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Music News: Michael J. Fox joins Coldplay for ‘Back to the Future’ songs

by Staff

July 18, 2016

This past weekend in New Jersey, Michael J. Fox joined Coldplay onstage for two songs performed by Fox's character Marty McFly in Back to the FutureChuck Berry’s "Johnny B. Goode" and the Penguins’ "Earth Angel." In a video shown before the songs, Chris Martin’s son asked his dad to play a song from their shared favorite movie. (Pitchfork)

Tour Jeff Buckley's record collection

A new website allows fans to take a virtual tour of the record collection of the late Jeff Buckley. Users can scroll through a collection of records representing actual vinyl and CDs owned by Buckley, and listen to the music via Spotify. (Billboard)

Springsteen honors Vega

Bruce Springsteen, a longtime fan of Suicide, honored the band's late singer Alan Vega in a post on Facebook. "The blunt force power of his greatest music both with Suicide and on his solo records can still shock and inspire today," wrote the Boss. "There was simply no one else remotely like him." (Billboard)

Sting honors Prince

Sting says that a song on his forthcoming album was partially inspired by the death of Prince. "50,000," which Rolling Stone describes as a "gloomy ballad," was written the week Prince died and reflects on mortality. "It's really a comment," says Sting, "on how shocked we all are when one of our cultural icons dies: Prince, David [Bowie], Glenn Frey, Lemmy."

GOP peeves Turtles

The Republican National Convention has barely begun, and already a musician is ticked off. Howard Kaylan of the Turtles says it's time for him to "call the lawyers" after the convention featured a prominent playing of the band's classic "Happy Together" — without the band's permission. (Billboard)

Today's Taylor Swift news

Did Kanye West and Kim Kardashian break the law when they recorded West's phone call with Taylor Swift without Swift's permission? Maybe — depending on what state both parties were in when the call was made. If they were both in California, a case by Swift against West could have legal merit, says Billboard.

Calvin Harris’s "This Is What You Came For" cowriter Nils Sjöberg has been bumped from the credits for the song. His name has now been replaced by that of his real-life alter ego: Taylor Swift. (Billboard)

McCartney joined by Dead head, tight end

At Boston's Fenway Park on Sunday night, Paul McCartney was joined onstage by special guests Bob Weir (the Grateful Dead) and Bob Gronkowski (the New England Patriots). McCartney and Weir played Wings' "Hi, Hi, Hi" and the Beatles' "Helter Skelter." On the latter, Gronkowski played air guitar. (Billboard)

Good news for Rikki Rockett

Drummer Rikki Rockett of Poison is cancer-free after receiving immunotherapy for oral cancer, the musician shared via Instagram. (Billboard)

Francis lobbies Jimmy

Francis and the Lights are telling fans Jimmy Fallon needs "a little encouragement" to book Francis on The Tonight Show with Bon Iver. (Pitchfork)

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