Bob Dylan, The Biography Of A Legend

Bob Dylan is one of the most influential musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries. He is also the epitome of the most controversial Nobel Prize in Literature in history. His music is poetry, and his poetry is music. He broke through many barriers in pop culture around the world. That’s why many people consider him an icon of the pop counter culture.

Bob Dylan strongly entrusted one of his many biographers with the task of clarifying that he did not borrow his name from the poet Dylan Thomas, as many believed. According to him, he was inspired by a character in a cowboy series called Matt Dillon.

Bob Dylan’s music is complex and interesting. It is rooted in rhythms as diverse as rock, folk, country, blues, and jazz. However, his lyrics are the most fascinating part.

With his lyrics he explored social, political, literary, philosophical and spiritual themes. This gave him a unique personality in the music world and earned him the Nobel Prize he was awarded.

Bob Dylan, a simple boy

Bob Dylan was born in Duluth (Minnesota, United States), on May 24, 1941. His real name is Robert Allen Zimmerman. He comes from a Jewish family of Ukrainian descent on the father’s side and of Lithuanian on the mother’s side. He also has some Turkish genes.

Dylan lived in his hometown until he was six years old. At that age, his father contracted polio and the family had to move to his mother’s hometown, Hibbing. This was a place that seemed to have been left behind in time.

His father owned an electrical shop where he had his first job as a cleaner. In Hibbing, he also went to high school and had his first girlfriends, Gloria and Encho. They inspired him to write his first verses and poems. In addition, he also learned music and formed his first band in this city.

A big change

Dylan had a short stay at the University of Minnesota. He dropped out of college at the end of his freshman year and left for New York. There he found the true nation in which he lived.

His first performances took place in Café Wha? There he performed songs by Woody Guthrie, his idol. Deep down, Guthrie inspired him to take that uncertain journey in regards to his job.

Bob Dylan learned a lot during that time, although he did not succeed in the strict sense of the word. He was like a sponge. He looked, analyzed and concluded. He also wanted to know everything, immerse himself in every rhythm and cherish his education.

He was also a great reader who liked to read books by the ancient Greeks, among other things, but also, for example, devoured Kant, Walt Whitman, Ezra Pound, TS Eliot, Ginsberg, Shelley, Poe and William Burroughs.

Dylan then met John Hammond, a talent scout with a clinical eye. This scout contacted him, along with Albert Grossman, a manager who idolized the talented 20-year-old singer. Over the next four years they made fantastic songs and Dylan shot to fame.

A unique artist

In 1965 Bob Dylan was widely recognized. “ Like a Rolling Stone ” was the best song of the twentieth century according to several American publications of that year. Dylan created an undeniable identity in the nine albums he made during that decade. There is still no one like him.

This singer completely revolutionized conventional pop music. His lyrics were authentic poems and his music was an exquisite combination of sounds.

He even had the luxury of broaching religious subjects and achieving unexpected successes. He also achieved what few can: an audience that still follows him after many decades. He is still an active and relevant musician.

The 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature was highly controversial. It was the first time that he went to a pop musician. Still, most consider it a well-deserved prize. Leonard Cohen expressed in this regard what many think but few dare to say:

“ I’m going to say something about giving the Nobel Prize to Dylan. To me it’s like pinning a medal on Mount Everest because it’s the tallest mountain. Dylan is so big that the prize is just a memento, a rather obvious memento. ”