Story highlights
- Singer will donate royalties to help people affected by the bombings in Boston
- Song is a staple at Fenway Park, where fans sing along when it is played
- Diamond wrote the song about Caroline Kennedy, not anyone associated with the team
Neil Diamond will donate royalties from his song "Sweet Caroline," which has been played at every Boston Red Sox home game for more than a decade, to the One Fund Boston, the singer said on Twitter on Wednesday.
The song was downloaded more than 19,000 times this week, with sales up 597%, Nielsen SoundScan said.
Diamond told Rolling Stone earlier this week that he will write a song about the bombings and other tragedies.
"I'm writing now and obviously affected by this situation in Boston, so I'm writing about it just to express myself," he told the magazine.
Diamond was at Fenway Park on Saturday to lead the crowd in what has become a stadium tradition of singing the tune during the break in the eighth inning before the Sox come to bat.
Memorial: 'We are Boston strong' 02:47
"What an honor it is for me to be here today. I bring love from the whole country," he told the Sox faithful.
The singer recorded the song in 1969 as an homage to Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy. It has nothing to do with the Red Sox.
According to the Boston Globe, Amy Tobey, who chose the music played at games, is responsible for bringing the tune to Fenway. In 2002, new management requested the song become an eighth-inning staple.
The fund has raised more than $23 million as of Wednesday. The fund was formed to "help the people most affected by the tragic events that occurred in Boston on April 15, 2013," the website says.
