By Tim Saunders on
Neil Diamond has donated the profits from merchandising sales on his recent tour to the victims of Hurricane Ike.
The singer – who is to be honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in February – initially agreed to donate his merchandising sales from his shows last October to victims of the disaster, but has now turned over proceeds from every show he has played since then.
“Hurricane Ike hit southern Texas so fiercely and has been forgotten about by the rest of the country – but these people are still in desperate straits, and are in dire need of our help,” he told CNN. “I saw what was going on. The mayor of Houston took me around, and he told me about it and introduced me to some people. The next day, I drove down to some of the hardest-hit areas, and I just felt that I had to do something, and I felt that maybe my audience would help me out with it.”
The singer will be joined by performers such as Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, the Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer, and Josh Groban at a charity show on February 6 at the Los Angeles’ Convention Centre to benefit MusiCares, an organization that provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need by supplying services and resources that cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies. The evening will also feature a fantastic silent auction.
Tickets for the event are available here.
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