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Music News: FBI releases Prince's file

Prince performs at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center on February 8, 2004, in Los Angeles.
Prince performs at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center on February 8, 2004, in Los Angeles.Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

by Jay Gabler

May 24, 2017

What's inside Prince’s FBI file? Now we know, at least in part, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request by the Star Tribune.

Yes, Prince had an FBI file — but the partial, redacted documents that have been released bear no evidence that Prince himself was under FBI investigation. Instead, it looks like the FBI was keeping tabs on threats to Prince's privacy and safety. In one case, for example, a woman was calling Prince "threatening to make his life miserable, and threatening bodily harm. Caller also threatens to commit suicide."

Only four pages from the file have been released; 13 more are being withheld because their release would constitute an "unwarranted invasion of personal privacy," according to the FBI.

Stars pay tribute to Dylan

As the Duluth Dylan Fest continued in the town where Bob Dylan was born, a higher-profile Dylan Fest kicked off at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium.

Among the artists paying tribute to Dylan on the eve of his 76th birthday were Duane Eddy, Elle King, and Wynonna. A second night of the tribute was scheduled for Wednesday. (Rolling Stone)

Upcoming hip-hop documentaries

A&E has announced that its Biography series will relaunch next month with episodes dedicated to the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. The two-part B.I.G. documentary "retraces the footsteps of Biggie's life, his untimely death, and showcases never-before-heard recordings from the Life After Death rapper," reports Billboard.

That airs June 28; the next day sees the launch of a six-part series that "will feature civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who speaks on the numerous theories that continue to surround 'Pac's death."

Meanwhile, a new trailer for the HBO documentary The Defiant Ones has Eminem praising the film's subjects: business partners Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. "Jimmy Iovine is the levitator," says Eminem, "Dre is the innovator." The film premieres July 9. (Billboard)

Note: The below trailer contains strong language.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HlKqILwbSg

Remembering Chris Cornell

Chris Cornell’s widow Vicky Cornell has shared a letter she penned to her late husband. "We had the time of our lives in the last decade and I'm sorry, my sweet love, that I did not see what happened to you that night," she writes regarding the Soundgarden frontman's suicide. "I'm sorry you were alone, and I know that was not you, my sweet Christopher. Your children know that too, so you can rest in peace." (Pitchfork)

Performing at Detroit's Fox Theatre, where Cornell played his final show, Norah Jones honored the singer with a cover of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun." (Pitchfork)