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Today’s Music News: Bono officially apologizes to 500 million iTunes users

by Staff

October 16, 2014

After weeks of criticism over U2's decision to drop their new album into the music libraries of 500 million unsuspecting iTunes users, Bono has finally made it official: he's sorry. "I’m sorry about that," he said in a video posted to the band's Facebook page. "I had this beautiful idea but we got carried away with ourselves. Artists are prone to that kind of thing. A drop of megalomania. A touch of generosity. A dash of self-promotion. And deep fear that these songs that we poured our life into over the last few years mightn’t be heard. There’s a lot of noise out there. I guess we got a little noisy ourselves to get through it." (New York Times)

"Turn Down for What," the pro-party anthem that turned into a summer hit for Lil Jon and DJ Snake, is turning into this fall's most popular public-service announcement soundtrack. First Lil Jon himself recut the song with a pro-voting message ("Turn Out For What?"), and now First Lady Michelle Obama is using it to promote veggies: "Turnip," she asked on Vine, "for what?" (Billboard)

Wilco have announced a "Wilco Winterlude" residency in their home town of Chicago: six shows beginning Dec. 5, with a different set list every night. The residency will closely follow the release of two archival box sets—one featuring the band's greatest hits, the other featuring rarities—on Thanksgiving Day. (Chicago Sun-Times)

On Nov. 17, Joni Mitchell will release a four-disc box set titled (take a deep breath) Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, a Ballet, Waiting to be Danced. The set, which the artist calls "a four-act ballet," draws on songs about love and heartbreak spanning Mitchell's entire career. (Rolling Stone) Also, the Pixies announced plans to reissue their second album, Doolittle, in a deluxe three-disc 25th anniversary edition with unreleased tracks, live recordings, rarities, and a complete demo version of the album. The reissue is due on Dec. 1. (Consequence of Sound)

On Jan. 1, every episode of Friends will arrive streaming on Netflix. A promo for the release—filmed at a New York pop-up coffee shop made to resemble the show's fictional Central Perk—prominently features Minneapolis rockers the Rembrandts, who wrote and performed the show's theme song "I'll Be There For You."

On Tuesday night, Neil Young appeared on The Colbert Report, where he performed a duet with Colbert as "Neil Young and Crazy Host" and made some typically candid topical statements, including his belief that President Obama should be impeached for allowing the widespread practice of fracking. (Rolling Stone)

Snoop Dogg apparently wants to cool his escalating social-media feud with Iggy Azalea. "No more bad talk," he pledged in an apology via Instagram video. (Billboard)

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This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.