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Music News: Bob Dylan books Sweden concerts

Bob Dylan gestures as he performs on stage during the 21st edition of the Vieilles Charrues music festival on July 22, 2012 in Carhaix-Plouguer, western France
Bob Dylan gestures as he performs on stage during the 21st edition of the Vieilles Charrues music festival on July 22, 2012 in Carhaix-Plouguer, western FranceFred Tanneau | AFP/Getty Images

by Jay Gabler

December 12, 2016

When laureate Bob Dylan was absent for Saturday's Nobel Prize ceremony, the Swedish Academy said it was likely Dylan would be booking a visit to Sweden to play music and, perhaps, deliver his promised Nobel lecture. Sure enough, Dylan has now booked three shows in Sweden: two in Stockholm on April 1-2, and one in Lund on April 9. He'll need to deliver a lecture if he wants to claim the $870,000 cash prize that goes with his Nobel. (Rolling Stone

Iggy Pop nominated for Golden Globe

The 2017 Golden Globe nominations have been announced. This year's nominees for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture are "Gold" (Iggy Pop and cowriters, from Gold), "Can't Stop the Feeling" (Justin Timberlake and cowriters, from Trolls), "City of Stars" (Justin Hurwitz and cowriters, from La La Land), "Faith" (Stevie Wonder and cowriters, from Sing), and "How Far I'll Go" (Lin-Manuel Miranda, from Moana).

Also of interest: Pharell popped up as one of the nominees in the Best Original Score category, for his contribution to the Hidden Figures score. The Golden Globes will be presented on Jan. 8. (Billboard)

The Revolution remember Prince

In an interview with Billboard, the Revolution share their memories of Prince. For example, Bobby Z says Prince dreamed of a "Fleetwood Mac style band," and his dream came true when Wendy Coleman joined the group.

Today's streaming news

Neil Young says he's working on expanding Pono into a streaming music service. Currently, the service produces a PonoPlayer device and sells high-quality downloads. The challenge, of course: to expand onto phones and other non-Pono devices without losing audio quality. (Pitchfork)

A dozen albums from the Stax catalog of Isaac Hayes have just been released on iTunes in remastered versions taken directly from the original analog tapes. Next year, Hayes's catalog will hit shelves on 180-gram vinyl, and a retrospective box set is also planned. (Rolling Stone

Chance hops in the tub

Chance the Rapper has shared an Apple Music playlist of his favorite music to play when he's soaking in the tub. His own "Summer Friends" (with Francis and the Lights) is on there, as is Bon Iver’s "00000 Million" and Frank Ocean—s "Self Control" — which Chance sang in the tub to demonstrate just how good it sounds there.

UN recognizes Brian May's asteroid holiday

Astrophysicist and Queen guitarist Brian May is a co-founder of Asteroid Day, which Pitchfork describes as "an effort to raise awareness for how the planet should ready itself for the potential dangers of asteroid impact." The holiday has now been officially recognized by the United Nations, which will celebrate the holiday globally on June 30 — as long as we're not hit by an asteroid first.