Adele's new album 25 hits stores on Friday, in what may possibly become the biggest record launch in music history — as least in terms of immediate sales. The current record for sales in a single week is held by *NSYNC, who moved 2.4 million copies of No Strings Attached during the first week it was available, in 2000; projections are for 25 to just edge that out. (Billboard) Sales will likely be aided by the fact that the album won't be available on streaming services, and by the fact that Adele has been heavily promoting the album after spending the past few years out of the spotlight. She'll play an album release show on Friday at Joe's Pub — the New York City venue that hosted her very first U.S. show — and an hourlong live performance recorded at the BBC will be televised on stations around the world. She'll then be this weekend's musical guest on Saturday Night Live. Hel-lo!

A coalition of French nightclubs, closed since last Friday's attacks, have released a joint statement pledging to reopen imminently. "Nothing, nobody will prevent Paris from dancing." (Pitchfork)

Carly Simon has revealed that, when a child, she was the victim of sexual abuse. A teenage family friend, Simon told People, had sexual contact with her starting when she was seven years old. She writes about the abuse in her memoir Boys in the Trees, which will be published next week. (Rolling Stone)

Natalie LaFourcade was the big winner at Thursday night's Latin Grammys, winning Record of the Year and Song of the Year, for "Hasta la Raíz," as well as two other awards. (Billboard)

Willie Nelson says that the reason he postponed the starting date of a recent tour is that he underwent a stem-cell operation intended to improve the health of his lungs. "Over the years I've smoked a lot of cigarettes," says Nelson, "and I’ve had emphysema and pneumonia four or five times, so my lungs were really screwed up." (Rolling Stone)

A planned Freddie Mercury biopic is slowly getting back on track after its original star (Sacha Baron Cohen), director, and screenwriter exited the project. There's still no replacement actor or director, but screenwriter Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything) is working on a new script. When Sacha Baron Cohen left the project in 2013, Queen guitarist Brian May said that part of the reason was that producers weren't sure audiences would be able to suspend disbelief with such a recognizable star in the role of Mercury. (Rolling Stone)

Courtney Barnett's Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit has earned Triple J's J Award, one of the most significant honors that can be earned by an Australian album. With Tame Impala also on the shortlist, competition for the award this year was tight. (Billboard)

Coldplay's new album A Head Full of Dreams, being released Dec. 4, will have quite the roster of guest vocalists: Noel Gallagher, Tove Lo, Beyoncé, and her daughter Blue Ivy Carter. Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, is that Chris Martin's "consciously uncoupled" ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow will also sing on the album. (Rolling Stone)

The Survivor - Mike Huckabee beef is heating up: the '80s arena rockers' guitarist Frankie Sullivan, who co-wrote "Eye of the Tiger," is now suing the presidential candidate for using the song without permission during a rally involving Kim Davis — the Kentucky county clerk who refused to issue licenses for same-sex marriages. Sullivan is seeking unspecified damages, and he's insisting that the Huckabee campaign not use Survivor's song again. (Billboard)

Electric Light Orchestra are officially back in action: Jeff Lynne and company appeared on The Tonight Show to perform their new song "When I Was a Boy" and also played "Mr. Blue Sky" for a Web-exclusive video. Watch it at Rolling Stone.

Even Larry King can play the harp — at least, when his teacher is Joanna Newsom. (Pitchfork)