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Music News: Prince tribute art planned for Glastonbury, Chanhassen

by Staff

June 16, 2016

Art in tribute to Prince is planned for Glastonbury — and, reportedly, Chanhassen.

The Glastonbury grounds next week will feature a 13-foot sculpture of "a giant glittery hand carrying a purple crown with a white dove flying from the top"; Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip) will also play a DJ set in honor of Prince. Sculptural tributes to David Bowie and Lemmy Kilmister are also planned. (NME)

Meanwhile, the Star Tribune's CJ reports that Chanhassen is "workin' on something" — with "something" being public art dedicated to longtime Chanhassenite Prince. City manager Todd Gerhardt divulged these facts: (a) it's not a statue; (b) it will be by an out-of-town artist who's donating his time; (c) it's privately funded, located on private property; and (d) it's planned for a site Prince "used to frequent." Stay tuned.

Streaming-only releases eligible for Grammys

Responding to widespread demand, the Recording Academy has announced that streaming-only releases will — for the first time ever — become eligible for Grammy consideration. The most significant release to be potentially affected by the new rule is Coloring Book, an acclaimed streaming-only release by Chance the Rapper. (New York Times)

Meat Loaf collapses on stage

Meat Loaf is "stable and in good condition" after collapsing on stage last night in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The rocker, 68, cancelled shows earlier this week, citing an unspecified illness. (Consequence of Sound)

Rainn Wilson gets the Weezer Experience

In a new satirical video from Funny or Die, actor Rainn Wilson gets "the Weezer Experience," a bundle offered to fans who donated $25,000 to the band's crowdfunding campaign for their new album. The promised bus trip to the Galapagos doesn't go quite the way Wilson expected. Watch the video at Pitchfork.

Peter Gabriel pays tribute to Muhammad Ali

Peter Gabriel has released a new song inspired by Muhammad Ali. Gabriel says he wrote "I'm Amazing" a few years ago, and decided to release it in the wake of Ali's death. (Rolling Stone)

Patti Smith releases Nico tribute

Patti Smith has shared "Killer Road," a tribute to Nico (the German singer known for her collaboration with the Velvet Underground). The track was recorded with the trio Soundwalk Collective and Smith's daughter Jesse Paris Smith; it will appear on Soundwalk Collective's album of the same title, due out Sept. 2. Hear the track at Rolling Stone.

Jimmy Page testifies at "Stairway" trial

On Thursday, Jimmy Page testified in the trial over whether Led Zeppelin plagiarized "Stairway to Heaven." Attorney Francis Malofiy, representing the plaintiff, was told to stop questioning Page about the similarities between the recordings of "Stairway" and the Spirit song "Taurus." (At issue are not the recordings, but rather the song compositions.) Page then talked about the circumstances under which he wrote "Stairway," refuting as a "glitch" an old interview in which he said he wrote the song in a Welsh mountain cabin. (Billboard)

Grimes cuts set short after "really disturbing" experience

Grimes cut her set short on Wednesday night while opening for Florence and the Machine in Brooklyn. "We just had a really disturbing thing happen to us today," she said, "so sorry if my voice is shaking." After the show, a spokesperson said Grimes had no further comment on the incident. (Pitchfork)

Swifties to Kim K.: Release the tape

Did Taylor Swift know that Kanye West was going to give her a leering shout-out on his album The Life of Pablo — and did she approve? Yes, says Kanye's wife Kim Kardashian — who adds that she has video of a phone call discussing the lyric, but that Swift's representatives have asked Kanye's team not to release it. For her part, Swift's rep says she never heard the song prior to its release, didn't know that an obscene word would be used to reference her in the song, and that "Taylor cannot understand why Kanye West, and now Kim Kardashian, will not just leave her alone." (Billboard)

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