Hootie & The Blowfish Honor USS Cole Sailors

10/24/2000 6:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(10/24/00, 6 p.m. ET) - Hootie & the Blowfish did their part to help heal wounds inflicted on the servicemen of the USS Cole with a concert Monday night (October 23) in Norfolk, Virginia, that was dedicated to the crew, some of whom were in attendance.

The band donated 150 tickets to the USO, which in turn presented them to the sailors, their families, and other USO and armed service personnel involved in caring for the crew of the stricken warship.

The servicemen recently returned to their home base of Norfolk after the USS Cole was damaged in what appears to have been a terrorist attack earlier this month in Yemen. Seventeen sailors were killed and 39 were injured.

Hootie & the Blowfish have frequently offered a hand to the USO, including playing a tour of U.S. military bases in Europe and the Middle East in December 1998.

The group is touring in support of its new album, Scattered, Smothered, And Covered, which arrived in stores on Tuesday (October 24). The album is a collection of covers of songs by R.E.M., Led Zeppelin, the Smiths, Roy Orbison, 54-40, and others.

Look for the band to make several television appearances in the coming weeks, including The Rosie O'Donnell Show (October 27), CNN's Weekend Today (October 28), and The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (November 9).

-- Neal Weiss, Los Angeles

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