Bob Dylan | Artist
Robert Zimmerman aka Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, author, and artist born 24th May 1941 in Duluth Minnesota. Dylan is one of the most influential figures in popular music and culture from the 1960's onwards. Starting out as a folk singer with a strong social conscience, Dylan was influenced musically by artists such as Woody Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Odetta, Little Richard and Elvis. The songs he wrote were essentially free verse poems set to music, influenced by poets like Dylan Thomas, Arthur Rimbaud, Charles Baudelaire, Allen Ginsberg and the Beat Poets. In 1965 Dylan shifted from his traditional acoustic folk style and "went electric" which was a revolutionary move at that time. This new direction was evident in the album Bringing it all Back Home from 1965, which comprised half acoustic and half electric tracks, including the opener "Subterranean Homesick Blues." This new direction was solidified with his next album, the classic Highway 61 Revisited. In 1965, headlining the Newport Jazz Festival, Dylan performed his first electric set publicly with a pickup band featuring Mike Bloomfield on guitar and Al Kooper on organ. Dylan then teamed up with Canadian outfit The Band as his backing band and together with The Band, Dylan produced several of his finest works including The Basement Tapes and Live 1966 The Royal Albert Hall Concert. His first all-electric album was the 1965 masterpiece Highway 61 Revisited. From the release of his self-titled debut album in 1962 to the present day, Dylan has released 35 primary studio albums, 15 live albums, 111 Singles, and a growing number of archival releases. Among his many singles are the classics "Blowin' In The Wind", "Masters of War", "The Times They are a-Changin'", "Like a Rolling Stone", "Just Like a Woman" and "Lay Lady Lay". His songs have been covered by artists including Joan Baez, The Byrds, Johnny Cash, George Harrison and Jimi Hendrix. Standout albums include 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), John Wesley Harding (1967), Nashville Skyline (1969), Blood on the Tracks (1975), The Basement Tapes (1975), Desire (1976), Time Out of Mind (1997), and Live 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert (1998). On top of the countless awards and honours he has received, in 2016 Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature" for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition". Since 1994, Dylan has published nine books of paintings and drawings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries. He has sold more than 145 million records, making him one of the best selling musicians of all time. In 2022 Dylan sold his entire back catalogue of recorded music to Sony Music Entertainment, as well as the rights to multiple future releases, in a deal rumoured to be worth between $150m and $200m. The deal covered all recordings dating from 1962 and future releases and reissues in Dylan’s celebrated Bootleg Series.
Artist Website: bobdylan.com
Featured Albums: Bob Dylan
Related Artists: The Band, Traveling Wilburys, Johnny Cash, Woody Guthrie
Collections: Music Visionaries
