The Current

Great Music Lives Here ®
Listener-Supported Music
Donate Now
The Current Music News

Music News: Mike Huckabee pays Survivor $25,000 to settle ‘Eye of the Tiger’ suit

by Staff

June 28, 2016

Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has been ordered to pay $25,000 to Survivor to settle a lawsuit over his decision to play the band's signature hit "Eye of the Tiger" at a September rally in support of Kim Davis. The song's co-writer Frankie Sullivan said that the song "was being used to further a political agenda — and no one even bothered to ask for permission." The rally was thrown by Davis's supporters to celebrate her release from jail after being taken into custody for refusing, as a county clerk, to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. (Rolling Stone)

Today's Prince news

Attorneys representing the parties claiming relation to Prince have until July 8 to submit written statements to Judge Kevin Eide expressing their views on DNA testing protocols, as the process of determining who will inherit the star's enormously valuable estate continues. (Pioneer Press)

A motorcycle jacket and ruffled silk shirt worn by Prince in Purple Rain are going up for auction on eBay, starting Wednesday. Starting prices are $3,000 for the shirt and $6,000 for the jacket. (Billboard)

Sheila E. says that she's written a new song about Prince, in collaboration with some of the musicians she performed with on Sunday night's BET Awards. The song will appear on the drummer's next solo album, being released later this year. (Billboard)

St. Vincent, dressed as toilet, debuts new song

At a New York benefit concert for her drummer's son, who is recovering from a seizure, St. Vincent debuted a new song — while dressed as a toilet. Instagram user Christine Evangelista might have put it best: "Even wearing a friggen toilet, Annie Clark is mesmerizing." (Pitchfork)

Today's Radiohead news

Thom Yorke says he was surprised to find that anyone still cared about Radiohead when the release of A Moon Shaped Pool proved that they do indeed. "I cherish the band," Yorke told Q, "but I don't expect anyone else to." (Pitchfork)

Radiohead's Ed O'Brien has recounted having an eye-opening conversation about religion with Kanye West. "I said, 'If you asked pretty much any British musician whether they believed in God, I’d tell you that 99% of them would say, "Don’t be stupid, of course not."' It blew his mind. He was like, 'You cannot be serious.'" (Pitchfork)

Blood Orange drops juicy new album

Surprise! The new Blood Orange album has dropped a few days early. Freetown Sound is named for the Sierra Leone city where Dev Hynes' father was born; and features an incredible list of collaborators including Debbie HarryCarly Rae JepsenNelly FurtadoZuri Marley, and Ta-Nehisi Coates. (Billboard)

Chance joins Fresco on new track

Chance the Rapper guests on a new track from rapper Brian Fresco. The song, "Higher," will appear on Fresco's forthcoming mixtape Casanova. Hear the song at Pitchfork.

Sound quality matters

Could you tell the difference between high-quality and standard-quality streaming audio? In a new analysis of various studies, it appears that trained listeners can tell the difference about 60% of the time. Unsurprisingly, the longer you listen and the more practice you have, the better you tend to be at detecting differences in quality. (Billboard)

Dylan gets animated

A 1962 interview with Bob Dylan has been animated as part of a PBS series. In the interview, Dylan tells a story about supposedly having worked at a carnival for several years. (Rolling Stone)

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