusetts, which is now part of what is often referred to as the United States of America, it dropped anchor.

The information provided by her spouse indicates that Murphey is two months older than he is. Diamond’s birthday is January 24, 1941, which indicates that she must have been born in the latter half of the year 1940. Marcia Kay Murphey is the complete form of her given name.

When Murphey married Diamond, she was working as an assistant in the television production industry. In subsequent years, she worked with Roy Silver at the management production firm he owned in Hollywood. Diamond wasn’t the only one among the people she worked with who was impressed by her. Silver said that she was beautiful, intelligent, and quite humorous, and that she could hold her own intellectually among the males in the room.

She was described as having a sunny disposition, and comedian Mike Mislove said that he had a thing for her. Others, including her ex-lover, the singer-songwriter Jake Holmes, both privately and publicly remarked on how stunning she looked. Stephen Prince saw her as an independent and powerful woman, and he believed that this was one of the aspects of her personality that Diamond admired.

The television set is where Marcia Murphey first met her future husband.
Diamond was in New York when he made the acquaintance of a worker at one of the television stations he visited. The singer saw her, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why she piqued his interest. He remembered thinking, “Perhaps it was the melancholy in her eyes.” When I saw this child, it was clear that she had experienced a lot of suffering. At that moment, the two had not engaged in any kind of communication.

Murphey was recruited by Fred Weintraub to work as a production assistant on his new series, “Live From the Bitter End,” after the two of them had their initial meeting on the set of the “Clay Cole Show.” This allowed the two of them to see more of one other. Despite the fact that Diamond was already married, the two of them started dating almost immediately. Murphey had been divorced at one point in her life.

Diamond did eventually separate from his wife. According to the story, he “went out to get a package of cigarettes [one day], and he never went back.” Diamond and Jaye Posner’s marriage came to an end in the year 1969. In the same year, he wed Murphey and made a commitment to devote more of his time to her and their family, something that he had been unable to accomplish during his earlier marriage to another woman.

Following the birth of the couple’s first child, Jesse, in 1972, Diamond remained true to his commitment and ceased making public appearances. During his vacation, which lasted for four years, he did not perform live and instead spent his time learning how to fish.

Micah, Jesse’s younger brother, came into the world around seven years after Jesse. Even though Diamond had returned to the stage and was performing in front of sold-out audiences in 1976, he prioritized spending time with his family. The singer said that Murphey was the rock that he stood on, and after performing all over the globe, he would always go back to his family in the United States.

It was widely thought that the iconic song “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond was written for Caroline Kennedy, who was the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy. Diamond, however, said that this was only partially accurate. The song originally about Caroline Murphey, but because her real name, Marcia, did not rhyme with any of the other words in the song, they changed it to Caroline.

Diamond said in an interview that she had been married to Murphey for a period of 24 years in the year 1992. He acknowledged that being married to him for such a long time was not an easy task, but he praised her for having “handled it so far.”

Neil Diamond and Marcia Murphey’s Separation and Divorce

By 1995, it was clear that Murphey and Diamond’s relationship had reached its natural conclusion. In 1995, the couple finalized their separation with a divorce settlement that was estimated to be over $150 million and was paid to Murphey. On the other hand, that was not correct.

Diamond said, when he thought back to the period of time immediately before they divorced, that he had ceased paying sufficient attention to the requirements that Murphey had. He made the statement that “She did everything right, and I did everything wrong.”

Neil Diamond’s intense concentration on his career led to the devastating dissolution of his marriage. He said that a significant portion of his life had shifted due to the fact that the dissolution of their marriage had also led to the loss of friends, which had an adverse effect on him.

Since their divorce, Murphey has lived a more low-key and private existence, in contrast to Diamond, who has continued to live a public life. In the year 2022, her son Jesse wrote a message that was specifically devoted to her, telling her that he loved her and wishing her a happy Mother’s Day.