It's not a joke—or, if it is a joke, it's a joke you'll soon be able to listen to in its entirety. Ryan Adams has announced that his entire song-for-song cover of Taylor Swift's album 1989 will be available digitally on Monday. For her part, Swift is ecstatic. "Ryan's music helped shape my songwriting," she tweeted. Hear Adams's cover of "Bad Blood" at the New York Times.

Legendary producer Quincy Jones was hospitalized on Thursday in Los Angeles, suffering from shortness of breath. A spokesperson says that Jones, 82, "is fine." (Billboard)

Arcade Fire have announced the release of two Reflektor outtakes as a two-sided single on Sept. 25. The release of "Get Right" and "Crucified Again" coincides with the release of the band's new film The Reflektor Tapes. (Pitchfork)

Music figures including Questlove, Russell Simmons, and Janelle Monaé have expressed support for Ahmed Mohamed, the Texas 14-year-old who was arrested for building a clock that was mistaken for a bomb. (Billboard)

Elton John has been pranked into thinking he had a phone conversation with Vladimir Putin regarding LGBT rights. A pair of Russian comedians played the prank, first posing as Putin's press secretary and then, apparently, as the president himself. After John thanked Putin on Instagram, the Kremlin denied that the conversation had taken place and the truth was revealed. "Pranks are funny," John said in a follow-up Instagram post. "Homophobia, however is never funny. I love Russia and my offer to talk to President Putin about LGBT rights still stands." (Billboard)

On Wednesday night, Madonna kicked off her Rebel Heart tour with a show at Madison Square Garden. She played reinvented versions of many of her hits and danced with her opener, comedian Amy Schumer. The tour comes to the Xcel Energy Center on Oct. 8. (Billboard)

Another '80s icon, Cyndi Lauper, has announced plans to release a country album. Lauper says that the album, which the Queens native plans to record in Nashville for release next year, will feature "all those songs I used to sing my guts out in my apartment to!" (Rolling Stone)