July 15 [14:00 EDT] -- Hootie & The Blowfish know what they're going to be doing this time next year.

The band has been signed to play the 1998 Summer of Goodwill kickoff concert at New York's Rockefeller Center Thursday, July 17, 1998. The Summer of Goodwill is a series of festivities culminating with the Goodwill Games July 19 to August 2 in New York City.

Organizers expect over 1,300 competitors from more than 70 nations to participate in 12 different sports including athletics, gymnastics, figure skating and basketball.

In addition to Hootie & The Blowfish, the kickoff event is so far scheduled to include talk show host Larry King as the MC, and appearances by Quincy Jones, The Boys Choir of Harlem and various cartoon characters, among other entertainers.