Two Prince fans have paid $700,000 to purchase the Chanhassen site where Prince lived in a purple house in the first half of the 1980s. Tonia and John Roemer say the main reason for their purchase was the pleasant setting on Lake Riley, but they're also big Prince fans, so the location is particularly meaningful to them.

The Roemers plan to build a new house on the site; though Prince owned the property until his death, he razed the house in the early 2000s. The only structure remaining from Prince's tenure is a gate with heart and peace-like insignia; the Roemers say they plan to preserve the gate. (Finance & Commerce)

In addition to living at the site, Prince also recorded music in a home studio there; among the albums that were in part recorded on the Lake Riley property were Controversy, 1999, and Sign O’ the Times, as well as music released by the Time, Vanity 6, and Apollonia 6. See our earlier post for more background on the site.

In other, stranger, Prince news, Sinéad O'Connor has apologized to Arsenio Hall for saying the comedian supplied Prince with drugs. Hall filed a $5 million defamation lawsuit in response to O'Connor's statements; he reportedly now plans to dismiss the suit. (Billboard)

Today's political news

According to White House press secretary Sean Spicer, president Donald Trump would probably be willing to meet with singer Jackie Evancho and her sister Juliet Evancho to talk about transgender rights. Jackie Evancho sang the National Anthem at Trump's inauguration; she tweeted about wanting to meet with the President after he removed former president Barack Obama’s protections for transgender school students. Juliet Evancho is transgender, and the Evancho family sued their Pittsburgh-area school district over Juliet's right to use women's bathrooms. (New York Times)

Laura Jane Grace, the Against Me! frontwoman who's perhaps the most visible transgender rocker, told Rolling Stone that "there's something that's somehow more evil about an administration actively going out and trying to take away rights as opposed to the previous administrations before the Obama administration that just didn't do anything. There's just something that much more f---ed up about going out of your way to be like, 'We're taking that protection away from you.'"

Meanwhile, Depeche Mode have firmly distanced themselves from the remark of white supremacist Richard Spencer that the British electro-rockers are "the official band of the alt-right." A band representative said, "That is a ridiculous statement. Depeche Mode has no ties to Richard Spencer or the alt-right and does not support the alt-right movement." Spencer later said he was joking. (Pitchfork)

Bey cancels on Coachella

Beyoncé has cancelled her headlining slot at Coachella on doctors' orders: the star is pregnant with twins. Or, you could call it a postponement — she's now slotted to be a Coachella headliner in 2018. Festival organizers were apparently taken by surprise when Beyoncé announced the pregnancy three weeks ago. (New York Times)

Twin Peaks heading to SXSW

Showtime has announced that it will host "a two-day immersive experience" at SXSW, promoting its upcoming Twin Peaks revival. The experience will include a Double R Diner pop-up shop, a special appearance by actor Kyle McLachlan, and musical performances by acts including Neko Case, M. Ward, Real Estate, and Cameron Avery (Tame Impala). (Pitchfork)