In an announcement Monday legendary singer Neil Diamond said that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and thus “It is with great reluctance and disappointment that I announce my retirement from concert touring,” reports USA Today.

Diamond continued, “I have been so honored to bring my shows to the public for the past 50 years,” and, according to USA Today, “he apologized to those who had purchased tickets to upcoming shows.”

Diamond will turn 77 this Wednesday, Jan 24th, and this coming Sunday, during the Grammy awards, he will receive the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award, USA Today reports.

Notes a story on koolradio.com, “Over a 20 year period from 1966 to 1986, [Diamond] had 55 songs make the Billboard Hot 100, and that’s not counting his songs that became hits for other artists like The Monkees, UB40, and Jay and the Americans.”

Some of  Diamond’s hits include “Sweet Caroline,” “Song Sung Blue” and “Solitary Man.”

The USA Today article adds, “Diamond said he plans ‘to remain active in writing, recording and other projects for a long time to come.’”

Here’s Diamond’s rousing, emotional singing of “Sweet Caroline” with the crowd in Fenway Park in April, 2013, a week after the Boston Marathon bombings (found on YouTube):