Neil Diamond has gifted a signed acoustic guitar to Marvel star Hugh Jackman, who (sort of) plays the legendary songwriter in his new movie.
Song Sung Blue hit cinemas on Christmas Day and has been getting rave reviews. With plenty of Oscar buzz around it, the film tells the story of Diamond impersonator Mike Sardina, who is played by Jackman.
Given the Diamond connection, the legendary singer saw it fit to give Jackman, who plays Wolverine in the X-Men franchise, an appropriate music-themed gift.
The gift has come as a total surprise to the Aussie actor, who also won a Grammy for his starring role in The Greatest Showman. A video, posted to his Instagram, sees him opening a slightly tattered guitar case – signalling that it's had a busy past life – and letting out an audible gasp as he lays his eyes on the instrument.
“Oh my... that’s from Neil Diamond?” he says to the person holding the camera. He then proceeds to embrace the guitar, his heart practically bursting.
The video is accompanied by a photo of Neil with the Taylor guitar, showing the inscription on its body, which reads: “Hugh! Keep Rockin! Your friend Neil Diamond.”
The caption of the post, meanwhile, puts Jackman’s reaction into words: “One of the most awesome gifts I’ve ever received,” it reads, “I will cherish forever.”
According to Variety, Song Sung Blue grossed $12 million on its opening weekend, and has now comfortably turned a profit on its $30m production costs. And plenty more music biopics are set to follow in its wake as Hollywood continues to cash in on their popularity.
A B.B. King film has been announced, Lizzo is set to play Rosetta Thorpe in another feature film, and Paul Mescal, who is set to play Paul McCartney in a film about the Beatles, recently revealed he had to learn to play guitar left-handed and even jammed with Macca to be set ready.
