President Obama has invited Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, Natalie Cole, Blind Boys of Alabama, Smokey Robinson, and a few others to the White House on February 10th to commemorate and celebrate the Civil Rights movement. The event, to be emceed by Morgan Freeman and Queen Latifah, will also include appearances by the Obamas, of course, and readings from civil rights speeches. The program will be broadcast the next day for those of us who don’t have the golden ticket to be there in person. (Washington Post)

In other news of high-profile appearances, Devo has been lined up to join the crew of musicians set to play the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. (Spinner)

San Francisco-based digital distributor IODA is geared up to strengthen their catalog of classic music. (Hypebot)

Come Christmas 2010, there will be a range of Michael Jackson dolls available of which to give or receive. (Guardian)

Weird Al has signed a deal with Cartoon Network, and he gets to provide lots of funny content for them. First up, a “live-action feature film.” (Daily Swarm)

You can hear a lovely track from the highly anticipated, triple-disc (yes, TRIPLE DISC!) new album from Joanna Newsom here via Drag City. (Stereogum)

Justin Timberlake was named Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Man of the Year, which recognizes achievements in the arts. (Billboard)

Read more news after the jump.

Apples in Stereo are set to release their seventh studio album on April 20th. (CMJ)

Wilco jumps on board the donation bandwagon and offers downloads of their shows off their website, with proceeds to go to efforts in Haiti. (Spin)

Lauryn Hill, having shied away from the public eye for the past three years, just appeared in New Zealand at the Raggamuffin Festival. (Stereogum)

Did you know that the ABBA theme park opened in London today? (Paste)

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