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Music News: 'Purple Rain' umbrellas from Minnesota Twins' Prince night going for $150 on eBay

Minnesota Twins' 'Purple Rain' umbrella
Minnesota Twins' 'Purple Rain' umbrellaMinnesota Twins

by Jay Gabler

June 26, 2017

On Friday, June 16, the Minnesota Twins hosted Prince night at Target Field, with the first 10,000 fans getting Purple Rain umbrellas. As expected, the umbrellas have become hot items on the resale market: dozens are available on eBay, where most are going for about $150. Currently, prices range from $83.02 to $25,000 ("or best offer"). (City Pages)

Lauren Mayberry joins Paramore on stage

Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES joined Paramore on stage at a show in Edinburgh, Scotland — home turf for CHVRCHES. The two sang Paramore's "Misery Business," along with a fan pulled from the crowd. "The whole thing made for a real feelgood moment," reports Billboard)

Today's chart news

Until Rihanna hit number four this week with her DJ Khaled collaboration "Wild Thoughts," there hadn't been a female-fronted song in the Top Five of Billboard's Hot 100 for 12 weeks. That's the longest drought for women in the Top Five since 1972, when the Top Five had only male-fronted songs for a full 14 weeks after Roberta Flack’s "Where Is the Love" dropped out of the Top Five. The song that brought women back into the Top Five that time: Helen Reddy’s iconic single "I Am Woman." (Billboard)

Meanwhile, across the pond, the Official Charts Company — which tracks music chart performance in the U.K. — is making some changes to their methodology that they say are intended to "support new music." In practice, what that means is that they're intended to reduce the likelihood of situations like the one that happened earlier this year, when 16 songs in the U.K. Top 20 were songs by Ed Sheeran.

As of June 30, any one artist will only be able to have three songs on the singles chart at any given time. "This is not a chart for album tracks; we want to remain the Official Singles Chart, for singles," says Official Charts Company chief executive Martin Talbot. (NME)

David Rawlings announces new album

David Rawlings, the singer-songwriter well-known both for his solo work and his collaborations with Gillian Welch, has announced his third studio album. Poor David's Almanack is out Aug. 11, followed by a short national tour that includes a stop at the Pantages Theatre in Minneapolis on Aug. 23.

150,000 people sing "Best of You"

If you're a Foo Fighters fan, you'll love this video from their performance at Glastonbury on Saturday, as the crowd of 150,000 sings along with the band's 2005 song "Best of You." (Consequence of Sound)