Bob Dylan

The American singer-songwriter and musician Bob Dylan is one of the most important recording artists on the planet. A cultural icon, his work has had a profound influence on popular music since the 1960s. First gaining fame as a folk singer with songs that addressed the subjects of the Cold War and the civil rights movement, he later revolutionised rock music. But Dylan is an artist of contradictions. A magnetic performer who remains fiercely private. One of the wealthiest musicians of his generation who dresses like a vagabond. A womaniser who has penned some of the world’s most tender love songs.

But how did a suburban boy from Minnesota become one of the world’s most famous artists? Why does he inspire such fierce devotion and myth-making? And after six decades of songwriting and performing, how can we begin to characterise his legacy?

This is a Short History Of Bob Dylan.

A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Michael Gray, the pioneer of Dylan Studies, and the author of the first critical study of Bob Dylan’s work, Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan.

Written by Nicola Rayner | Produced by Kate Simants | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Anisha Deva | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact Check: Sean Coleman

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