Frank Sinatra of the hotel and were blocked by the security guard, Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. forced the hotel management to begin hiring black waiters and busboys. On January 27, 1961, Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall for Martin Luther King, Jr. and led his fellow Rat Pack members and Reprise label mates in boycotting hotels and casinos that refused entry to black patrons and performers. According to his son, Frank Sinatra Jr., King sat weeping in the audience at one of his father's concerts in 1963 as Sinatra sang "Ol' Man River", a song from the musical "Show
Effects of Hurricane Ike in Texas which had hosted performers ranging from Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and George Burns to Groucho Marx and Sammy Davis, Jr., had recently been renovated and returned to profitability after years of neglect and disrepair, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. None of the many wooden piers that gave Galveston much of its unique character survived the landfall of Hurricane Ike. In addition to the Balinese Room, Murdoch's, Hooters and the 61st Street Pier were all completely destroyed. Murdoch's Pier was rebuilt and reopened in October 2009, while Hooters Galveston (housed in the former Ocean Grill building)