Neil Diamond pairs with producer Rick Rubin

Def American founder, legendary producer Rick Rubin, has turned his talents to reinventing Neil Diamond.

Rubin, who has produced Red Hot Chili Peppers and AC/DC, has produced '12 Songs', the new album for Neil Diamond.

Rubin was responsible for putting Johnny Cash in the studio for his final four albums and teaming him with musicians such as Flea from the Chili Peppers and Tom Petty's Heartbreakers and introducing the country legend to songwriters like Nick Cave and Trent Reznor. The results are considered some of cash's best ever work.

Diamond's album features all original songs. "Most of the songs were recorded with Neil playing and singing at the same time," Rick Rubin told Rolling Stone, "and it's a different animal. It's taking him back to being more of a singer-songwriter. He really blows me away."

The track listing for 12 Songs is: "Oh Mary," "Hell Yeah," "Captain of a Shipwreck," "Evermore," "Save Me A Saturday Night," "Delirious Love," "I'm On To You," "What's It Gonna Be," "Man of God," "Create Me," "Face Me," and "We." A special digipak edition of 12 Songs will feature two bonus tracks: "Men Are So Easy" and an alternate version of "Delirious Love" with guest artist Brian Wilson.

Rick Rubin

The co-founder of the legendary Def Jam label, producer Rick Rubin was among the key figures behind the commercial and artistic rise of hip-hop, lending his signature rap/metal style to many of the biggest records of the pre-gangsta era. Born Frederick Jay Rubin on Long Island, NY, in 1963, he was attending New York University when he and Russell Simmons founded Def Jam in 1984. Operating the company out of Rubin's dorm room, they bowed with the T La Rock and Jazzy Jay single "It's Yours," issued in association with Partytime/Streetwise. By 1985 Def Jam entered into a distribution deal with Columbia, and the label also produced its own rap movie, Krush Groove; however, even from the outset, Rubin's interests extended well beyond hip-hop, and he raised more than a few eyebrows producing Hell Awaits for the thrash band Slayer later that same year.

Rap broke worldwide in 1986 as a result of two landmark LPs, the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill and Run-D.M.C.'s Raising Hell, both of which Rubin produced. A year later, he also helmed Yo! Bum Rush the Show, the debut record from arguably the most pivotal act in hip-hop history, the renowned Public Enemy. That same year, he also scored a major hit with Electric, by British rockers the Cult. Rubin and Simmons' partnership soon ended in acrimony, however, with the former exiting Def Jam to found his own label, dubbed Def American. The company's early signings indulged Rubin's tastes, ranging from longtime favorites Slayer to shock comic Andrew Dice Clay to the controversial gangsta rappers the Geto Boys; he never drifted far from his roots, however, and after serving as executive producer on Public Enemy's seminal It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, he helmed LL Cool J's Walking With a Panther, and even directed the Run-D.M.C. movie Tougher Than Leather.

Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond is a giant of the concert business. He was the No. 1 solo touring artist of the 1990s, grossing $182 million from 461 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore. Diamond`s last full outing, the 117-date Three Penny Opera world tour in 2001-2002, grossed $88.6 million and drew more than 1.5 million people.

Neil Diamond (born Neil Leslie Diamond on January 24, 1941) is an American singer/songwriter who had a number of hits in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and who maintains a very loyal following with popular live performances to this day.

Diamond was born and raised in Brooklyn, attending high school with Barbra Streisand (and singing with her in the school choir). He learned to play guitar after receiving one as a gift on his 16th birthday.