Dylan’s music rises by 500 percent following Nobel win
NEW YORK » Following Bob Dylan’s win for the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature, the singer-songwriter’s music has increased by more than 500 percent on Spotify.
A day after Dylan’s win, the digital music platform said Friday that streams for his songs jumped by 512 percent globally. His most-listened song after earning the prize was “Like a Rolling Stone,” which was increased by 258 percent.
Dylan is the first musician to earn the Nobel Prize in literature. The 75-year-old is arguably the most iconic poet-musician of his generation.
He’s the first American winner of the Nobel literature prize since Toni Morrison in 1993.
Russian city inaugurates statue to Ivan the Terrible
OREL, RUSSIA » Despite protests and court battles, the Russian city of Orel has unveiled the country’s first monument to Ivan the Terrible, the bloody 16th-century czar who massacred his subjects by the thousands and even reportedly killed his own son.
At a ceremony Friday, officials inaugurated the statue of Ivan on horseback, wielding both a sword and a cross, in the city (pronounced ahr-YOL) 350 kilometers (225 miles) south of Moscow. The region’s governor likened the brutal czar — favorably — to current Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We have a great, powerful president who has forced the whole world to respect and defer to Russia — just like Ivan the Terrible did in his time,” Vadim Potomsky said at the ceremony.