Bo Bice Returns With Hurricane Victims Tribute Tune  9/9/05

American Idol star Bo Bice is to return to the TV talent show's US tour after stomach surgery with a song inspired by the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina.

The long-haired rocker was forced to cancel appearances on the American Idols Live Tour after having emergency intestinal surgery last month (AUG05).

But now he's fighting fit and keen to pay his respects to the victims of the Gulf Coast hurricane.

He will return to the stage in Syracuse, New York, on Sunday (11SEP05), when he'll debut We Can't Change the World - a song he wrote after watching the horrors in Mississippi and Louisiana on TV.

Bice claims the lyrics to the hard-hitting song questions whether the American government's delayed response to the tragedy correlates with the fact the majority of the victims were black, comments echoed by rapper Kanye West during a telethon last week (02SEP05)

Bice tells MTV News, "The only way to curb discrimination and belligerent ignorance is to educate, and the way to educate is to go down there and identify.

"When you pick up an old black man out of a mud pile, then it's not just something on TV anymore."

Bice is also planning a trip to Louisiana later this month (SEP05) and is also launching a website to help raise funds for disaster relief.