Neil Diamond Donates “Caroline” Sales after Bombings

Neil Diamond is donating this week's sales from "Sweet Caroline" to Boston's One Fund after the tune became a source of comfort following the Boston Marathon bombings.

The crowd-pleasing song is a staple of Boston Red Sox games. It makes no specific mention of Boston or the Red Sox, but the team started playing it regularly at Fenway Park more than a decade ago, and fans took to it.

Sales from Diamond's song are up by 597 percent, Nielsen SoundScan said on Wednesday. Diamond's representative said the singer will donate the recent sales to marathon bombing victims.

"Sweet Caroline" had sold 19,000 tracks this week as of Wednesday night. It sold 2,800 tracks the previous week and 1.75 million tracks to date.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Menino announced the creation of The One Fund Boston to raise money to help those families most affected by the tragic events that unfolded during last week's Boston Marathon.

The New York Yankees, Toronto Raptors and other professional sports teams also have played the song at games in the days after the deadly blasts April 15.

Diamond released "Sweet Caroline" in 1969. The song was inspired by Caroline Kennedy's name.

Over the weekend, he surprised the crowd at Fenway by appearing in person and singing along live during the game.

He is also writing a song about the Boston Marathon tragedy, according to Rolling Stone magazine.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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