HOT: Award Shunning
Rock legend Bob Dylan was announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, but the Prize committee has said it has been unable to reach the noted curmudgeon about accepting the award. The award won’t be rescinded should Dylan remain silent, but the $900,000 prize money could be (under the rules, he must give a “lecture” or concert related to “literature” within the next six months to get the money). Meanwhile, inventive R&B star Frank Ocean — whose album Blonde (a.k.a. Blond) seemed a lock for an Album of the Year Grammy nomination — is ineligible for any Grammy nominations this year because his work was not submitted for consideration, reportedly on purpose and not just as an oversight, though he has yet to say why.
WARM: "Nasty” Trump Bump
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has been good for comedians and cable news ratings, and the music world has also benefited from the Trump bump. Spin recently rounded up all of the good, musically speaking, that has come from Trump’s campaign, including new songs from Le Tigre, YG and Randy Newman. Janet Jackson is also reaping some benefits — her song “Nasty” saw a 250% streaming increase on Spotify after Trump couldn’t resist calling Hillary Clinton a “nasty woman” during the final presidential debate.
COLD: Jagged Little Phil
In-the-flesh manifestation of Charlie Brown, Phil Collins, must have felt that simply coming out of retirement to play concerts wasn’t enough of a punishment for music fans this year. He also has a new memoir to sell, and he’s doing his best to shill a few extra copies by making headlines for saying stupid things. Collins whined to a U.K. newspaper about being “mistreated” by Paul McCartney; after asking for an autograph, according to Collins, McCartney had the nerve to say, “Our little Phil’s a bit of a Beatles fan.” Which, if said in your head with an affable McCartney accent, is kinda cute, right? Collins says his immediate response, in his head, was “You fuck, you fuck,” and he still hates the former Beatle for it.
