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Music News: Study reveals most-banned wedding songs

Dancing the Macarena at a Seattle wedding in 2012
Dancing the Macarena at a Seattle wedding in 2012Madlove Photography/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

by Jay Gabler

July 23, 2017

It's routine for wedding DJs to ask couples to provide lists of must-play songs — and do-not-play songs. The site FiveThirtyEight collected data from about 200 weddings to compile a list of the most-banned wedding songs.

What songs do couples most want to avoid? Basically, all the songs that correspond to specific dances. All of the top eight most-banned songs are group dance numbers — starting with the Chicken Dance, the Cha-Cha Slide, and the Macarena. Other hits couples like to avoid: Pharrell’s "Happy," the B-52s’ "Love Shack," and Robin Thicke’s "Blurred Lines."

Dozens hospitalized at Chance the Rapper concert

Over 90 attendees at a Chance the Rapper concert on Friday in Hartford, Conn. were hospitalized, most for severe intoxication. "A 'typical' concert is around 20-30 transports. 60 would be very bad. We had 70 once and 90 last night," the city's deputy police chief said. 50 attendees were cited for underage drinking. (New York Times)

Eddie Vedder to honor David Letterman

In October, David Letterman will receive the annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. An Oct. 22 ceremony at Kennedy Center, to be recorded for Nov. 20 broadcast on PBS, will feature Eddie Vedder, whose band Pearl Jam were recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Letterman doing the honors. Also set to honor Letterman at the ceremony: Bill Murray, Steve Martin, and Jimmy Kimmel. (Rolling Stone)

Beyoncé re-waxed

The Madame Tussauds wax museum in Manhattan has "adjusted" its likeness of Beyoncé after criticism that its statue lightened the African-American pop star's skin.

"We love, respect and enjoy a working relationship with Beyoncé. We have adjusted the styling and lighting of her figure," said the museum in a statement. The museum added, though, that "lighting within the attraction combined with flash photography may distort and misrepresent the colour of our wax figures, which is something our sculptors are unable to account for at the production stage." (New York Times)

Former Owl City band member pleads guilty to lewdness

Minneapolis multi-instrumentalist Daniel Jorgensen, formerly a band member of Owl City, has pleaded guilty to exposing himself to a young teenage girl after a 2013 Owl City concert in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Jorgensen was initially charged with "attempting to lure the child and engaging in criminal sexual contact with the girl on the Atlantic City beach," notes Stereogum. Jorgensen was fired from the band after the incident first came to light in 2013.

Ice Cube leads seventh-inning stretch

During the seventh-inning stretch of a game between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday at Wrigley Field, noted Cubs fan Ice Cube led the hometown crowd in a distinctly hard-hitting rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Cube's enthusiasm may have helped, as the Cubs edged the Cards 3-2.

Last year during the World Series, Eddie Vedder did the seventh-inning honors. Other Cubs fans the team could try to tap: Chance the Rapper, John Darnielle (Mountain Goats), and Billy Corgan. (Pitchfork)