Watch Jesse Labelle Perform ‘Solitary Man’ Ahead of A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical National Tour

Singer-songwriter Jesse Labelle is hitting the road as the titular hitmaker in A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical. Labelle leads the show’s national tour, which kicks off in November. Broadway.com got a sneak peek at rehearsals, where Labelle opened up about what Diamond’s life and legacy mean to him.

“There is so much that I unknowingly shared with Neil in his story, from growing up in a Jewish family to dreaming of being a songwriter, to moving to both New York and Nashville to chase the songwriting dream and then eventually that turning into a career as a performer,” shares Labelle. “I've just found so much continuity between our stories. It's incredible to get to portray such an icon.”

Labelle is looking forward to introducing audiences to the man behind the music. “One of the beautiful things about this show is that you learn so much about Neil and his backstory and his struggles and his battles internally. Everyone sees Neil as the performer, but in this show they get to see Neil as the human,” he says. “That’s really what this show unveils. I can't wait to bring that to the stage.”

"I think it's one of the most incredible songbooks that any songwriter has,” Labelle says of Diamond’s musical catalog. "There are very few people who have done what Neil has done. There may be songs in this musical the crowd doesn't even know that Neil had a hand in writing. I can't wait to see the energy that the crowd responds with. I've never played ‘Sweet Caroline’ in front of this many Neil fans, so I'm looking forward to it.”

The rehearsal process has made A Beautiful Noise “a richer version of a tour than I'm used to,” says the country singer. "I'm so excited for it, because getting to perform with this cast has been one of the great joys of this year of my life. I have had so much fun in these rehearsals. The energy's going to be so much greater when we get into the theaters.”

In the lead up to the tour, Labelle filmed a video performing Diamond’s “Solitary Man,” shared exclusively with Broadway.com. He says the melancholic ballad is a personal favorite of his. “It just jumped out at me when I started studying his songbook. From the first time that I heard it, I felt a darkness in that song that really does reflect a lot of what is going on inside of Neil. This is Neil's way of telling his own story,” Labelle says.

See Labelle perform "Solitary Man" in the exclusive video below: