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Bob Dylan

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Bob Dylan

Aliases: Robert Allen Zimmerman / Robert Dylan / Shabtai Zisel ben Avraham / Jack Frost / Sergei Petrov / Zimmy / Lucky Wilbury / Blind Boy Grunt
Pen Names: Jack Frost（Alias used on production/recording credits）, Sergei Petrov（Pseudonym used for film/fiction-related credits (e.g. Masked & Anonymous)）, Lucky Wilbury（Used as a member name in the Traveling Wilburys supergroup）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1941-05-24 （Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Jewish (by birth) / Evangelical Christianity (converted) Baptized in 1978
Residence History
Duluth, Minnesota → Hibbing, Minnesota → New York City (Manhattan), New York → Woodstock, New York → Malibu, California → Tulsa, Oklahoma

Career

Occupations
Singer-songwriter, Musician, Painter, Author, Actor
Active Years
1957-
Affiliations
Columbia Records, Asylum Records, Traveling Wilburys (supergroup)
Memberships
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (inductee), Songwriters Hall of Fame (inductee), Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (inductee)
Influenced By
Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, Robert Johnson, Allen Ginsberg, Buddy Holly
Influenced
The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Patti Smith

Education

Hibbing High School
Period: 1955–1959
Year of Graduation: 1959
Country: United States
Formed bands in high school and played rock/R&B
University of Minnesota
Period: 1959–1960
Country: United States
Dropped out after first year and moved to New York to pursue music
Vineyard School of Discipleship (short course)
Period: 1979（短期）
Year of Graduation: 1979
Country: United States
Attended Bible study / discipleship classes (related to conversion)

Awards

Nobel Prize in Literature
2016
Organization: Swedish Academy
Result: 受賞
Academy Award for Best Original Song
2001
Work: Things Have Changed
Organization: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Result: 受賞
Pulitzer Prize (Special Citation)
2008
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: 受賞
Presidential Medal of Freedom
2012
Organization: Office of the President of the United States
Result: 受賞
Kennedy Center Honors
1997
Organization: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Result: 受賞
Grammy Award for Album of the Year
1998
Work: Time Out of Mind
Organization: The Recording Academy
Result: 受賞
Polar Music Prize
2000
Organization: Polar Music Prize
Result: 受賞
Légion d'Honneur
2013
Organization: Government of France
Result: 受賞
MusiCares Person of the Year
2015
Organization: National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

1963 Folk

A breakthrough early album blending protest, social commentary and love songs; includes 'Blowin' in the Wind'.

Civil rightsAnti-warLovePersonal confession
Adaptations
  • [Cover version] Blowin' in the Wind (hit cover by Peter, Paul and Mary) (1963)

Highway 61 Revisited

1965 Rock / Folk rock

An electrified phase album that expanded pop/rock boundaries; includes 'Like a Rolling Stone'.

RebellionAllegories of American societyCultural allusions
Adaptations
  • [Promotional film / early music film] Subterranean Homesick Blues (film sequence) / D. A. Pennebaker (1965)

Blonde on Blonde

1966 Rock

A double LP known for poetic, surreal long-form songs and diverse sonic textures.

SurrealismPortraits of charactersUrban alienation

Blood on the Tracks

1975 Folk / Rock

A personal record about relationship breakdown and renewal; widely seen as a masterpiece.

Love and lossTimeSin and redemption

Time Out of Mind

1997 Rock / Alternative

A late-career comeback dealing with aging, mortality and solitude; won the Grammy for Album of the Year.

Death and agingLonelinessIntrospection

Chronicles: Volume One

2004 Memoir 304 pages

Dylan's memoir focusing on episodes of his early career, notably his 1961–62 time in New York.

ReminiscenceBackground of songwritingTestimony to music history

Rough and Rowdy Ways

2020 Folk / Rock

A 2020 album of original songs notable for historical references and long, narrative tracks; critically acclaimed.

History and memoryExamination of American culturePoetic quotation

Bibliography

  • Bob Dylan (album, 1962)
  • The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)
  • The Times They Are a-Changin' (1964)
  • Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
  • Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
  • Blonde on Blonde (1966)
  • Blood on the Tracks (1975)
  • Time Out of Mind (1997)
  • Chronicles: Volume One (2004)
  • Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020)

Adaptations

  • Stage musical 'Girl from the North Country' — a musical using Dylan's songs (premiered 2017)
  • Documentary 'Dont Look Back' (D. A. Pennebaker, 1967)
  • Documentary 'Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese' (2019)
  • Film 'A Complete Unknown' (biopic depicting Dylan's early years, 2024)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Imagist, chain-of-images lyricismAllegorical and symbolic expressionColloquial, conversational narration
Recurring Motifs
TravelAmerican landscape and historyReligious / biblical imagerySocial and political commentary

Health

  • 1966 motorcycle crash (neck vertebrae injuries)
    1966–1967
    Stopped extensive touring for several years and retreated to focus on recording
  • Pericarditis (1997)
    1997
    Hospitalized and forced to cancel a European tour; recovered relatively quickly

Legacy

Bob Dylan transformed lyrical songwriting into a literary form and has had enormous influence on late-20th-century culture and music. His work is the subject of academic study and received literary recognition including the Nobel Prize.

Museums

  • Bob Dylan Center Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States Opened in 2022

Academic Societies

  • Dylan@80 (academic conference)
  • Harvard University seminar 'Dylan'
  • University of Tulsa Institute for Bob Dylan Studies

Archives

  • The Bob Dylan Archive (George Kaiser Family Foundation / University of Tulsa)

In Popular Culture

  • Numerous documentaries by Martin Scorsese, D. A. Pennebaker and others
  • Creative works using his songs such as the stage musical 'Girl from the North Country'
  • Subject of biopics and large academic symposia

Quotes

  • The songs are my lexicon. I believe the songs.
    Source: Newsweek (interview) (1997)
  • You're born, you know, the wrong names, wrong parents. You call yourself what you want to call yourself. This is the land of the free.
    Source: 60 Minutes (interview) (2004)
  • It's amazing, incredible. Whoever dreams about something like that?
    Source: Comment after Nobel Prize announcement (interview: Edna Gundersen) (2016)

Trivia

  • Estimated record sales of around 125 million worldwide
  • One of the first musicians awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (2016)
  • Sold his songwriting catalog to Universal Music Publishing Group in 2020 (reported approx. $300–400M)
  • Has used multiple aliases/pseudonyms (e.g. Jack Frost, Sergei Petrov)
  • The Bob Dylan Center opened in Tulsa in 2022