Bob Dylan

Born Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota, Bob Dylan is among the most influential songwriters of the twentieth century and a Nobel laureate in Literature. He arrived in New York City in early 1961, drawn by the Greenwich Village folk scene and the ailing Woody Guthrie, whom he sought out and visited. His early blues learning came not only from records but through live Village circles of older revivalists, singers, and collectors. His early albums drew heavily from the blues and folk traditions (reinterpreting songs by Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bukka White, and Big Joe Williams) before he revolutionized popular music with original compositions like 'Blowin' in the Wind,' 'The Times They Are a-Changin',' and 'Like a Rolling Stone.' His controversial switch to electric instruments at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival was one of the defining moments in rock history. Across six decades, Dylan has continually reinvented himself while maintaining deep roots in the blues, country, and folk traditions that formed him. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016.