Bob Dylan
Biography
Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and painter. He has been a major figure in music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler, and an apparently reluctant figurehead, of social unrest. Though he is well-known for revolutionizing perceptions of the limits of popular music in 1965 with the six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone," a number of his earlier songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" became anthems for the US civil rights and anti-war movements. His early lyrics incorporated a variety of political, social and philosophical, as well as literary influences. They defied existing pop music conventions and appealed hugely to the then burgeoning counterculture. Initially inspired by the songs of Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Hank Williams, and the performance styles of Buddy Holly and Little Richard, Dylan has both amplified and personalized musical genres, exploring numerous distinct traditions in American song—from folk, blues and country to gospel, rock and roll, and rockabilly, to English, Scottish, and Irish folk music, embracing even jazz and swing. Dylan performs with guitar, keyboards, and harmonica. Backed by a changing line-up of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour. His accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been central to his career, but his greatest contribution is generally considered to be his songwriting. Since 1994, Dylan has published three books of drawings and paintings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries. As a songwriter and musician, Dylan has received numerous awards over the years including Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy Awards; he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2008, a road called the Bob Dylan Pathway was opened in the singer's honor in his birthplace of Duluth, Minnesota. The Pulitzer Prize jury 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."
Personal Details
Also Known As
Movies (46)
I understand
Music (Sound)
2025
Newport and the Great Folk Dream
as Self (archive footage)
2025
John Candy: I Like Me
as Self - Singer (archive footage)
2025
One to One: John & Yoko
as Self (archive footage)
2025
Stepping Into the Unknown: Films from the Bob Dylan Center
2024
Girl From the North Country
Songs (Sound)
2024
Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley
as Self (archive footage)
2024
Movie Magazine
as Bob Dylan
2024
Passion & Poetry: Peckinpah's Last Western
Music (Sound)
2024
The Beach Boys
as Self (archive footage)
2024
The Partners
Music (Sound)
2024
The Greatest Night in Pop
as Self (archive footage)
2024
Joan Baez: I Am a Noise
as Self (archive footage)
2023
2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
as Self (archive footage)
2022
Joni Mitchell, Lady Blue
as Self (archive footage)
2022
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song
as Self
2022
Kalvøyafestivalen - 50 år siden første riff
as Self (archive footage)
2021
Karen Dalton: In My Own Time
as Self (archive footage)
2021
Bob Dylan: Shadow Kingdom
as Self
2021
Bob Dylan: Odds and Ends
as Self (archive footage)
2021
Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres
as Self (archival footage)
2021
The Dancing Man of L.A.
as Self (archive footage)
2021
Bob Dylan & Phil Lesh & Friends – Baltimore Arena 1999
as Self
2020
Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President
as Self
2020
Bob Dylan: Busy Being Born
as Self
2020
My Darling Vivian
as Self (archive footage)
2020
Nana Mouskouri, Momente ihres Lebens
as Self (archive footage)
2020
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band
as Self (archive footage)
2020
The Rolling Stones: Bridges To Buenos Aires
as Self
2019
Big Family: The Story of Bluegrass Music
as Self (archive footage)
2019
Manson: Music from an Unsound Mind
as Self (archive footage)
2019
Rollin' Rain and Hard Thunder: A Compilation Film
as Self
2019
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese
as Self
2019
The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash
as Self (archive footage)
2019
Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars
as Self (archive footage)
2018
Bob Dylan - Trouble No More
as Self
2017
The Discreet Françoise Hardy
as Self (archive footage)
2016
Året var 1966
as Self (archive footage)
2016
Bob Dylan: Roads Rapidly Changing - In & Out of the Folk Revival 1961 - 1965
as Self
2015
Mavis!
as Self
2015
Snapshots from the Tour
as Himself
2015
Sweet Blues: A Film About Mike Bloomfield
as Self
2013
Born In Chicago
as Self
2013
Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation
as Self (archive footage)
2013
Legend of Lead Belly
as Self
2013
Bob Dylan & The Band: Down In The Flood
as Self
2012
