Golden logo
    Create a WorkspaceQuery ToolSaved QueriesData RequestsListsPipelinesExploreFollowed Topics
    Upgrade to ProPricingAPI AccessHelp & Support
Log in
Sign up
NEW: You can now make knowledge queries using our new natural language prompt. Try it out now!
⟶
Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

OverviewStructured DataIssuesContributorsActivity
Contents

Robert Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, author and visual artist. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career spanning 60 years. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and anti-war movements. His lyrics during this period incorporated a range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences, defying pop music conventions and appealing to the burgeoning counterculture.

Following his self-titled debut album in 1962, which mainly comprised traditional folk songs, Dylan made his breakthrough as a songwriter with the release of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan the following year. The album features "Blowin' in the Wind" and the thematically complex "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall". Many of his songs adapted the tunes and phraseology of older folk songs. He went on to release the politically charged The Times They Are a-Changin' and the more lyrically abstract and introspective Another Side of Bob Dylan in 1964. In 1965 and 1966, Dylan drew controversy when he adopted electrically amplified rock instrumentation, and in the space of 15 months recorded three of the most important and influential rock albums of the 1960s: Bringing It All Back Home (1965), Highway 61 Revisited (1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966). His six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" (1965) expanded commercial and creative boundaries in popular music.

In July 1966, a motorcycle accident led to Dylan's withdrawal from touring. During this period, he recorded a large body of songs with members of the Band, who had previously backed him on tour. These recordings were released as the collaborative album The Basement Tapes in 1975. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dylan explored country music and rural themes in John Wesley Harding (1967), Nashville Skyline (1969), and New Morning (1970). In 1975, he released Blood on the Tracks, which many saw as a return to form. In the late 1970s, he became a born-again Christian and released a series of albums of contemporary gospel music before returning to his more familiar rock-based idiom in the early 1980s. Dylan's 1997 album Time Out of Mind marked the beginning of a renaissance for his career. He has released five critically acclaimed albums of original material since then, the most recent being Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020). He also recorded a series of three albums in the 2010s comprising versions of traditional American standards, especially songs recorded by Frank Sinatra. Dylan has toured continuously since the late 1980s on what has become known as the Never Ending Tour.

Since 1994, Dylan has published eight books of drawings and paintings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries. He has sold more than 125 million records, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, ten Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award. Dylan has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The Pulitzer Prize Board in 2008 awarded him a special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power". In 2016, Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".

Timeline

December 7, 2020
Bob Dylan sells entire publishing catalogue to Universal Music.

May 24, 1941
Bob Dylan was born in Duluth.

Invested in

Open in Query Tool

Patents

Open in Query Tool

Further Resources

Title
Author
Link
Type
Date

References

bobdylan.com
Is a
Person
Person

Person attributes

Birthdate
May 24, 1941
Birthplace
‌
Duluth, Minnesota
Nationality
United States
United States
Location
United States
United States
Educated at
University of Minnesota (Twin Cities)
University of Minnesota (Twin Cities)
University of Minnesota System
University of Minnesota System
Hibbing High School
Hibbing High School
Sidwell Friends School
Sidwell Friends School
Awards Received
‌
2016 Nobel Prize in Literature
Occupation
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Poet
Poet
Guitarist
Guitarist
Record producer
Record producer
Film director
Film director
‌
Lyricist
Composer
Composer
Screenwriter
Screenwriter
...

Other attributes

Citizenship
United States
United States
Wikidata ID
Q392
Pseudonym
Robert Milkwood Thomas
Sergei Petrov
Tedham Porterhouse
Blind Boy Grunt
Bob Landy
Boo Wilbury
Elston Gunn
Jack Frost
...
Birth Name
Robert Allen Zimmerman
Child
Jakob Dylan
Jakob Dylan
Jesse Dylan
Jesse Dylan
Genre
‌
Country music
Rock music
Rock music
‌
Christian rock
Country rock
Country rock
Gospel music
Gospel music
‌
Folk rock
‌
American folk music
‌
Americana (music)
...
Notable Work
‌
Blonde on Blonde
‌
Blowin' in the Wind
‌
Subterranean Homesick Blues
‌
Like a Rolling Stone
Father of
Jesse Dylan
Jesse Dylan
Jakob Dylan
Jakob Dylan
Golden logo
Company
HomePress & MediaBlogCareers
We're hiring
Products
OverviewKnowledge GraphQuery ToolData RequestsKnowledge StorageAPIPricingEnterpriseProtocol
Legal
Terms of ServiceEnterprise Terms of ServicePrivacy Policy
Help
Help centerAPI DocumentationContact Us
By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Service.